8 Business Boundaries to Achieve Work Life Balance

Are you a small business owner who feels glued to your laptop at all times? Has your work officially taken over your life? Friend, take a deep breath—I've been there, and I understand how you feel.

The good news is that you don't need to stay in this place forever, and your business absolutely doesn't have to suffer! It sounds like you need boundaries. In this blog post, we'll discover the importance of boundaries, challenges of setting them, and examples of business boundaries to achieve work life balance.

Why Boundaries are Important

Boundaries are not bad. In fact, boundaries are crucial for creating a life and business that you absolutely love. Boundaries make you more present in your work and home life and reduce stress.

You may believe that setting boundaries is mean and can hurt other people's feelings. While you must go about them in a delicate, intentional way, boundaries actually keep what and who you love IN your life—not out of it. Boundaries are important for keeping your priorities in order and spending your time and energy on what you value most.

Challenges of Setting Boundaries at Work

It's no secret that setting boundaries at work is a challenge. In a world that glamorizes hustle and being a "go-getter", you may be afraid to set boundaries at work in fear of looking lazy or like you don't value the work you do.

While that feeling is real and difficult, remember that setting boundaries in your business will allow you to show up more fully and intentionally for your clients—and they deserve your best.

Business Boundaries to Achieve Work Life Balance

Now that you understand the value and importance of boundaries, let's discuss 8 business boundaries to help you achieve work life balance.

1. No phone communication with clients.

Unless you have a business cell phone, don't share your phone number with clients. It's hard enough to manage having business accounts on your phone, but adding in work texts and calls to the mix makes it even more difficult.

Your clients do NOT need 24/7 access to you. As long as you set clear expectations from the start, this should not be an issue. Choose another means to communicate, like email or via your task management platform. If you do really need to use your phone, Voxer is a great option because you can manage notifications and add each other with a username instead of a phone number.

2. Set work hours.

Brick and mortar businesses have set work hours, and you should, too. Set clear work days and hours for yourself and share that information with clients. You don't have to follow the typical 9-5 schedule if that isn't best for you.

Try to include these work hours in your contracts, and you can even add them to your email signature if it's crucial for your business.

3. Implement a CEO day.

Having a CEO day in my business changed my life. My general rule is Friday is my CEO day, and I don't do any client work. I don't follow this perfectly, and sometimes I have to take a client meeting or wrap up work that day. But, it's in all my contracts that I do client work Monday through Thursday.

What do you do on a CEO day? Anything you want! For me, I typically work on the backend of my own business—creating content, updating my website, crafting new offerings, etc. Sometimes, it's more of a day off and I'll run errands and clean the house. Other times, it's a rest day for me to relax or read. It really depends on what my body, business, and soul need.

4. Reply to emails 1-2x per day.

Checking your inbox constantly is a massive time suck—and your time is precious. Instead of having an email tab open on your device at all times, try to check your inbox 1-2 times per day.

For me, I try to check and reply to emails at the start and end of my work day. This ensures I get back to people in a timely fashion without the constant back-and-forth interrupting the tasks I planned out for the day.

5. Use OOO auto-reply on vacation.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that while this is an obvious boundary to most, I did not use an OOO auto-reply message for my business until about 3-4 years in. Why? I felt like I needed to be available for people no matter where I was or what I was doing. Clearly, I needed boundaries!

Using an OOO auto-reply sets the expectation for the person emailing you and eases your mind about not checking your inbox while on vacation. I like to state when I'll be OOO and when I'll begin replying to messages.

6. Setting custom focus modes on phone during workday.

This is a new business boundary that I personally set up in my business, and I LOVE it. Did you know you can set custom focus modes on your phone? Here's how I use them.

For my work day, I have a "shallow work" and "deep work" focus mode setting. Shallow work includes tasks like checking emails, posting or engaging on social media, and sending quick emails. In that focus mode, my home screen changes to show my work social media accounts, any apps I need for work purposes, and my screen time just so I can be aware of it.

In my deep work focus mode, I can only see my screen time, calendar, and Flora app that I use for time management. Deep work for me includes things like batching content, outlining and creating new offers, prepping for discovery calls, client work, and putting packages together for potential clients. Essentially, deep work is anything that requires my full focus and attention.

By utilizing these focus modes for each type of task, I'm not distracted by things like social media when I'm trying to write a blog post or map out a launch for a client.

7. Work from designated spaces as much as possible.

If you love working from your bed, I'm not calling you out here. Working from your bed or the couch is okay sometimes (I am currently writing this while sitting outside), but it's helpful to have designated work spaces to use as much as you can. For me, I typically work from my office or my local working space.

Choosing to work from the same place(s) will remind your brain and body that it's time to work. Then, you won't associate places like your kitchen table or bed with work. It helps create a separation between your work day and personal life, which is so important especially if you work from home.

8. Only discuss business with people who are supportive.

This final business boundary is a little tricky. If you have family members or friends that don't quite understand what you do or are waiting around for you to get a "real job", then it may be time to stop discussing your business with them.

This can be hard, especially because you love what you do and you're excited to share it with others. However, I believe that only people who are supportive of you and believe in you should be let in to your business. Use your best judgement here.

Want to chat more about business boundaries?

Did this post resonate with you or inspire some new business boundaries you'd love to set for yourself? I want to hear! Hop on over to Instagram and shoot me a DM so we can chat some more. I'm cheering you on and am proud of you for setting some boundaries.