Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, I’ve always been keenly aware of the impact running a business can have on your personal life. On top of the typical sacrifices entrepreneurs make, I struggle with a TOO REAL addiction to working, aka it is super easy for CLOVE + HALLOW to eclipse everything else in my life.

Now that I’m engaged, I try to be extra conscientious of how my working habits affect my home life. Between taking advice from therapists, reading endless Forbes articles, and falling for the ramblings of one too many “lifestyle gurus”, I’ve tried almost everything under the sun to navigate the ups and downs. A lot of it what I tried was total bullshit but I definitely picked up some awesome tricks along the way, so if you’re married, dating, or concerned about drifting away from friends and family, check out my 5 tips to balancing a business and…well, just about anything else.

Disclaimer: “Find balance” is my goal for 2018 so suffice it to say that I am far from perfect when it comes to navigating the art of “having it all” (whatever that means).

1. Share your business.

Partners, friends, and family are supposed to serve as a support system. You don’t want to wear them out by bringing up your business every single day, but it’s okay – encouraged, even! – to discuss a challenge or share a big win from the day with them. Involving them in your business to an appropriate degree will strengthen your connection and may even generate a fresh perspective or idea that you hadn’t yet considered.

2. Schedule date night or other “no electronics” night.

Here’s the thing: even when I’m not actively working, I’m rarely fully present when my phone or computer is around because I’m absent-mindedly refreshing my email, answering texts, or scrolling through social media. Taking the time to schedule electronics-free date nights in advance makes it easy to budget your time and turn unplugging together into a weekly habit. It might seem silly to schedule time for dinner or movie night or a walk around the park, but I highly recommend giving it a try until it becomes second nature.

3. Create a dedicated working space.

One of the best tips I ever came across is to dedicate a room, surface, or space in your home to working. Even though we all know we shouldn’t, bringing work home is inevitable when you’re running a business. By committing to working only in a certain area, you will find it easier to fully disconnect from work when you’re relaxing in other areas around the home and your partner/family will know to leave you alone when you’re in your working space. (Pro tip: make sure your work space isn’t in your bedroom. This will decrease the likelihood of your partner walking into your bedroom only to find you dead asleep on top of your laptop, screen shining brightly in your eyes, drool dripping onto the keyboard. No, this definitely hasn’t happened to me before.)

4. Shut off when you leave the office.

The biggest mistake I ever made was to start responding to emails at 9pm, 2am, 5am, etc. When you show people you’re working at those hours, they will start expecting you to work at those hours. Do yourself a favor by setting boundaries and do your best to stick to them.

5. Replace guilt with grace.

This is the biggest (and hardest) lesson of all. Entrepreneurs are naturally critical and never satisfied; more than likely, achieving true balance will always feel a little out of reach. There will be times when handling everything feels effortless and time when you feel totally underwater 24/7. Accept the ups and downs as part of life, give yourself some grace when things are tough, and don’t let guilt consume you.

x

Sarah