Freelance and family life: 5 keys to finding the right work-life balance : Unforeseen events, shifted schedules, last-minute adaptations… The days of a freelancer are never the same. Exactly like a parent’s! Although these two lives require a lot of personal investment and time, they are not incompatible. All it takes is good organization to combine the joy of parenthood with the challenge of entrepreneurship. Here are 5 ways to help you find the right balance.
Freelance and family life: 5 keys to finding the right work-life balance
1. Space management
The biggest difficulty in combining freelance and family life is certainly space management. Indeed, the life of a parent and that of a freelancer is spent most of the time at home. In order not to get lost, it is essential to separate your work space from your living space. It’s out of the question to answer your emails in the kitchen while you’re preparing your baby’s breakfast.
If you don’t have a separate room at home, the first piece of advice is to avoid installing your workspace in your bedroom. This sleeping area calls for anything but work. Instead, to be more productive, choose a neutral space that won’t make you want to sleep or binge watch Netflix. If you decide to work in the living room, it is imperative that your loved ones play along and understand that you are not to be disturbed during the hours you set. If this is still complicated, noise-canceling headphones will help a lot.
When working from home is impossible for x or y reasons, you can also consider working in a coworking space or at your clients’ homes.
2. Time management
When you don’t work in an office, time management can be complicated. Setting up a schedule that separates work time and personal life is imperative to avoid being overwhelmed and have a good life balance. Here’s how you can get organized:
● Share your schedule with your family: this way everyone will know your work time and can stick to it. If all your family members are connected, you can use an online schedule. Otherwise, a simple paper schedule may be appropriate.
● Plan your work and leisure time with your family: in your schedule, do not hesitate to inform special events, such as birthdays, outings, vacations… As well as your professional appointments and deadlines, so that everyone is aware of them.
● Delineate your working hours and stick to them: your freelance status gives you real flexibility in your working hours. This is a crucial advantage that should not be turned into an excuse to work anytime. Define hours dedicated to your professional activity, without forgetting the breaks! This way you can avoid working while taking care of your children and share quality time with your family.
3. Take a weekly review
Anticipation and organization are the keys to successfully balancing family life and freelancing without being overwhelmed. Taking stock regularly will allow you to know where you stand in your work as well as in your personal life. This is a good way to anticipate possible unforeseen events and to adapt your schedule according to them, whether they are professional or personal.
4. Establish rules and know how to say no
When you work as a freelancer, you tend to feel guilty very quickly. Often, we accept a lot of things, for fear of losing a client, of not having enough work, or even of offending a relative. However, this status is supposed to bring us a certain freedom. It is important to know how to say no and to respect your own rules. Your clients won’t run away because you can’t be reached after 7 p.m., on weekends or during your vacations. And your neighbors can understand that working from home does not mean that you are always available to chat or to receive their packages. In this way, you will relieve yourself of the mental burden and avoid burn out, for example.
5. Dare to delegate
Taking care of your children, maintaining your house and developing your business at the same time is possible. But to do it, you need help. Unless you’re a robot, you’ll never be able to keep up physically or mentally in the long run by doing everything yourself. There is no shame in delegating. For example, you can hire a home help for the housework, or hire a babysitter. On the work side, you can use a virtual assistant to relieve your schedule, or delegate your communication to another freelancer.
Freelance and family life: 5 keys to finding the right work-life balance
Payroll services: the ideal solution to reconcile freelance and family life
Taking full advantage of the flexibility of a freelance career, while having the financial security to protect your family, can seem difficult. Payroll outsourcing allows you to reconcile your entrepreneurial freedom with all the advantages of a salaried position. Employment contract, complete social coverage (insurance, unemployment, mutual insurance, retirement), easy loan to buy your home, etc. It is an ideal solution to take advantage of the benefits of self-employment while avoiding the risks. The accounting and legal support also allows you to save precious time!