When it rains, it pours. When the sun is out, you feel like you should still be holding that umbrella. Working from home as a small business owner presents several unique challenges that are becoming even more commonplace as more people turn to entrepreneurship to create their own opportunities. And what results is a profound double-edged sword.
I’m writing from the perspective of a professional freelance writer, but the same conundrum easily exists across several other disciplines, from graphic design to legal consulting. The amount of work crossing your desk is rarely constant and steady; it comes in spurts and this results in an uneven working environment.
Overwhelmed With Work
On the one hand, you could get buried under what feels like far too much work. Some people will tell you that, as a business owner, this is a good problem to have. It means that you are making more money and your business is growing.
That may be true, but it does lend itself to burnout. Even if you love what you do, having too much work to do is going to be overwhelming and it takes away from having a healthy life-work balance. You’ll complain that you simply don’t have the time to handle all of it.
Guilty Without Work
If that’s the case, then you would assume that the flip side would be more appealing. When you have a lighter work load, you can have more time to relax, right? That’s the idea, but it’s oftentimes not the case.
This notion has popped up before and it’ll pop up again: because you can work at any hour of the day, you may feel that you should work at every hour of the day. After going through a deluge of work, you feel like you should take a break… but when you do, you suddenly feel like you should be doing something.
Does Balance Really Exist?
This is something that you really need to determine on your own. It is going to be an internal struggle. As a business owner, you want to grow, evolve, and be profitable. That said, you also want to have some time to yourself and to share with your family.
Grow your business and make more money, but also realize that for entrepreneurs, there really is never a “good” time to take a break. You just have to convince yourself that taking a well-deserved break is not really the same as procrastination.
I belong to middle class and i am thinking for a restaurant business and all i need is this type of business plans and strategies for my business.Thanks.
I’ve personally felt guilty in the past whenever I am not working, the thought mainly comes to my mind whenever I am on vacation. It is always in the back of my mind that I need to get work done. Its funny how that works out….
-Jean
You have talked about balance before, but not about too much versus not enough work. I believe in trying to always have something to do, but I also think you need some sort of down time to decompress.
Too much pressure on oneself doesn’t help your health or your personal life with others.
Too much pressure certainly does not help Ray in terms of health, I will agree with that. However, sometimes thats that way things are and you’ve just got to push through it. The pressure helps you push through the tough times in my opinion and can help you push to the next level.
-Jean