How to Divorce Your Job....But Stay Friends
Starting your own business can be extremely time-consuming...in the best way. It is easy to constantly check your email, update your social media platforms, research new innovations, buy more tools, and reach out to new clients because, well, you feel like you need to. If the few people on your team aren’t working, well then, no work is getting done. Pretty soon, it is 1 a.m. on a Saturday night and instead of sleeping or watching a crappy movie while eating cheap pizza with your spouse, you are glued to your computer and drinking your twelfth cup of coffee in order to just write one more blog post.
That’s fine if you are coming up on a tight deadline or excitedly putting together content for a super huge client. Heck, maybe you work better at 1 a.m. than you do at 9 a.m. and since you are the boss, you can approve that time-clock. But where does it end? Where is the line between being married to your job and just being really close friends? Speaking from experience, it can be really hard to tell.
From a very young age, we are told by parents and mentors that we need to do something we love or else every single day of our lives will feel like work. But what happens if we end up doing something that we love maybe a little too much? How do I step away from my computer for the weekend, or even for two hours, when I built this business with my own two hands?
Now, maybe I am in a unique position since I am an entrepreneur, but still, it can apply for any person who is, dare I say, obsessed with their job. For us, it seems like just another day. For our loved ones, though, it can go from cute and endearing to annoying and frustrating within a week or two. So, how do we control ourselves? How do we divorce our jobs? Here are some tips my team and I came up with.
1. Do not answer emails after 5 p.m.
I know, I know, it seems crazy not to reply to someone when you are most likely on your phone at all times. However, 5 p.m. is the end of a normal work-day, so when the clock strikes, set your email notifications to “Do Not Disturb” and don’t even think about opening the mail app. Whoever messages you at 5:01 can wait until tomorrow morning. You might suck at this at first. That’s okay. Don’t give up! If someone really does message you at 5:01 and it is that really big client you’ve been waiting for, okay, fine, but that’s it. Unplugging is the biggest step towards balancing your work/life. This doesn’t mean being lazy and not replying to people. It just means that while your husband or wife is trying to have a conversation with you about your son’s baseball game coming up, don’t be constructing an extremely professional “Okay.” to someone.
2. Actually take your lunch break.
I cannot tell you how many times I have stuffed food down my throat while on a call with a client or while driving to a meeting. I don’t even realize what I’m eating until I am already finished and chugging down water to help get everything down. Gross, but true all the same. Taking just 30 minutes out of your busy day to actually sit down, enjoy your food, maybe even talk to a couple coworkers (keep it about things OTHER than work, by the way), can be very relaxing and much needed. I guarantee, you will hop back on your email afterwards feeling much more focused because you gave yourself a second to breathe.
3. Exercise
When you are sprinting on the treadmill or doing crunches, it can become difficult to think about anything other than where you are and how much time is left before you can go grab a donut to reward yourself. Good. Think about donuts. Do not think about work. Seriously, though, exercise is great not only for your physical health, but also for your mental health. It offers a release from the work stress you are dealing with, even if just for an hour. If you aren’t a big fan of sweating and getting your heart rate up, take some time to even just walk on the treadmill and watch that show you’ve had absolutely no time for.
4. Stop doing everything yourself. Seriously.
Alright, yep, I know, nothing will be perfect unless you are the one who does it. First, rude. Second, that’s probably not true. If you are the boss of a small business, this can be a huge thing that leads to work-overload. However, you are also the one who hires your employees, so you should fully trust their capabilities. Why would you ever ask someone else to send an email when you know that your writing style is much more professional? Well, because it is completely unnecessary. Do you feel like you are the only one at your job who is having a hard time stepping away from work? If you answered yes, it is probably because you are making it that way. Give other people some responsibility. Delegate. Do not micro-manage. It is annoying and only makes your employees lose the confidence they need to achieve. Take a step back and evaluate the things that you actually need to be doing. Everything else can be given to somebody else.
Four things that will help you divorce your job but continue being friends. None of them are impossible. I swear. Take small steps and remember that life is happening while you are busy staring at that computer screen. Capture every moment you can doing the things you love with the people that you care about. Your job gets to have you Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. There are people who are waiting anxiously to get your time after that. Give it to them.
