8 Steps on How to Live a Balanced Life as a Women with a Family and Working from Home

If you’re a woman with a family and are either working from home or you run your own home-based business, then how do you get the work-life balance right?

This is what we’re going to look at here.

I’m a woman who has been working from home over the last 25 years and I know that I’ve personally stressed about this balance many times.

For me, it was running my own home businesses (as opposed to being in employment and working from home) and this does put extra pressure on you because if you don’t put the work in, you don’t get an income.

So I’ve put together my top eight ways for you to try and get some orderly balance in your life between family and working from home.

Here’s what we’re going to cover:

So let’s get started…

Establishing Priorities

First of all, it is important to establish priorities in your life.

Decide what is most important for both your family and your business – this will help keep things balanced.

Make sure that the needs of your family come first; if something has to give, let it be the business rather than the time spent with loved ones.

Once you have established your priorities, then it’s time to set your working hours.

HOW TO LIVE A BALANCED LIFE AS A WOMAN

Set Your Working Hours

You need to define clear boundaries between ‘work’ time and ‘family’ time so there’s no confusion or overlap between them.

So think about what needs to be done in your business and how much you can dedicate to it in any given week.

When deciding on your business hours, don’t forget to take into account and set aside specific times during which you are available only for family activities. This helps to ensure that your focus remains on being present for those moments.

Set Realistic Goals

Next is to set realistic goals. By creating achievable expectations for yourself, you’ll be able to stay focused on what needs to get done without feeling like you’re neglecting one or the other.

It’s important not to overextend yourself – make sure that each goal can be accomplished within a reasonable amount of time.

For example, you may want to set:

Weekly Goals: If you’re setting weekly goals, then work backwards and map out what little milestones you have to do each day in order for you to reach that particular goal.

Monthly Goals: Again, break the goals down into steps and then into a sequential order. Then divide the steps by week and then by day.

Advanced Planning

As you can see, all it takes is a bit of forward thinking and planning.

You could set aside time on a Sunday evening and write down exactly what you want to accomplish for the forthcoming week.

You can use the worksheets inside my handy Small Business Management Kit to help you do your weekly planning.

Planning is the main way you can live a balanced life as a woman.

Creating Business Habits

I think that this is something a which lot of female entrepreneurs overlook – creating business habits.

When you work towards creating daily business habits, then well… they become a habit 🙂

And when you have a bunch of healthy and productive work habits, can you imagine how stress free and efficient your work week will be!

Daily habits could be:

Habit Stacking

James Clear calls this habit stacking where you create one habit straight after the other until you have a stack of habits.

Of course, you can create good habits and habit stacking in all areas of your life. So you could include a fifteen minute walk around the block between doing your bookkeeping to then starting on your planned milestones for the day.

Your daily habit stacking would then look like this:

HOW TO LIVE A BALANCED LIFE AS A WOMAN

Creating A Productive Workspace

Another major component of getting the work~life balance right is having an organized office space that’s dedicated solely to your business.

Ideally, it should be kept separate from the rest of the house. You know, one of those trendy home-office sheds in the back garden!

But of course, not many of us will be able to have that luxury. So the next best thing would be to have a separate room in the house, but if that’s not possible then there are still plenty of ways to set up a home office in a tiny space.

Then once you have your office space allocated, you then need to set up your work area with all of the necessary supplies and equipment needed for your particular line of work.

Investing in quality furniture and accessories will make it more comfortable and efficient when performing various tasks. Also, consider adding some personal touches such as artwork or plants to help create a welcoming atmosphere.

Fostering A Supportive Family Environment

Did you know that 60% of home-based business owners experience a decrease in family satisfaction due to the increased demands on their time? [Source]

It’s therefore imperative for home-based female entrepreneurs to learn how to balance family life and their businesses.

Here are three tips for fostering a supportive family environment:

1) Create Clear Boundaries Between Work and Leisure Hours.

Talk with your spouse or children about when it’s okay to interrupt you while you’re working. Set realistic expectations together so everyone feels comfortable and respected.

2) Prioritize Quality Time Spent With Loved Ones – even if only 15 minutes per day!

Show them the importance of setting aside dedicated time for each other by being present during meals, outings, and conversations without multitasking or checking emails/texts on your phone.

3) Practice Active Listening Skills When Communicating With Your Family.

Acknowledge what they’re saying by summarizing their points back to them before responding – this shows that you care about understanding where they’re coming from.

By learning how to successfully manage both work and family commitments, home-based women entrepreneurs can increase overall happiness within the household and still maintain a successful career at the same time!

HOW TO LIVE A BALANCED LIFE AS A WOMAN

Taking Care Of Yourself

It’s essential to take care of your own health and well-being when you’re running a home-based business or working from home.

Burnout can be common, especially if you try to do too much at once.

Make sure that you set aside time for yourself each day, even if it’s just 15 minutes. Use this time to practice mindfulness or enjoy some relaxing activities such as reading, yoga, or going for a walk.

Make sure that you also plan regular breaks throughout the week where you can focus on other aspects of your life outside of work. This will help keep things in perspective, allowing you to better manage stress levels and stay focused on the task at hand.

If possible, schedule these breaks with family members so that everyone is able to bond and spend quality time together.

Having boundaries between personal life and work will help ensure that both areas remain balanced which will benefit your mental health in the long run.

Making Time For Quality Family Moments

It’s important to make sure that you’re making time for both working from home and your family, so neither one is neglected.

Here are some tips on how to best manage your time while keeping family life in mind:

Daily Family Activities

First of all, set aside specific times every day dedicated solely to family activities.

This could mean having meals together or carving out an hour each evening when everyone comes together just to talk about their days and spend quality time as a unit.

During this period, turn off work phones and computers; it’s important that the focus stays on each other during these designated moments.

Additionally, try scheduling fun events outside the house once a week, like going to the movies or getting ice cream after dinner. Making sure regular bonding activities occur helps foster strong relationships among family members and builds trust over time.

Prioritize Tasks

When trying to juggle multiple tasks at once, prioritize!

Make lists detailing what needs attention first and foremost; if something related to work takes precedence then plan accordingly by either cutting down allotted family time or vise versa – whichever works best for your situation.

Working from home allows more flexibility than working outside the house would; so don’t forget that there are options available so take advantage of them whenever possible!

Remember Your WHY

Most importantly, remember why you chose to start a home-based business in the first place: it was done with your loved ones’ best interests in mind, so don’t let anything get lost along the way!

Making sure ample amounts of quality family moments occur doesn’t have to be difficult if managed correctly. By setting aside specified periods of time for both business ventures and family activities will ensure that no aspect gets left behind due hard work pays off eventually!

HOW TO LIVE A BALANCED LIFE AS A WOMAN

Conclusion

Balancing family life and a home-based business / working from home can seem like an impossible task, but with the right strategies in place it is possible to make it work.

It does however take focus and commitment, as well as dedication from your family to give you time to devote to your business.

So to recap, you get the right work~life balance by:

you will be able to successfully balance both aspects of your life.

This has allowed me to reach success in both aspects of my life without feeling overwhelmed or spread too thin!

Ultimately, when it comes down to maintaining harmony between your professional responsibilities and personal commitments there is no one-size-fits all answer; what works best for you may not necessarily be the same method used by someone else.

However, if you take steps towards understanding how best you can manage these two worlds within one household then you’ll go a long way towards achieving balance in both areas of life.

Claire

Hi, I’m Claire Bullerwell

I’ve ran dozens of home-based businesses, both offline and online, since my early twenties. I started this blog to share all my wealth of knowledge and experience to help women just like you; to find your dream home business and to live your best life.

Follow me and let’s get acquainted…