Do you find it difficult to balance work with actually having a personal life?

I hear you.

As business owners, we’re always thinking about the next thing we need to do to keep the business moving forward.

But the problem is that we can become so addicted to the ‘hustle,’ that we don’t have time for anything else.

I received a question recently from a member of The Lashpreneur Society and its one that’s been popping up inside the community a lot lately. So, JessAngel Beauty asks:

“How do you manage your time between business, family and free time? I find that I dream lashes and brows and when I’m not working, I’m Googling, researching, learning and growing, etc. And, when I’m not doing that, I’m managing my business through social media and paperwork. I absolutely love what I do, and I am passionate, but all this passion for my career makes me too tired for family and life.”

Wow. How many times have you felt just like that? Too many times to count I bet.

Well, I know exactly how she feels. To be honest, it’s something that I’m still actively working through and although it’s not always easy, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Since I don’t want you guys to put your business before your family or your own health, I’ve decided to share a few effective strategies that will help you to find that balance you’ve been looking for.

{If you want to listen to the podcast episode on this topic, click on the player at the top of the post. Alternatively you can watch the video below, or read on…}

 

1. Prioritize!

 

When you’ve got so many things going on at once, juggling it all can seem impossible. Even though I’m pretty good at multi-tasking (if I do say so myself), I sometimes feel like time is getting away from me. Apparently, time doesn’t wait for no man or woman…who knew?

 

Here’s a quick rundown of my current situation. At the end of June, my community manager had her baby three weeks early and although I’m really happy for her (of course) we weren’t expecting her to be gone so soon. So, I stepped up to help out more in the business. Oh, and my assistant literally dropped off the face of the planet but that’s a story for another day.

 

It’s safe to say that work was getting a little stressful as I had to wear so many hats. Back at home, I’m getting ready to move to a new house. Our new home is nice and big and…. empty. We don’t have any furniture because we’re coming from a small-town home and moving to a much bigger place.

 

Balancing all of these things hasn’t been easy. I even concluded there is just not enough hours in the day for me to get everything done. I mean, I could sacrifice sleep to squeeze a few more hours in but I’m not going to do that because getting a good night’s sleep is one of my top priorities (if you’re a mom, you’ll understand why).

 

When you feel like you’re being pulled in a ton of different directions, you need to focus on your priorities.

 

Decide what are the things in your business and/or personal life that you can’t live without. These are things that need your attention.

 

For me, that’s childcare. I need to make sure that my kids are taken care of when I’m at work. I can never push childcare to the bottom of my priorities because someone has to watch them.

 

Work will always come second to my family. They’re my top priority and running a business is next in line.

 

So, take some time to rethink your priorities and shift your focus on the things and people that matter most.

 

 2. What’s true urgency and what’s ‘made up’ urgency?

 

Lashpreneurs… we’re a dramatic bunch, aren’t we?

 

We tend to deem things as urgent when in reality, they can wait.

 

You need to ask yourself what is truly urgent in your business or personal life and what isn’t.

 

This is important because as business owners, we think everything is urgent. However, we don’t have a boss lurking over our shoulder all day. We have control of our time and how we choose to spend it.

 

If you were to lay out all of your tasks in front of you, what ones need your attention right now?

 

These are the things that are urgent.

 

Does your toddler need a diaper change? Yeah, that’s probably pretty urgent.

 

Did you forget to share a post of your lunch on Instagram today? That can wait.

 

Something that’s pretty urgent in my life right now is registering my kids for school. It has to be done because they’re meant to start school on August 14th. I can’t change that. My kids have to go to school and I’ve got to make registering them an urgent task I need to do right away. I probably should’ve done it weeks ago, but there you have it.

 

Be careful that you aren’t making things urgent that could probably wait. The more time you spend doing things that aren’t urgent, the less time you have to spend on the things that really do need your attention.

 

 

3. Do you need to say no to something?

Are you a people pleaser?

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that yes, you are a people pleaser. You do lashes for a living and a big part of the job is obviously making your clients happy.

But when does “people pleasing” become too much?

Probably around the time you start saying yes to things you really want to say no to. This can be really hard, especially when you hate letting people down. However, when you get in the habit of saying yes just to please people, you’ve got a problem.

Every time you say yes to something, you’re saying no to something else.

You need to make sure that you’re using the time that you have doing the things that really matter to you.

The other day, my daughter wanted to play with bubbles outside (don’t ask me why, she just has a weird fascination with them). Well anyway, I had to do some engagement on social media, which felt like an urgent matter at the time.

In reality, it wasn’t an urgent matter at all. I said yes to work and no to my daughter. The result? She ended up having to sit and watch TV as I worked on something that could’ve waited. I realized I’m missing out on creating new memories with my kids because I was saying yes to the wrong things.

The next time you say yes to something, think about what you’re saying no to. Then, ask yourself if you’re okay with that. If not, you need to make a change.

 

 4. When is enough enough?

You’ve heard me talk about new level, new devil a few times on the podcast, the blog and inside of The Lashpreneur Society. It’s something that I bring up again and again because it’s true.

No matter how successful you are or how high you climb up the career ladder, there’s always going to be new problems at each level. And, perhaps even worse than that, you’re always going to want more than what you already have.

As a mom or business owner, there’s no clear picture of what’s enough for you.

You’re always going to push for the next thing. You feel like when you have enough clients and enough money, you’ll finally have enough.

But that’s rarely the case. Instead, what you end up with is the harmful narrative that you’ll never have enough, and you’ll never be enough. And you’ll never have a life you want. It’s a vicious cycle of self-doubt and disappointment.

We’re stuck in a society where we’re rewarded for overachieving in business and at work. We wear our successes and accomplishments at work like badges of honor and they somehow link to our self-worth. Whereas family success is subtle. Only the people closest to you see your personal triumphs and your failures.

You need to have the conversation with yourself and decide when enough is enough. Nobody is going to swoop into your life and do it for you. It’s up to you to force yourself to stop working and obsessing over lashes long enough to actually live in the moment.

If you want to be present with your partner, your kids, your pets and yourself, you need to know when enough is enough!

So, to answer the question – how do you manage your time between business, family and free time?

My suggestion is, firstly, get clear on your priorities and focus on what’s most important to you. Secondly, stop making up urgent matters in your head and know how to identify when something is truly urgent enough or not. And, finally, know when enough is enough.

 

If you want to stop wasting your time and get some more clarity on all of this and how to run a business without letting it take over your personal life, I’m releasing a FREE workshop series very soon that’s going to help you do just that and more.

 

Interested? Follow me @thelashpreneur on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with the latest updates and be notified when the new video workshop series is released!

 

Have a Good One!

Tara Walsh

The Lashpreneur