How To Set Boundaries and Achieve Life Balance

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Last updated on March 29th, 2023 at 04:11 am

I had no idea how much my corporate job was helping me balance my life.

In the last month, I’ve gone from a full-time corporate employee with a side gig to a full-time entrepreneur. After the initial shock of it, I’m so happy with this sudden change in life. But, it’s taken a toll on creating a work-life balance.

I was recently asked how I’m able to set up boundaries when it comes to work and life —in other words, how do I achieve a work-life balance? The answer?

It’s not really an equal balance all the time. During some seasons I work more, and during others, I spend more time focused on my family.

To me, that’s the only way to get life balance.

Right now I’m in a season of life where I’m trying to adjust to this new life of an entrepreneur and stay-at-home mom. It’s been extremely confusing. Most of my routines were based on the things I needed to do for my corporate job. Now the anchor is gone and I’m setting sail on my own.

So today I’m sharing with you the four things I’m doing to try and achieve that life balance we’re all after.

01. Set a routine/schedule

We all live for routines. Look at how messed up things get when you take a baby or toddler off their sleep routine. I think we’re all about the same when things get thrown off.

I’ve been thrown off my routine, and it’s taking me time to find a groove. The week after I stopped working corporate, the whole family was in a wedding. I couldn’t really get everything in the right order, and I’ve really been struggling.

There are a few things that are anchored down that I need to build around.

I have a morning routine
I have an exercise routine
My daughter goes to school twice a week
I meal plan and prep every Monday
I clean the house every Thursday evening

So now I’m figuring out how to schedule work and life around these times. As Marie Forleo says, “Everything is figureoutable.”

02. Batching

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be experimenting with different routines. For me, batching works really well. Meal planning and prep Mondays and Cleaning Thursday work really well, so why not start batching my work?

One of my mentors, Ashlyn Carter, has a YouTube episode on how she batches and themes every one of her work days. I’ve done this with my homemaking —it’s time to try it out with work.

03. Set limits

After a week of intense work, I figured out that I start losing steam and get groggy and irritated if I work too long. I plan on limiting the time I do work to only the morning. I’m hoping this won’t just keep me from all the bad feelings, but that I’ll be more productive since I have a limited amount of hours to work.

It also means my daughter is happier because I’m not always working all the time. I remember feeling that way too when I was a kid. I hated the years my mom worked. Things were so much harder. I’m trying to keep that in mind with this whole work-life balance thing.

One big change I made was setting limits on my devices. I turned off notifications for social media and email. Email is set up so that I can’t respond to work emails on my phone. I have to go sit down at my computer because I can only send emails from my personal address on my phone. Plus, I’m working on staying off my phone by leaving it in another room where I’m not tempted to mindlessly reach for it.

04. Set goals

There’s been a lot of talk about goal-setting on this blog lately, but it’s been so life-altering!

I’m planning for the month ahead so I know what’s most important …what to prioritize. Since I’m only setting one priority each day, it’s been really helpful in keeping that life balance.

A plan for achieving life balance for each new season

For now, this is what’s working to help me set boundaries & achieve a little bit of life balance:

setting routines/schedules
batching
limiting my time
setting goals

How To Set Boundaries and Achieve Life Balance