I have heard a few clients recently discuss work/life balance–or the lack thereof. Since the Pandemic, things have shifted for the workforce; between the Great Resignation and Gig Economy, more and more people have decided to work for themselves and solopreneurs or develop partnerships with other entrepreneurs that are like-minded. And for many, there is no work-life balance since they started working from home.

This is something that I know all too well as a self-employed business coach without traditional 9-5 business hours. If it wasn’t for tools like time blocking, monotasking, and batch working I wouldn’t be able to practice work-life integration.

For myself and many of my clients, balance is something that is unrealistic. At any given time, life can be unequal in certain areas. For example, when I first had my son, my life was highly unbalanced because my attention and focus was solely on him. As he has grown into a little human, his needs have changed. He is starting preschool in the fall–he is more independent, no longer requiring constant attention.

In my past life working in Corporate America, work and life were separate. Work-related events were not with family and children in mind. Now, my life has completely changed, my clients meet my family and I often find myself bringing my husband and son along to networking events, speaking engagements, etc.

Work-life balance teaches compartmentalization and constant role switching. Yes, I am an entrepreneur, but I am also a creative, a wife, a mom, a house cleaner, a chef, an organizer, sister, friend, and parent.
Time management strategies involve knowing when and how long to take a break so that you are the most effective and productive. But having your phone or device always at the ready will hinder your efforts because it’s a major distraction.

Plan Your Day

Example: I wake up at 6a.m., go for a swim, walk, or quick 30 min workout, meditate, review my planner, eat breakfast then get my son to school by 8:30a.m. I block 9a.m.-1p.m. for busy admin work then 1p.m.-5p.m. for clients.

Establish Helpful Systems

I have a mail holder when I get the mail, I recycle the ads and pieces I don’t want. Then I put the bills and other important letters in the mail holder. At the end of each week, I go through the mail holder and pay the bills and file anything that needs to be filed. I also take care of anything else in there that needs to be addressed.

Make Lists

Even with a daily plan, I can go off track when things pop up. Writing down everything I’m trying to remember helps by

• Keep moving forward in a positive (instead of random) way
• Takes stress levels way down
• Prioritizes my tasks for the day
• Seeing my progress throughout the day

You can make lists for just about everything. Here are some things that I make lists for:

• Grocery shopping list
• Household items needed from the store
• Bills to pay
• Kids’ activities or chores
• Vacation/travel planning (so we don’t leave our underwear at home!)
• Chores or errands for that day

And, if you really want to be organized you can go a step further. For example, my planner includes a task list of priorities. I use Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle to help quickly identify the activities to focus on, as well as the ones to ignore.

What HAS to get done today? Do THAT first! Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize!

Automate Everything You Can

Effective time management strategies mean putting everything you can on automatic. Simplify what you do so you can do it less often In today’s world, we can do so many things with less time and less energy than in the past.

Examples of tasks you can automate:

• Grocery pickup-Walmart or Instacart pickup for Aldi
• Pet supply delivery
• Prescriptions delivery
• Online, automated bill pay

Step Away From Technology

How many times have you been scrolling mindlessly through your Facebook feed or Pinterest feed or any other social media on your phone only to realize 15 minutes (or worse, 30 minutes) zipped by? Web surfing and social media are huge time suckers for people. A seemingly innocent short break can turn into hours of wasted time you can’t get back.

If you want to take a short break, I recommend setting a timer for 5 or 10 minutes. That’s enough time to let your brain relax. Then put away the phone or device and get back to being productive!

Use Block Scheduling

During the time block, really focus only on that task. Leave the distractions alone and focus on your task until it’s done or your time is up. Be sure to take a small break, then you can move to the next time block on your schedule. I recommend starting with 15-30 minute blocks. Once you get proficient at that, you can increase your block times.

I have found that it helps me be more productive in less time because I’m focused rather than trying to multi-task. Especially if multi-tasking is your thing, I think you will find this very helpful!
If you finish beforehand, move to the next task or take a break (and adjust your schedule for the next round).

Learn To Say ‘No’

Saying “no” is hard, and especially as a working mom, it can be even harder. I think as moms we want to be super involved in our kids’ lives and help anywhere that help is needed.

However, it isn’t necessary to go to every PTA meeting or volunteer for every committee or activity or be the team parent for every kid’s sport of choice. And believe me, I’m a HUGE fan of volunteering.
But if you want to get more done, you have to learn to say “no”–and this doesn’t just go for parenting things!