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Being self-employed is the dream for many people, but it may not always be the joyous endeavor that it appears to be on your favorite motivational YouTube videos. Like most things in life, there are pros and cons.
When you are your own boss, you have to embrace the grind. Unlike a 9 to 5, there will undoubtedly be periods where you have to work around the clock. When problems crop up, which they inevitably will, unless you have a team of employees to call on, chances are you will have to deal with them.
It’s obviously not all doom and gloom. While you may have to work long hours, once you have established your business and your working routine, there’s a good chance you can pick your hours and have more flexibility. If you wanted to, you could come to work late every day, and depending on the type of work you do – nobody will likely get angry with you!
Parenting is challenging to say the least too! Often described as the “hardest job on the planet,” it is both enriching and terrifyingly exhausting – as I’m sure many of you will agree. Sleep deprivation kicks in as soon as your child is born, then when your children start school, they catch every illness going, from chest infections to sickness bugs – and you’ll probably catch most of them too!
Both self-employment and parenting are challenging yet incredibly rewarding. Combining the two can be the best thing in the world or completely overwhelming. This article will look at ways to keep you feeling like it’s the former, not the latter!
Be Flexible
Being flexible and having realistic expectations can prevent you from becoming frustrated as an entrepreneurial father. In business and parenting, things will crop up, things will go wrong, and you have to react positively whenever possible. If a day goes exactly to plan, that should be seen as a bonus rather than an expectation.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing can be a great way to free up time and enhance productivity. If you live in a country like the US, you can also take advantage of geo arbitrage by outsourcing to freelancers located in country’s whose currency is not as strong as the US dollar. For example, if you need to hire a graphic designer, the hourly rates for freelancers based in Asia tend to be substantially lower than those located in the US or Europe.
An excellent way to start with outsourcing is to pass on some basic tasks related to administration and telephone answering. You can hire a telephone answering service for a relatively small fee. The benefits of this can be numerous. For example, you can reduce unwanted interruptions, which can significantly enhance your productivity.
Research suggests that interruptions from distractions such as unwanted phone calls can “reduce IQ” and lower both the quality and quantity of completed work. Not only that – a single interruption can take over 20 minutes to ‘recover from’ – meaning that for every distraction, you lose at least 20 minutes working on the core work of the business.
A telephone answering service can reduce the number of unwanted phone calls that you have to endure while at the same time enhancing customer service. Having a polite receptionist at the end of the phone can make a great first impression. Clients will appreciate that the phone is answered promptly by a professional and helpful individual. With a 24/7 service, you can ensure that you never miss an important call and that you can relax at the end of a hard day without having to listen out for your phone.
Virtual assistants are also relatively cheap and extremely helpful. If you need social media posts creating and scheduling, emails answering, arrangements booking or research carried out; then a virtual assistant can help.
For other, highly skilled tasks such as a graphic designer or web development, a website such as UpWork or PeoplePerHour can be a great place to find a reliable and competitively priced freelancer.
Work Boundaries
One of the main challenges with remote work is how it can merge working life with family life. This lack of distinction can be even more challenging when you run your own business and don’t adhere to regular office hours.
If space in the home allows it, having a designated room that you only use as an office can help create a sense of separation at the end of the working day. Having an outbuilding can be even better but potentially very costly too. Taking a 5-minute walk at the end of the day can be helpful to relax and then re-enter the home with the intention of being in “family mode.” Using a virtual assistant and receptionist to handle calls and emails in the evenings can also help you switch off and into family mode.
Nutrition & Sleep
Health is wealth, or so they say. If you want to work hard and keep your children healthy, ensuring that you both eat well is fundamental. A whole food diet with freshly prepared meals is ideal, but there’s no point making everything from scratch if it means getting up at 4 am to prep everything. The lack of sleep will offset the health benefits!
It might help to watch some quick and healthy meal videos on YouTube and consider adding smoothies into your diet, rather than snacking on processed foods.
Sleep is crucial for well-being. It is vital that you get enough sleep to have the energy for work and your children. Having a bedtime routine and a regular bedtime for both your children and yourself can be the best way to ensure you can drift off and get a reasonable amount of sleep. A hot bath is also a great way to get ready for bed. Your body actually loses heat after you’ve had a bath, which in turn, helps you to fall asleep. Research shows that taking a bath around 90 minutes before bedtime is best.
If you are still unable to get to sleep, first make sure that you are not consuming caffeine in the evenings or afternoons. It can take up to 10 hours to completely clear caffeine from your body. After talking to your doctor, you may consider using a magnesium supplement, such as magnesium glycinate. In a study of people with insomnia, taking a daily 500 mg magnesium supplement each day for eight weeks improved sleep quality.
Managing Stress
Exercise, sleep and good nutrition can all help with stress management. Having someone to speak to for 5 minutes each day about work can also help to vent and get rid of any negative emotions. The Chimp Paradox is a great book that explains how to handle stress and anger. Venting and exaggerating about a situation that has annoyed you can be a great way to get rid of unwanted emotions such as anger and frustration – just be careful who you vent to! The BBC website has an excellent summary of how to manage your “inner chimp.”
Speak to your doctor about stress management – techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing, meditation and exercising outdoors are all efficient and effective ways to cope with stress without projecting it on your family. If you can get your children involved in any of these techniques (except for venting), then you can kill two proverbial birds with one stone!
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