Posts Tagged "work and life balance"

Putting Yourself on Lockdown Mode

Posted by Erin Blaskie on Dec 10, 2009 in blog | 7 comments

Do you ever feel like you’re just spinning your wheels in your business?

Pumping out new things again and again and again but nothing seems to work?

Or, you might feel like you’re swamped with your current practice and not saying no is costing you your work/life balance.

Looking at the third option, of having no work/life balance, that is totally me.

In fact, I’m in one of those funks right now.  I wouldn’t necessarily call it a funk perhaps… maybe it’s just more of a stopping period.  Generally, I hibernate and close down new operations for the month of December.  We still do our work for our current clients but for new business, we just don’t solicit it.  Instead, we create a waiting list of people who really want to work with us and are willing to wait.

I also launch new websites often on the 1st of January.  A new unveiling of sorts.  This year, I don’t have any big plans for a new site but I am streamlining many of our operations so that I don’t have to focus my attention in too many places.  I’ll be looking at our current projects to evaluate and see where I’m at and what will stay for 2010 and what needs to go.

This is more of an introspective post but I wanted to share where I’m at to also learn where you’re at.

Do you ever put yourself on lockdown mode?  What do you find happens when you do?

Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski Face Work Ultimatums Too

Posted by Erin Blaskie on Jul 28, 2009 in Business Tips | 4 comments

You know how sometimes you feel like you’re affected by the big ol’ work monster? It might feel like you’re constantly making choices between your business and your personal life.

Well… you’re not alone.  It affects other entrepreneurs, celebrities and even reality stars.

Take Jillian Harris as an example, this year’s Bachelorette on ABC’s hit show, “The Bachelorette.”  On the finale of “The Bachelorette“, Jillian chose Ed Swiderski – a technology consultant from Chicago, IL.  However, Ed nearly didn’t make it due to his work commitments and his boss’ threats of his secure employment.

Read this excerpt from Reality TV World:

Later that night, the group enjoyed a party at a private ski lodge.  During the party, Ed revealed that his employer was pressuring him to leave the show and return to his job.

“I had a conference call with my boss this morning and he’s giving me a lot of pressure about being here,” Ed told Jillian.  “He’s like ‘What are you doing?’  I don’t know, it was almost like an ultimatum and so it just made me think about what I’m doing and I don’t know.  I’m like ‘What am I doing here?’ I’m jeopardizing a ton.”

“I’m not asking you to jeopardize your life for me,” Jillian told Ed.  “What I do know is that if you couldn’t stay here and you couldn’t be here because if that I would understand but I would be really upset.”

“Things are starting to snowball and things are kind of starting to fall apart and my boss basically laid it out and said ‘Well either you’re going to be here working or you’re going to be unemployed and you can go and find love,’” Ed explained during an interview.  “If Jillian gave me the indicators that she felt strongly about me then I could potentially walk away from my career.  If she really gives me those signs then that’s what I may do.”

“Ed has a lot to think about over the next couple of days,” Jillian told the cameras.  “And I can’t guarantee anything to Ed right now, I wish I could, but all I know is he is somebody that I’m attracted to, that I’m comfortable with, [and] I want him to stay.”

However Jillian did end the group date by deciding to guarantee Ed one thing: a spot in the final eight bachelors competing for her heart.

Now, you might be thinking… seriously Erin? A reality TV show couple is NOT the same as me in my life.

Except… it is the same.

It’s the same work ultimatums we all deal with except as entrepreneurs, it’s not a boss telling us about the dangers of losing our job… It’s actually our own thoughts and our own minds.  We play this game with ourselves that says, “If I choose to spend time with my spouse tonight, my client is going to be pissed that I didn’t get that project back on time.”  We make choices every day.

Unfortunately, we’re often making the wrong choice.

Instead, look at your priorities in life and get better at organizing each day for what it is as opposed to firing off random things day in and day out with no schedule.  Operating in no schedule mode means that you’ll end up having to choose and often, we choose poorly.  If you have a schedule and become organized and great at time management, you won’t have to choose.

Lastly, what Ed should have done was just be honest with his boss. He should have said, “This is important to me.  She is important to me.  My personal happiness is important and you have to either accept and understand that or find a replacement for my job.” This might seem very black or white but if you don’t stand up for your personal barriers and the priorities you have in life, no one will.

What choices are you making each day and how are you handling the balance?

(Photo credit ABC/Mario Perez/Reality TV World)