I recently came across the results of a recent survey and one key finding really stuck out. Over 52% of Australians check their emails during holidays and annual leave. A large percentage of these people were small business owners.
I’m sure this isn’t just in Australia either; it’s an accurate reflection of global trends.
Because my heart sank and my first thoughts were full of self-doubt. “I’m a small business owner, however I’m not planning on checking my work emails during my break, should I be? Maybe I’ll be more successful if I do check my emails during holidays?”
I had zero plans of going anywhere near my work emails, computers or even my office during my leave. Our Australian IT support company looks after any outages, etc so I don’t need to.
I mean, honestly, why would I go to all the effort of establishing a small business if it meant that I had to work on holidays? Most employees out there in the real world wouldn’t be keen to accept this expectation from their boss, so why would you expect it from yourself?
Does starting a small business always mean huge sacrifice and the loss of work life balance?
Yes, I know that starting a small business comes with all kinds of expectations and unconscious assumptions. It would be easy to fall into the trap of believing that to be successful you must work 12+ hours every day and compromise on other aspects of your life.
Yes, there are some amazing entrepreneurs out there, that are hugely committed, dedicated and hard working. However, I firmly refute the idea that small business success can ONLY come at the expense of your own health, wellbeing, family and relationships.
Yes, I know that starting a small business does take large amounts of hard work, dedication and commitment. I’m under no illusion that it’s all butterflies and birds singing. I understand that for most entrepreneurs, we don’t always create the perfect work/life balance from the very start.
However, many entrepreneurs start a small business specifically because they want more flexibility and more time with family. They yearn for more opportunity to have an improved work life balance, so why would they do this if they couldn’t?
Bring your own goals and values
I personally do not believe that any entrepreneur must sacrifice relationships, weekends, or family time just to be successful in their small business endeavours. In fact I firmly believe that your business should reflect your personal goals and your values.
My business partner and I have been hugely intentional all along about establishing a business that allows us to combine a successful business with other aspects of life. We are both very clear that while we will (and do) work hard and are hugely committed, our families, relationships and life outside of work are essential to our own happiness and well being.
Yes, there are times that I find myself working on a weekend or in the evening, however it is rarely an accident. Typically that is because I have planned something else with the rest of my day, so I am happy to commit to catching up on sales and marketing during a Saturday morning.
It is not because I feel I must work seven days every week. It’s a conscious choice to align our business with my personal values and the goals I have outside of work.
What do your work hours and choices say about your values?
Yes, some people prefer checking emails at night and weekends, and that’s good for them. The way you set up your business and the expectations you set yourself must be conscious decisions though, otherwise you may well find yourself sacrificing far more than you had intended to. This may include your personal values and goals as well.
Ask yourself these questions;
When and how do you currently work?
What do your work hours and choices say about your values?
Why did you start out in business in the first place and are you on track to meet this?
Is running your own small business allowing you to meet your personal goals?
If you are currently in the very early stages of small business, I know that’s a little hard, however ask yourself when do you plan to change this?
How will you measure the growth and know when it is time for you to ease into a better work life balance?
How will you feel if you are still working in your current workload, in another five or 10 years time?
I am not suggesting that you should choose an easy route, slacking off, or living under a false notion of the realities of starting a small business. I hope that for many of you this is an opportunity to celebrate and recognise that your business is truly supporting your ‘out of work’ life.
Make the right changes
Keen to combine business success with your personal goals, values, and work life balance?
If you find that you would like to make some changes, here are some ideas to help you get on track:
Are you crystal clear on what lifestyle you hope to attain for yourself by achieving business success?
Take some time to think about how your day or week would look if you were achieving your ideal balance and capture it on paper (get creative with images and colour!)
Think about how you could work more efficiently in your business (outsourcing could be key here).
Gain an understanding of how effective you are with your time and cut out distractions. One idea would be to install a time-tracking software (lots of free ones out there) so you can track where you spend time on your computer and become more conscious about how you use your time.
