One of the things I liked best about working as an in house Art Director was when I left work, I really left work. It was a clear boundary. I didn’t bring work home, I didn’t even think about about work, except to dread going when I would rather stay in bed. Working for myself is wonderful. I can sleep late, meet friends for lunch, or go on field trips with my daughter. Sounds amazing right? I rarely do any of these things! I actually have to remind myself those are the reasons I wanted to do this. Having a flexible schedule to spend time with my family is my big why, but I have to check myself often and remember this. Because when your paycheck is completely dependent on you, it is really hard to have boundaries. I feel the need to work all of the time. I always think just one more hour, one more email, and I will be ahead. In addition to client work I am constantly updating my onboarding forms and redesigning my website. I have realized that I will never be ahead and there will always be something more that I can do.
That mix urgency and fear can be paralyzing. I don’t think it is really productive and definitely not creative. I always get more and better work done when I have a good work life balance. I don’t know if there are any coasting periods to running a business, but for now I am doing my best to set boundaries and stick to them. Where do you need to set more boundaries in your life?