At Woodville Accountancy we know how important it is to maintain a healthy work-life balance. It’s not just about keeping yourself happy and healthy, it’s important for the health of your business too!
An unhappy, unproductive or unhealthy business owner will directly impact the operation of your business. You owe it yourself and your business to strike the right balance.
We’ve put together eight simple tips to help you get home on time.
1. Set a time to leave every day
You know what time you need to start work, but do you know what time your work day ends? Not having a clearly defined home time can allow you to let projects overrun and get in the habit of responding to those last-minute emails well into the evening. So it’s important to make sure you have a defined end to your day in sight.
2. Plan tomorrow’s to-do list
As you head into the final 30 minutes of your day, start winding down and don’t make a start on any big or complex projects. You should instead think about writing a to-do list for the following day, so you hit the ground running when you arrive in the morning.
3. Put time aside for repetitive tasks
There are things we all have to do every day that takes time, so put aside 30 minutes or so and get them all done at once. Don’t respond to your emails as they arrive; you’ll just be at the mercy of your inbox and won’t get anything done.
Wait for a couple of hours to finish what you were doing, then respond in blocks. It could even be worth having set times to check your emails if your business allows it.
4. Don’t be a perfectionist
It’s essential if you want to get home on time that you learn when to call a project “finished”. The urge to keep agonising over little details making incremental improvements must be tamed, otherwise, time is always going to completely run away with you.
5. Learn to be unavailable
Communication breakthroughs mean we’re all expected to be accessible at all hours of the day. Step back from this and learn to be out of contact for work-related issues during out of work hours. Consider having an out of office answering message for calls and emails, or even pay a third party to manage and filter your calls for you.
6. Do things now, not later
There’s always the urge to procrastinate when it comes to sorting out your order of tasks. If it takes less than two minutes, get in the habit of just getting it done straight away.
This will clear your workflow and make it easier to manage your time.
7. Make plans for after work
We automatically become better at focusing our time and effort when we know we have somewhere to be, so be sure to have something to do after work. Whether it’s meeting friends, going for a meal with the family, or just getting shopping done – have somewhere else to be.
8. Set boundaries between work and home
Sometimes you won’t be able to avoid taking work home with you. If you must, be sure to keep it contained to a confined area of your home. Make that your “workspace”, and when you’re finished with work, close the doors and relax.
These are just some of the ways that we maintain our work-life balance. Have you got any advice or things that work for you? Let us know! Email us at sayhello@woodvilleaccountancy.co.uk