“You’re always so busy!”
“Do you ever take a break?”
“You’re always working.”
Do these statements sound familiar to you? They are to me. The first two are easy to respond to, it’s perspective. If you follow me on social media, yes I look very busy. I share radio posts all the time, and pre-pandemic I was out at shows quite often. I definitely look busy, and in many cases I was. I also consider being at shows or in the community breaks, because I love being out and about, love music, and many people in the community are friends.
I also pre-record my radio show. I easily sleep in until 10am on the weekends, will watch a show midday or take a long lunch. I watch too many hours of Netflix in the evening.
The last statement gets a little stickier. I love marketing and promoting. I love music and the radio. While at times I have bad days or feel burned out, most of the time everything I do doesn’t feel like work. I am grateful that I have been able to build a business from the things I enjoy.
I’ve also fallen in love with a career path that is not a Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm job. I have several clients with different requirements for their marketing. I use my business to try and pay it forward and work with people on their schedules as much as possible. The radio means there are some late nights and weekends.
The lines become even more blurred thanks to social media. I could be browsing my feeds, and come across an article that would be perfect for a client, so I save it (or even post it immediately). Friends who are also colleagues text/message and while we are talking about a 10th time watching Marvel movies and what is the best order to watch, something work-related will sneak in the conversation. Sometimes while on social media a private message will appear on a client account and if it’s something I can address, I will. Even at 9:00pm.
At the same time, I can take a day off mid-week and take a day trip with my husband, or plan a vacation at odd times. I can work from across the country and help my family (my current situation). When family or friends want to get together or need my time, I arrange my schedule around it if I can (and I usually can).
Owning a business and being my only employee means I have to be much more flexible at the job, and that means I have to have an awareness of how I am balancing work and life. Many think work/life balance is having a clear separation of both, and if it works for you that’s great! I find my balance in organization and planning, and that includes on the personal side. I have also created some boundaries that help me stay balanced, such as not reading/answering email or messages after a certain time of day.
Everything I do, work or personal, comes from awareness. Awareness isn’t a gift, you have to train yourself to be aware of how you are taking care of yourself and others. Then you have to learn to set boundaries, and discipline yourself to keep them.
How do you handle your work/life balance? Let’s learn from each other!