Finding Life Balance Working From Home

Guest post by David Jensen, CPRW

There are three areas of your life that tend to have the strongest demand for your attention—personal, professional, and financial. This is especially true if you are a work-at-home parent. Picture a pie chart featuring each of these categories. Ideally you would like to achieve a balance in these three areas; however, this type of life balance is rare and even if you do reach it at some point, it is difficult to sustain.

If you work at home, you know there will be disruptions to your work as you strive to accommodate the needs of your children. When this is the case, you aren’t able to devote as much time to your work which means on your life-balance pie chart, the professional and financial areas of your life are much smaller. Remind yourself that the current status is okay because the personal portion of your life is doing well.

This is an area that I struggle with the most. No matter which segment absorbs the bulk of my attention, I often think that there is more I should be doing to bolster the other portions of my pie chart. The best way I have found to assuage this mental tug-of-war is to remind myself that each area goes through cycles.

Since I started my business, I have noticed that mid-way through the summer months my business slows down. It happens about the same time every year. During this time I often feel like I should be doing more to promote my services and bring in new business. I finally recognized that my business slowed down at a time each year and when my kids are out of school. During this time, I spend less money and spend more time with the children.

It’s easy to stress over maintaining a comfortable balance with your three dimensions. Remind yourself that your current status is okay because you are giving attention to an area of your life that is the most important right now. This helps remove the guilt and frustration that comes with having to spread your attention so thin.

 

About the Author

David Jensen is a professional writer and Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW) who provides a variety of copywriting services including Web content, ghost writing, article marketing, SEO articles, press releases, employment résumés and cover letters, and academic application essays. He is published in various online publications, newspapers, and Cover Letters for Dummies 3^rd Edition. He has written for several industries including home automation, fitness, IT, libraries, real estate, careers, non-profit, and education. Visit him at www.ascensionwriting.com.

-For the home-based business owner, managing professional and personal challenges (when both are operating out of the same place) can be very difficult. David raises a valid concern many home workers have about guilt over assigning the right priorities between business and family.