Is work-life balance achievable? If you have achieved it, share your tips and experience…

Four years ago, I was working as an employee in a small firm but without the flexibility required for a mum with a boy just started school. 

I tried to work out what I could do and what I was passionate about, then realised that for 20 years I had worked in admin, loved it and I could possibly make a business out of assisting others who needed assistance behind the scenes.

Hence the start of my business. 

What you need to do in your business, or in your personal life is to create a structure and stick with it. 

This can be difficult as we are constantly, as mums especially, juggling so many balls in the air at once.

Don’t!  Take stock of your life or business life, and take time out for at least 30 minutes a day to cross off at least one item from your To Do List.

This is something we should all get into a habit of doing. 

We all of them - the dreaded To Do Lists!  You just have to work out ways of getting rid of them before they get too large…

The way is to take the 30 mins break before you do anything else….  What can you do?  What can you outsource?

Free up your time by taking 30 minutes out of the beginning of your day.  You will be surprised at how much you can achieve.

Hazel
Assisting U Virtually

I did the same thing as Hazel. I’m a book editor, and when we decided to start a family five years ago, I decided to become a freelancer so I could have more flexibility.

Five years on and with two children, I still have my freelance editing business, and I’ve also set up a business called Kids’ Book Assessments, which assesses manuscripts for authors of books for children and teenagers, and provides assistance with self-publishing.

Although life’s busy, working for myself allows me to fit work around my kids (with a couple of days of child care thrown in!). I can stop work to get dinner ready or to do things for the kids, and keep working after they’ve gone to bed if I need to. I do sometimes miss working in-house, but I love the flexibility of of working from home, and it feels good to know I have control over my working life.

Working from home is all very well, so long as other family members acknowledge it as ‘real work’ and not ‘fiddling around on the computer’ or an ‘optional’ activity.  Though cheaper in terms of child care, in many ways it is more stressful than getting right away and working from the office.