These MINDSET SHIFTS Will Change Your Work/Life Balance
I get asked all the time, “How do you do it? How do you have time for both family and for your business? How do you create a work-life balance you can stick to?”
Creating a work-life balance is something many entrepreneurs struggle with, especially in the beginning of building their businesses.
The simple answer is that I make time, I know my priorities in each role I play, and I’m not willing to compromise my boundaries.
One of my Startup Society members asked a similar question about work-life balance but with a different twist, and I loved how she called out mindset practices. Maureen Wielansky asked me inside the member community,
“What mindset practices do you use to build your business your way so you can have time for your family and for your business?”
Well, today we’ll talk about just that. The following three mindset shifts will change your work-life balance if you allow the shifts to happen.
Knowing my priorities
Not only did I have to know that family and business are both important to me, but I also needed to understand how important they are relative to each other.
Here’s why I say that…
I see entrepreneurs struggling with prioritizing work over family because they’re not clear enough on their priorities to give their family the time they need. They’ll spend upward of 50 hours a week on their work, which leaves them with limited energy available for their family.
Now, I don’t think that’s because they don’t want to spend their time with their family, but I do believe it’s because they’ve made work more important based on their calendar.
I knew I wanted more time with my family, so I planned just how much time I could allot to work, which is about 4-5 hours a day, in order to find the right work-life balance I desire. Then, after setting that time boundary, I figured out how to build my business in that amount of time.
Time blocking
I tried a ton of different methods for scheduling my time each day, from simple to-do lists all the way to scheduling out my day by the minute.
What I found most effective for me is time blocking, where I’ll create big chunks of time each day for certain things I need to do. I feel like this has helped me not to create a rigid schedule where I feel behind all day, but to rather know exactly what I’m doing in each of those intentional time blocks.
Right now I have five chunks of time I’m working in each day:
Morning routine
Work routine
Homeschool routine
Dinner routine
Evening routine
My morning routine doesn’t just include getting myself ready for the day or my quiet time, but it incorporates everything in between, such as feeding my kids breakfast or tidying up the house. This is the same concept with my evening routine. It’s a few hours long where we’re together as a family, unwinding for the day, and getting ready for the next.
What I’ve found when I use time blocks is that I’m no longer micromanaging my day, but instead, I know exactly when I’m working on what. I mean, children are unpredictable, so trying to micromanage it all made me feel behind in my schedule no matter what I tried! This wasn’t a sustainable practice for me if I wanted my work to fit into 4-5 hours a day.
Time blocks create prioritization as well as flexibility, which naturally leads to a work-life balance when you stick to them.
Choosing to believe it’s easy
Now, it may not feel easy right now. What you’re working on may actually feel downright hard.
But… I’ve learned that retraining your brain to focus on a more positive outlook can make all the difference. When you find the right way to think about the task at hand, then it can become easy.
This is something I’ve practiced for years, even in my teenage days I remember thinking, “The only thing that is really hard is lifting heavy things… anything else? I can shift my thinking.”
Of course, there are seasons of life or circumstances that can be heavy or sad or downright hard to deal with. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the work you are doing.
When it comes to your work at hand you either need to 1) have more time to do it or 2) think about it in a different way. If it’s the first, then shifting your expectations may be necessary to fit the timeframe you need. If it’s the second, then little mindset shifts could make the biggest difference.
For example, when I’m feeling overwhelmed by a project I’m working on, I’ll tell myself, “This is easy,” or “I’m doing this because I want to,” or “This is going to be fun.”
It may seem strange to talk to yourself, but it’s one simple way to make this shift. You can’t think negatively when you’re speaking positively. Don’t believe me? Give it a try.
This works for individual tasks as well as the bigger picture of your business. You CAN do this, and you CAN have the balance you’re looking for, but you’ll need to remember it will look differently than anybody else.
Honestly, for most entrepreneurs, the balance isn’t really about working too much on their businesses and neglecting their families. Rather, it’s that they feel like they can’t find the time to work on their business.
Want to know a secret? The simple practice of telling yourself it’s easy and that you can find the time will help you to create an abundance mindset that can be life changing.
And if you’re wanting to figure out how to manipulate your time and manage it well, then consider joining us inside my membership program for digital entrepreneurs — Startup Society. Not only do we have a library of courses to walk you step-by-step through projects that may have felt hard for you before, but we also have a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and success coaches to give you that boost of support and encouragement you need when it feels hard.
learn more about startup society
Our weekly masterminds and co-working sessions are geared to help you get things done in an easy way alongside the success coaches ready to help you out when you feel stuck. You’ll gain clarity, direction, support, accountability, and encouragement all along the way.
