If you’re self-employed, you will understand how much work is involved in running your business. As a parent, this can mean having to cancel plans you’ve made with your children. If you struggle to balance being there for your family, with managing your business, here are some suggestions.
Work with freelancers
If you find you no longer spend much time on the tasks which inspired your business, because you’re constantly having to multitask and do other jobs, it might be time to work with freelancers. You can find a variety of freelance professionals on guru.com. For example, if you needed to know how to hire a manga artist, they would be able to assist you. They would help you find the most qualified freelancers and suggest questions to ask, so you can narrow down your search.
Whatever you need help with, the cost might seem too high, but if these tasks aren’t your area of expertise, the time you spend doing them and potentially making mistakes, could cost you more, and take you away from the work you’re best at. If you think about it this way, hiring freelancers could save you money in the long term.
Have a separate workspace
Ideally, you should have a home office, but a corner of your bedroom with a desk, chair, laptop, and other essentials you need might work. If you set up your laptop in the living room or kitchen, you will be distracted, and it won’t help you separate your work from your living space. You could find you often try to work and spend time with your family at the same time, but can’t give your full attention to either. If you can define your workspace and insist on not being disturbed, this lets you concentrate on work, then you can stop at the set time to concentrate on spending quality time with family.
Make plans
It’s understandable you have to work a lot, as a business owner. If you don’t earn money, you can’t take care of your family financially. However, by making plans for days out, holidays, or movie nights at home, you can prepare by getting your work done or outsourcing it to someone else, to ensure you stick to your plans.
Update your business plan
When you started your business, you most likely created a business plan. Now you have more first-hand experience of being self-employed, you might want to adapt this. You could have overestimated how long some tasks might take, or underestimated your expenses. With the knowledge you now have, you can take the pressure off yourself by rewriting your business plan to something that works, but doesn’t place as much pressure on you.
Running your own business involves a lot of work, but it should also offer some level of choice and freedom. By getting help with challenging tasks, and setting boundaries between work and family, you can provide for your family and spend quality time with them.
