6 Ways To Keep Your Business Separate From Your Personal Life

This isn't something you'll want to happen. It's not worth losing your life in exchange for a stable business or career. Especially in today's time when there's so much technology you can use to your advantage, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to create a balance. These two paths don't always have to cross, especially when you make it a point to draw the line, for your sake, health, mental aptitude, social life, and even for your personal relationships.

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As a business owner, one of the hardest things you'll have to accomplish is striking that perfect balance with your business and personal life. If you've long been struggling with it and now, you're looking for a change, this article lists down six ways to keep your business separate from your personal life, whether you're running a physical office or in keeping with modern days, running a business from home.

1. Arrive And Leave Work On Time

One of the most common ways that mayaffect your business and personal life balance is when you spend more time in your business, you end up leaving your workplace later than the closing time.

There may be instances when this is called for. For instance, when it's the tax season or accounting season, or if you have big business reports coming up. But, if it has become a daily habit, then you're breaking your personal life by letting your business take over.

To avoid this from happening, the best way to start is make it a habit to arrive in your business office on time. This is an important tip to remind entrepreneurs about, as because you're the boss of your own office, it's easy to come to work later than the opening hours, thinking you can extend later on or just finish things early.

But, being the boss of your own schedule doesn't mean having this kind of habit. Make it a point to arrive on work on time, so you have enough time in the day to do everything you have to accomplish as the business owner. When the employees leave during the closing time, then you can leave for home as well.

2. Establish Separate Phone Numbers

Even when you're still running a small business, this doesn't mean you should use your personal number for your business. Right from the startup phase, create this boundary right there and then by establishing a separate phone numberand utilize modern phone features. For example, you can ask to install auto-dialer apps from trusted companies like Call Cowboy or any other call software provider in your local area.

In doing so, you don't have to drown yourself in hundreds of calls regularly mixing personal and business inquiries or concerns, for instance.

Today, it's easier now to do this, as there are calling software you can sign up for, with their respective agents or automated systems to answer the calls for you. So, when you pay for these types of software, you no longer have tobe the one addressing these calls. Moreover, you may also avail ringless voicemail and text marketing software for your business phones so you won't have to deal with every message and call using your personal phones. There's a lot of software like this offered by different companies like Drop Cowboy.

To convince you even more, here are good reasons why establishing a separate phone numberis a good idea:

1. It gives you more control over your time—particularly weekends, when you don't have to answer business and work-related concerns on this time, you'll reserve for your personal life instead;

1. It enables better roaming calls, which is where the call automation software comes in, as even when you're out traveling, you won't have to concern yourself with roaming hotlines anymore just to have the phone ringing for business inquiries;

1. It reduces your stress levels when your phone isn't ringing every single minute and you feel like you just can't enjoy your free time anymore.

3. Overcome Entrepreneurial Procrastination

Entrepreneurial procrastination happens when you take advantage of being your own boss, to the point this begins to eat up your schedule, simply because of time management. It's easy to leave some tasks off for later, when you don't have a boss to report to anyway, because you're the boss.

Unfortunately, this is a bad habit that's not only hurting your business productivity, but also your life as well. This starts with becoming easily distracted from completing a job. So, once you arrive at the office on time, let go of all these distractions make you lose your focus as you work.

The less you procrastinate, the less the likelihood you'll have to use your personal time to make up for the tasks you weren't able to complete.

If you feel this speaks to you and you want to create a change now in your business and personal habits, here are some tips so you can overcome entrepreneurial procrastination successfully:

1. Become aware of the tasks that need to be done. Have a system, a to-do list or a plan through task managers or the old-school planner, so you know what needs to be done in the day. When you break jobs up into daily responsibilities, it feels less overwhelming to accomplish.

1. Stop aiming for perfection. It's normal for entrepreneurs to strive for perfection. Certainly, you wouldn't want anything to be any less than perfect for your business. While this is a good trait, it can be too much when you start to expect perfection in every single business-related task. This will mean you're endlessly tweaking and altering projects that are already done and well presentable enough simply because it's not 'perfect' enough for you.

1. Exercise control. This is one of the advantages you should have as the boss of your business, but unfortunately, it may be the case you haven't exercising control anymore. This is evident when your business and personal life are all over the place.

One of the biggest changes you can now do is to exercise that control. Have a schedule and stick to it. If you've scheduled family time on this certain weekend, then don't let a 'business emergency' destroy this, if that 'emergency' can wait for Monday.

