My healthy work boundaries, and why they’re so important if you’re self-employed (even if you’re not!)

healthy-work-boundaries

Speaking to Fiona Humberstone on the podcast recently (listen here) it struck me how much I admire her work boundaries. With Fiona and a few other guests, I’ve really noticed how assertive they are with their non-negotiables.

We all have ideas of the work-life balance we want, and we deserve. But how many of us are getting practical with what that looks like, in our work, business and life?

Are you bending over backwards for other people, only to arrive home exhausted every day, wishing things were different? 

Maybe you’re taking on too many clients, and feeling overstretched, overworked or even underpaid? 

Today I invite you to get really intentional with the work boundaries you want to set in place, and how that’s going to look on paper.


Give yourself permission to create space in your life


Some of my personal work boundaries:

♡ I spend at least the first hour of my work day offline – no emails, no social media. I read, I meditate or I go to the gym.

♡ Time blocking social media and emails in 2-hour chunks on either side of the day. So I’m not living in my inbox and letting it stifle my creativity and other important work projects.

♡ At least one day in my week that’s meetings/interviews/coaching calls free, so I know I have one full desk day to get into an undisturbed workflow.

♡ At least one week in the month where I’m at home for the majority of the week. This one is really difficult but having seen the difference when we were house-sitting last month, my productivity at home for a few days back to back was insane.

♡ Unless we have a WeBlogNorth workshop or seminar, Sundays are OFF. Nothing work-related unless it’s forward planning that I genuinely want to do. No emails, and trying to stay off social media for most of the day.

There is trial and error involved with this kind of stuff. I’ve learnt how and why these boundaries work for me and my business, mostly by doing the complete opposite and feeling the burnout as a result.

Think of boundaries as a tool to free up headspace in your schedule.

Not only are you saying,
“No work on Sunday”
“Don’t book work whilst the kids are off”
“No checking emails after 6 pm”

You’re giving yourself permission to create space in your life that fuels you.

When I think about a Sunday spent with Adam, relaxing, getting a solid workout in, getting my cleaning done, eating some good food – it makes me feel good. It makes me feel happy, excited and balanced. If you know there’s a boundary you can set in your work/life that’s gonna make you feel that too, make the decision to say no to the other stuff and yes to yourself. 

I’m going to share some practical tips to implement boundaries in your work and life next week. Stay tuned!

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