For an entrepreneur or solo practitioner, it’s possible to work 24 hours a day. You could easily be answering emails at eleven pm and managing your marketing at midnight. Work is like water that way, it fills up as much space as you give it. And, while you have professional goals you’re striving to achieve, letting work monopolize your life can eventually take its toll on your health, both physically and emotionally, along with your productivity.
Balance is that often elusive goal that everyone talks about “achieving” but with technology invading every corner of your life, it could become your biggest personal challenge. At Stark Office Suites, we understand that choosing the right office environment can be a first step towards achieving this balance. The right full-time or virtual office coupled with implementing the three components below to your workday, can help you tame that insatiable beast that is your professional life and put you back in control.
Structure Your Day
As human beings, we like routine. If you’re a commuter, your morning is governed by a train schedule and how one misstep (and missed train) puts you at your desk unacceptably LATE. And you now spend much of your day trying to catch up.
But now, imagine you work from home. With nothing to delineate the boundaries of your workday, it inevitably starts earlier and ends when you drag your weary self to bed. You may think it’s a boon for your productivity but, in truth, it gets old quickly when you have no space to clear your head and the PowerPoint presentation you’re working on is vying with your three-year-old for your attention.
Consider adding some of that routine and productivity back into your life by taking an office outside the home and close enough to your family so you can leave work at work. You can better control your schedule and in the evening, exhale and become Mom or Dad again. That travel time is important because it belongs entirely to you.
Set Clear Boundaries
When you work from home, it’s a common occurrence to have your son ask to have a mid-afternoon catch as you’re deep in thought about your next deal. You’re there… yet, you’re not available. When the lines are blurred between your personal and professional life, it’s frustrating for you and confusing for your kids.
Get on the path to better work/life balance by clarifying when you’re available and when you’re not. If you’re not physically present, it reduces temptation, eliminating random cries of, “Mommmmm, can you….”.
Having an available office or conference room at Stark Office Suites, or having our associates answer your calls when you are with your family helps you manage those boundaries.
Block Out Distractions
There’s nothing quite like holding an important thought until just the right break in the conference call action – when everyone’s attention will be on your brilliant insight – only to be interrupted by your dog barking madly at a squirrel. Home can be a noisy place and trying to keep that aforementioned “game face” on amid the distraction of doorbells, lawnmowers and noisy children further diminishes that work-life balance.
Set yourself up for success both professionally and personally by separating work and life. Balance occurs when you weight them appropriately and don’t try to sneak one into the cracks of the other. Stark Office Suites, conveniently located in Westchester, Fairfield County and New York City, provides the perfect fulltime and virtual workplace solutions to meet your professional needs so, when you’re home, you can focus on what really matters.
