Balancing Act: Keeping Work and Home Life Seperate

My goal for this blog is to post daily, at least 7 days a week. Unfortunately I’ve been falling short of this goal due to an unexpected busy work schedule and managing the break in my routine that summertime brings.

Hopefully I’ll fall back into some sort of rhythm of routine soon. I’ve mentioned my typical work day schedule here a few weeks ago. I like to keep a regular working schedule because it helps me better balance the time I spend building my business with time spent enjoying my family. It can be a very tricky tightrope to walk at times – especially if you are the sole breadwinner. Here are a few balancing tips:

Prioritize

It’s very easy to become completely consumed with work, but my duties as Allah’s servant come first, then my duties to my family, friends and the community. When you set boundaries in your business and continue to cultivate important relationships, it keeps things balanced.

Get Your Family’s Support

I’ve visited a few work-at-home forums where I’ve “overheard” stories of women struggling to build a business with absolutely no support from their husbands and other family members. Starting a business is challenging enough without having dealing with constant arguments about why the house is not impeccably clean when “you’ve been sitting at home all day.”

It’s a good idea to sit down with your spouse and discuss  why you want to start your own business. Discuss the benefits (e.g. financial and your availability to your family) for your family. Help him to understand the importance of you being able to get your work done and how important it is to have his support.

Develop Your Business Mindset

Treat your business seriously and teach your family to respect it as well. It makes such a difference when your husband and children respect and value your efforts to succeed.

Teach Your Children to Respect Your Business

Help them see the benefits of you being able to work from home. Help them understand why it is important to help out around the house and allow ummi to work uninterrupted.

If they are old enough (teenagers), explain how your work financially contributes to family expenses. Younger children can understand the fact that you can make time to take them on fun outings during the day, participate in school activities and field trips, etc.

Consider the Needs of Your Family

Sometimes your family’s needs outweigh work. There may be time when your five year old wants to spend time with you playing a game, reading a book or baking brownies. You may usually spend your evenings tying up loose ends with business, but your husband may want to spend the evening talking or watching a movie together. If you haven’t spent time with the sisters in your community in a while, try to reconnect to keep your friendships strong. One of the benefits of having your own business is flexibility, so use that to maintain meaningful connections with family and friends.

photo credit: delphaber