What To Do When Your Professional Pursuits Start Encroaching On Your Home Life

It’s not unusual for entrepreneurs to eat, sleep, and breathe their budding business ideas. After all, you’ve got to be in it to be in it. 

But did you know that letting your professional pursuits creep into all corners of your life might not be such a positive thing? In fact, both your personal self and your business ideas could suffer if you let the lines of your lifestyle blur to an extreme degree. 

This is especially true when it comes to your home life, where too much crossover can increase your risks of burnout, as well as preventing you from ever achieving true professional growth. That’s why we’ve put together a game plan of steps you can take if your business and home are currently bunking up too closely together. 

Step 1: Reconsider Your Business Structure

Business structures can be a real stress for entrepreneurs, and that’s mainly because it’s easy to get this wrong. While registering as a sole proprietorship can seem like the easy option, this is a fatal mistake when it comes to keeping your home/work life separate. That’s because, with this business structure, you’re entirely liable for your professional pursuit. In other words, your company’s debts are your debts, and your home could literally come under risk if you make fatal business mistakes. 

To avoid that, it’s worth working with a company like InCorp to choose a more suitable business structure, such as an LLC, which means that your business is a separate legal entity. That provides a level of protection for your personal life that you simply won’t get otherwise, regardless of what’s happening in your professional pursuits.  

Step 2: Outsource Your Business Address

If you’re currently receiving business mail at your home address, then something needs to change. As well as being generally inconvenient as your business grows, it can be difficult to get your head in the entrepreneurial mindset if your business invoices are stuck in with dental reminders for your kids. 

Of course, buying your own office space to secure a business address isn’t always possible, but it’s not your only option. With an outsourced business address, you can secure a virtual mailbox service that both makes you look more professional and ensures no business letters ever sneak through your home letterbox again. 

Step 3: Set Your Own Boundaries

Sometimes, your professional pursuits can encroach on your home life simply because you haven’t set boundaries. Perhaps your spare stock has crept into the family dining room, or maybe you spend so many hours in your home office that you hardly see your family at all. These mistakes can take a toll on your well-being and your relationships. 

Setting boundaries like clear work hours and the need to keep all professional papers/packages, etc., within a dedicated place in your house can make a huge difference here. That way, when you sign off for the day, you can finally take uninterrupted time out with your family again. 

Step 4: Consider a Garden Office

In-home office spaces are undeniably convenient. Who doesn’t love the opportunity to slip out of bed and straight to their desk in the morning? You won’t even need to take your slippers off if you don’t want to? But, an office that’s located right next to your bedroom also poses a few problems. 

For one thing, in-home offices are a boiling point of crossed lines, especially if you have kids in the house. After all, they won’t think twice about running in to show you something when you’re on an important Zoom call (who can forget that viral BBC video?). You may also get into the habit of slipping into the office to finish something, even during crucial family time. 

These are all negatives you’ll want to avoid, and taking your office outside (even if you’re still technically planning to work from home) is often the best way to do that. As well as giving you a locked and fully secure separate space for all your paperwork, etc., a garden office is a great and clear boundary. You certainly won’t be able to slip out here half as easily when you’re trying to focus on your family! 

Step 5: Stop Hosting Meetings at Home

Bringing clients into your home is almost always a mistake. Never mind that it’s convenient; it’s a lifestyle crossover that you’re best off avoiding at all costs. This is true even if you have an outdoor office with its very own entrance. 

Instead, it would be far more advisable to seek separate setups for hosting clients, be that within a meeting space in a co-working building, or through a Zoom meeting instead. In either instance, you ensure that you’re not literally inviting work into your home, and also that you’re able to present a generally more professional image to clients overall. 

Step 6: Always be Willing to Reassess Your Approach

Home/work boundaries that are effective at one stage won’t necessarily work throughout your business journey. Hence, it’s also essential that you’re willing to constantly reassess your approach. 

This is true in all areas. For example, different business structures will be best for keeping your interests separate at different stages of your business journey. Equally, while you may be able to comfortably store stock at home to begin with, that’s not necessarily true as you scale your enterprise. 

So, stay in-tune. If you feel like you haven’t spent much time with your family, or you’re giving too much of your personal space and self to work pursuits, then it’s probably time to reassess and discover new boundaries. 

Takeaway

Your business means everything to you, but that doesn’t mean you should let it overshadow every element of your home life. Unfortunately, this is an issue that too many of us overlook until it’s too late. But, there are still steps you can take if work keeps getting in the way at home. Simply pay attention, consider the nature of the crossover, and think about whether these top tips would help you to take back control at last.

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