Learning how to separate work and personal life has never been more important now that a lot of people work from home. As a therapist, you may now have more virtual sessions with clients, which can pose some challenges when it comes to creating boundaries.
If you’re operating from home, it’s normal for these two aspects of your life to clash. But it can also clash even if you don’t work from home. In order to have a successful career and a fulfilling personal life, creating healthy boundaries to separate the two is essential. That being said, keep on reading to find out some ways in which you can do this.
Create a list of personal goals and to-do’s
This is something that is often overlooked as people tend to focus mainly on work-related goals and tasks on any given day or week. As a result, personal goals or to-dos are neglected. Set aside the time to write down things you want to achieve in your personal life. This can include going to the gym, date nights with your spouse, or family time. Also, be specific with the tasks. For example, gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6 pm – 7 pm.
Time Block
The next step after creating your list is blocking out the time in your calendar to do it. No matter how small you think the personal tasks are, block off the time. Seeing blocked time on your calendar can help you to hold yourself accountable. Don’t just use your calendar for work-related tasks. Develop the habit of blocking time for your personal life as well.
What’s Urgent Vs What’s Important
Determine what’s urgent from what’s important as it pertains to work. As business owners, everything seems important to us. This way of thinking can lead to poor prioritization of tasks and overwhelm. If we do not distinguish the two, we can end up overpacking our days and working overtime. Urgent tasks are tasks that need immediate attention, and if not completed that day, will have negative consequences. So write out a list of all the tasks that you have to do for a given day or week, then determine those that are urgent and get them done first.
Try Delegating
Determine which one of the tasks requires you to do it personally, and which ones you can delegate to free up your time. One of the major reasons why it is sometimes hard for business owners to create boundaries between their work and personal life is that we are perfectionists. There are two systems of beliefs: if we cannot do it on our own we are incompetent, and if we don’t do it ourselves, it won’t be done right. Neither is true. Allowing yourself to delegate tasks in your business can not only be a game changer for your business, but also for your personal life.
Communication is Key
Communicate your boundaries to team members, co-workers, staff, and even family. Clear communication will be crucial for not only ensuring that you respect your newly set boundaries, but that other people do too; especially if the changes may directly affect others. State what you will and will not be doing from that point onwards.
Reflect Weekly
Develop a habit of weekly reflection. Ask yourself questions like, “did I allow my work life to take over this week?”, “How much time did I dedicate to personal goals/tasks?”, “How can I do better next week?”. Developing this habit will help you not only be accountable but will also help you turn these new boundaries, into healthy habits.
These are just a few ideas to get you started on creating boundaries so that your work life doesn’t become your whole life. It’s so important for our mental well-being that we maintain a healthy balance. We love what we do, but without healthy boundaries, it can become draining, and stressful, and cause us to become unhappy – boundaries protect our happiness and our peace of mind.