In exercising control, this also means looking at your schedule on the 'long run', which usually means monthly. At the start of every month, have a monthly planner. Plot out all the activities you have to incorporate, like those in business and those in your personal   life. Include all the birthdays of your kids, for instance. This makes it easier for you to put     things in perspective by ensuring you don't procrastinate, so you'll have enough free time to attend to those other, important schedules relating to your personal life.

1. Schedule down time. Along with the tip above on exercising control, it doesn't hurt, too, to schedule some down time. If you can do this regularly, then why not. Block out a certain time where you can be alone, by yourself, and without an employee or your secretary barging in your office asking you to attend to another responsibility.

This doesn't mean taking off two hours in your working day to just 'breathe'. It can be as easy as a twenty-minute break of silence where you can eat in peace, go on your phone in peace, or even take a quick nap without anyone suddenly breaking this time.

1. Learn to prioritize activities. This tip is one of the best ways to avoid procrastination. Rather than set aside big and difficult tasks for later, put this on top of your list of priorities to accomplish. For instance, tackle these hard tasks on Monday morning. It can set your entire week on a more positive note when you've ticked off these heavier tasks early on the week.

Most importantly, when you prioritize heavier activities on the top of your to-do list, it allows you more freedom to give time for personal activities. For example, you're a parent and an entrepreneur at the same time. Your kids have a family day on Friday and you know they would appreciate it if you're there. You don't have to run the risk of not making it because you still have to attend to the major business tasks you didn't take care of earlier in the week.

With this kind of balance, you're winning both as a business owner and as a parent.

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4. Set Specific Offline Hours

It's easy to set specific offline hours as an employee because this generally just abides by the operating hours. When the employees leave, then they can be out of reach until the next day.

As a business owner, however, this can be more difficult. Your team might mistakenly consider you to be on-call all the time, therefore reaching you or trying to contact you regularly on weekends or even on evenings after rule.

If there are still members of your team who finds a way to reach you despite having a separate phone number, among others, then it's up to you now also to create a certain 'time zone' as your offline hours. This means no matter the email, call or text you receive, you just put it off for later, typically on the next working day.

If it's not an emergency, then don't bother picking up or addressing the message. Answering one call may lead into ten more. Plus, when you do, it's like you're sending out the message to your team they can just reach you at any time they so do please.

By having 'offline hours', you can use those hours to focus on yourself, your personal life, family, relationships or even traveling, relaxing or whatever hobbies you want to have on that breather from work.

5. Create Different Social Media Accounts

Like keeping your phone numbers separate, you can also do well with creating different social media and email accounts. For the same reason as giving you more space and autonomy with different numbers, this holds true as well with your social media accounts.

You wouldn't want your employees to see what you've been up to this weekend, and then having that form part of the company gossip during lunch break. There are limits as to what they should know about you as their boss, and you as an individual. Leave the latter for your friends and family.

When you have a separate social media account for your personal life and your business image, you're also exercising control over the information you're putting out there regarding your personal life. Surely you wouldn't want your business customers to get to know every single detail of your life as well.

 6. Have Outside-Work Activities

There are instances when your company may have weekend activities like charities, seminars, outreaches, family day, among others. But, don't let these be too frequent to the point even your weekends are spent still doing business-related activities.

To protect your mental health and to foster and promote good relationships with your family, it's important you'll prioritize outside-work activities during the weekends. This means have a plan. It doesn't always have to be big things like going on a road trip or traveling, but it can be as simple as watching a movie, having a pamper session done, dining with friends or taking your kids to the skate park.

Whenyou have outside-work activities, you're able to free your mind of the stress from beingthe boss over the entire week. It sets you up for a more positive start come Monday, when you're able to have a breather. More so, it's easier to say 'no' to business-related activities on weekends when you've already set your mind to do something better for yourself or your family.

Conclusion

In the pursuit of creating a steady income flow, it can often be easy to lose your track or to drown in your business, putting your personal life at its mercy. This isn't a good practice. Remember your business and money isn't everything. You need to create abarrier so you can still live a well-balanced life. While it may not be simple, it's doable. Once you start creating these changes and you'll find your productivity as an entrepreneur doesn't have to suffer because you're learning to say 'no', you'll begin thanking yourself for deciding on creating this change. A business can still exist to be successful without overlapping the limits of your personal life.

David Pac

Update 25 March 2021