Balance your career and your personal life by measuring and prioritizing.
Running your own sign making business means you are at constant risk to letting your business run you. In order to keep you work life and your personal life happy, you need to keep them balanced. This means keeping sign shop business in its place, which can be difficult, especially for small thriving businesses. How can you make sure that you aren't letting your small business consume you? Take a good hard look at the nature of time you spend at the office and at home. If you can't see drastic differences between the two, chances are you've let work take over. There is no need to worry though; you can put your small business back in its place. Implement these 5 suggestions and you'll find a balance between the business world and your personal life.
- Set boundaries. Set aside 10 minutes each day during lunch to make and return personal calls and e-mails. Establish a time you will leave the office every day, no matter how busy you might be. If you plan to work at home, take at least 2 hours to do something fun with your family before hitting the books.
- Keep your to-do list short. A to-do list is a glorified wish list, especially when it gets excessively long. Rather than make a long list of what you dream to get done today, write down three concrete tasks that you can most definitely finish. This will keep you focused, and make you feel more productive.
- Be a manager. Delegate jobs out to employees. Outsource to other businesses. There is no reason for you to do every task associated with your sign shop. Make sure you honestly examine what workload you keep for yourself, what you dole out to employees and what you contract out to ensure you are not keeping more work than necessary piled up on your desk.
- Unplug. In this day and age of constant communication the thought of unplugging yourself from everything may seem strange. However, working offline, taking no phone calls and simply concentrating on whatever else may be on your desk can leave you with a sense of accomplishment that will last all day.
- Know your priorities. While you definitely want your business to succeed, you likely don't want to see it take off at the expense of a failed marriage or unhappy family. Remember that your family is like your business in a sense: you get out what you put in. Don't expect to spend all your time at work and reap great rewards at home. Take time out to invest in your family and you'll receive benefits greater than any you can achieve by running a successful small business.
