Episode 71: Work, Life, and Family Balance

PhotoSpark

Let's start with an easy statement: Finding balance as a business owner is HARD. Seriously, SERIOUSLY hard. Whether you're single & trying to find balance between work & time with friends, or you're married with a bunch of kids & trying to find balance among that, balance is a struggle for most business owners. I know as a new mom, I often find it tough to feel good at the end of the day. Either I spent too much time on work stuff & missed spending time with my kiddo, or I played around with my kiddo all day and neglected some work stuff. It's really hard to have a perfect day where you feel accomplished in all areas of your life. However, it's very important that we figure out ways to do this, and to help us with this, we have Cathy Olson on the show this week! Cathy went through a pretty life-changing experience as a new mom and business owner a few years back, and it helped put everything in perspective for her. She's nailed this work, life, family balance thing & in this episode she gives some tips to help you do the same! Key Takeaways

1. Get your priorities straight. To start, pick three important things you have to accomplish today. Don't try to do everything at once. It's easy (especially as women!) to feel pressure to do it all. However, picking just three things will help you feel accomplished at the end of the day, which will help you feel good about your day! That way, if you get more done, you feel even BETTER, but if you don't it's not a big deal. Kate has a strategy where she picks one business thing, one family thing, and one personal thing each day that she has to accomplish. This helps her feel like no area of her life is being neglected.
2. Streamline your processes. We know we have covered this before but this is KEY to work, life, family balance as a business owner! There are many ways to streamline. Firstly, you can hire someone to take on some of your tasks. Whether this is an in-person office assistant, a virtual assistant to help with emails, or a retouching company, letting go of small tasks can add up to tons of extra time to spend with family or friends. Secondly, you can also make the most of organization apps and studio management software like Ashley & Julie do (whattup ShootQ!). By being efficient in your workflow, you free up time to spend in other areas of your life!
3. Unplugging works both ways! Not only is it important to unplug from work stuff when you're with your family or friends, but it's also crucial to unplug from family & friend stuff when you're working! Unplugging in either direction will help you be present and in the moment with whatever you're doing at the moment, therefore helping you make the most of the time you have! Cathy mentions when she's on a business trip, she is pretty much unplugged from her family. Not only does this make her a more effective networker, it keeps her in the right mindset because she isn't worrying about problems going on at home. On the other hand, unplugging from work stuff when spending time with your family is equally as important. Your kids, husband, boyfriend, best friend, etc should have your undivided attention as much as possible when you're getting quality personal time in.

We hope you guys download this episode to hear more tips from Cathy about work, life, and family balance. This is such an important conversation to have, because so many of us feel like we are failing in these areas! The key to happiness as a business owner is figuring this stuff out, so let's do it together! Do you have some tips to share about balance? Share them on our Facebook page! Relevant Links:

• Love Inspired
• ShootQ

Download from iTunes Here Download from iTunes Here Bonus Videos: Cathy is an AWESOME web developer & also has some rad videos on her YouTube channel! Here are two bonus videos from Cathy that you guys should watch. They're great!