Setting Work/Life Boundaries in Your Home Business

Setting good work/life boundaries is critical to the success of your home business.

Home business burnout. You may think it couldn’t happen. After all, you’re running your own business, you are the boss. Doesn’t that mean you don’t have to worry about burnout? Nope. In fact, if you are not setting work/life boundaries and abiding by them in your home-based business, you’re likely to experience it yourself. 

This is why it’s so important that as a home business owner you set good boundaries between your work and your personal life. So just how do you go about doing that? Here are a few ideas.

Set business hours, even if they are flexible.

We’ve talked before about the home business perk of being able to have flexible business hours. Just because they are flexible, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set some boundaries about what days and hours you’re available for work. If you don’t do so, you’ll find yourself working nights, weekends, holidays...you get the idea. Make sure you identify what days/hours will be available for work also makes sure you have time for yourself to relax, reset and recharge.

Charge extra for work done outside of those business hours.

Occasionally it may become necessary to do some work outside of those business hours you’ve set. When this happens, be sure you charge extra for the work done during that time. This includes if you’re working on product that you sell outside of those hours. So if you get a rush order, add a rush charge to the finished product. If a client requires you to work outside of those hours, add a surcharge for non-office hours.

Schedule your phone calls

Phone calls may seem quick and easy, but the truth is that even a ten-minute phone call pulls you away from your business projects for at least 20 minutes or more. If you get quite a few calls a day it can completely derail your productivity. As I mention in this article, limiting phone calls doesn’t mean you limit contact. You can be contacted through email or even social media platforms, but it allows you to respond without interrupting your workflow. And scheduling phone calls gives you the opportunity to prepare for the call as well, making it more productive.

Take holidays and vacations.

Don’t be tempted to work on holidays and don’t skip vacations. Both are vital to maintaining that work/life balance. Even if you’re a brand new business, there are ways to fit them in without feeling like you’re falling behind in your business. We’ll talk about those in a future newsletter. 

Have both a personal phone line and a business phone line.

If it’s at all possible have a separate business phone or phone line. Using your personal phone for business blurs the work/life boundary.

Shut off the ringer on your business phone in off-hours.

 If you have a separate business phone or phone line, shut the ringer off during non-business hours. No matter how good your intentions are, having that business phone ring makes it hard to resist the urge to answer. The best way to avoid this is to not be able to hear it ring during off-hours.

Don’t share your personal phone number

It may be tempting to share that personal number with business contacts; don’t do it. You deserve your privacy during off-hours and allowing business contacts access to you through your personal phone is a sure-fire way to cross that work/life boundary.

Don’t check business email during off-hours.

It will be tempting, but the minute you check your business email during your off-hours your mind is going to switch to business mode. 

If possible, shut down the business electronics.

If you have a computer, tablet, etc. dedicated to your business, shut them down completely during your off-hours. And don’t put business apps on your personal devices. 

Working from home makes it harder to set boundaries between work and your personal life. It’s one of the reasons many home-based businesses fail. Not having those boundaries in place and adhering to them leads to massive burnout. It may seem hard to set your boundaries, but if you want to grow a successful business, it’s critical that you do so.

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