Boundaries In Business

When my dad started his job, he was a single guy. He could work whatever hours he wanted. Long hours would be fine. But he knew that if he worked all hours and on weekends now, it would become expected and he didn't want to work those kinds of hours when he eventually had a family. He thought of his future while establishing his present routine.

I don't know how old I was when I first heard that story, but it has stuck with me. Not only am I thankful for the decisions my dad made when starting his career, it has left me with a lot of thought on how I structure my work.

Right now, I'm single. Someday, I hope to have a family. I want to be a homeschool mom. I'm going to have a lot more plates spinning than I currently do. With the future in mind, I am setting boundaries for myself now. I'm trying to create structure and systems so that I can set expectations that will still be able to be met when life changes.

I allow margin now in case something comes up that I don't expect. I try to think, "what is a reasonable turn-around time on responding to an email? delivering a gallery?" and then I have margin. Sometimes it takes every bit of that time. Other times things get done faster.

There will come a day when I am only able to check email once on some days. Or my week will be so full that just editing is done is quick minutes here and there over an entire week. I hope that my routines and systems in my personal life will make it so that I'm never running out of time, but sometimes, life just happens.

I need to run my business, not let my business run me, so with that in mind, I create boundaries. Simple things like having designated email times, blogging in batches and scheduling the posts out in advance, and not working weekends. Creating these habits and expectations now will let me live the life I want to live later on.