Before we jump in: This article was originally shared with my email community in August 2020. I'm sharing it with you on the blog today in the hope that it may be of some encouragement and insight to you in your creative journey right now, and also give you a little sneak peak of what you can expect from Weekly Letters too. If you'd like to receive letters like this one straight to your inbox every Sunday, you can sign up below. You'll also have access to all of my Mini Books too!

Like most of us, I’ve been spending even more time than ever at home this year during this global pandemic that we’ve all been living through.

I’ve been running my own business from home for six years now, so thankfully it hasn’t been all that different for me to navigate a daily life mostly spent sheltering in place at home - my husband and I have joked to each other many times that our extremely introverted natures have been training us for this all of our lives.

But spending even more time at home than usual has taught me two things:

1: For the work/life blend of running my own business from home to truly work best for me I need a whole lot of intention and boundaries in my days

2: It’s so easy for me to get stuck in mindless, unintentional daily habits that don’t best serve me, my wellbeing, and my work

And it’s not like I don’t know what I need to thrive in my own work/life blend - the past six years have taught me so many lessons about what works best for me and what doesn’t.

The trick, for me, is to commit to making intentional, grounded, meaningful choices each day when it comes to how I spend my life minutes and navigate my days - but this can feel so much easier said than done when binge-watching five more episodes on Netflix, mindlessly scrolling through my phone, or staying in my pyjamas all day just feels like the easier route to take (and sometimes those things are exactly what I need to recharge too!)

So I wrote for myself a list of the twelve simple habits that support me to feel grounded and intentional in my blend of work and life as a business owner and human in the world, and I’m sharing them with you today in the hope that some of this list may be helpful for you too.

1: Turn your computer off at the end of each work day

There’s something so symbolic to me about shutting my computer down and leaving the work day behind me. It tells my brain that I’m done for the day, and forces me to ease gently back in the next day as it reboots too.

2: Create a work space that works for you

My husband and I have recently turned what was my office into our office as his office has now become the nursery for our first child who is due in the autumn. I was prepared to feel a little sad at my office space changing, but surprisingly it’s been a really lovely process to redesign the room again together from scratch and have a big declutter - I think I might even love this new version of our office more than the previous one!

It feels built for our working life as it is in this season, and it's now a calm, organised space where I can get stuck into work and then leave it all behind me when I close the door at the end of the day too. Whatever kind of space you’re working with, creating it to be an environment where you feel supported to get stuck into work can make all the difference in the world.

3: Have a work free room

This hasn’t always been the case for me - for a few years I ran my business out of a tiny one bedroom apartment and barely had a desk let alone a dedicated office space. Back then I found the best way to create some separation between work and life was to pack away my work things at the end of each work day so that they weren’t distracting me when I was trying to switch off and relax.

Now that I live in a house I try and keep downstairs a completely work free space so I can switch off and relax down there. I also like to do this with our bedroom too, but I can’t lie I do sometimes like to draft one of these letters or work on a new project from bed. If I do have one of those days I make sure my laptop is put back in my office so our bedroom doesn’t feel like a workspace once I’m done.

4: Create a transition habit for the end of your work day

This is a habit that makes a huge difference to me whenever I actually commit to doing it. I find a short dog walk is a great way to transition out of work and ground myself back into my life for the day.

5: Phone free mornings and evenings

I am so much happier, present, and grounded in my life and my work whenever I honour this habit - but then I’ll find myself mindlessly scrolling through social media or my favourite websites again for weeks (sometimes even months) and I can feel so far away from this habit that makes such a big difference to my days.

The good news is that it’s really not that hard to get back to it - I just have to set a boundary and recommit to it. It might feel uncomfortable at first to break the cycle, but my mind always thanks me for it on the other side.

6: An indulgent morning ritual

Like many business owners, the majority of my working hours are spent being of service to others - for me that looks like jumping on coaching calls with my wonderful clients. I love that this is the heart of my work, but I’ve found that I’m much more capable of showing up fully for my clients when I’ve filled my own tank up first. My go-to is a soak in the bath in the morning, with a book or podcast to keep me company as I start to ease into my day. Taking time in the morning just for us before we dedicate a big chunk of our life minutes to showing up for others is a great way to mindfully ground into our days.

7: The weekly planning session

Without this step I can find myself pretty lost in my week. Mapping out at the start of the week my priorities, commitments, to-dos, and when I plan to get it all done is the best way for me to ground myself into the week ahead. It’s a simple but necessary step for helping me feel organised instead of overwhelmed during my working hours.

8: Schedule inbox time

Without this step all sense of balance and boundaries in my work/life blend goes out of the window. Just because we can be contactable 24/7 doesn’t mean that it’s good for our productivity, creativity, or mental health. I’ve found scheduling inbox time into my work days and then staying out of my inbox until the next scheduled time is the very best way for me to steer the ship that is my days instead of them steering me.

9: Get ready for the day

Some days I wish this step wasn’t true as I could happily live in my pjs all day, but I know that just having a quick shower and putting on some fresh clothes leaves me feeling so much better prepared for my day - and means I feel so much more able to pop out for a lunchtime walk if the energy strikes because I’m not worried about looking presentable enough to do so.

10: Communicate with your household

As my husband and I are both self employed and work from home a simple step we’ve found helpful when it comes to making our home a functional workspace and living space is to just be on the same page each day of what our schedules look like. Communicating simple things like what hours we need to work that day, what time we’ll plan to switch off, and what we might like to have for lunch together means we can be as intentional as possible with our day.

11: A device free day

Some days are about blending work and life together, but I’ve also found so much joy in having days where it’s just all about life with no work in sight. Scheduling in days where we just switch off from it all and fully immerse ourselves into our life can be a great way to recharge, re-root, and get a little perspective too.

12: Schedule a sabbatical

This is something I’ve been doing for years now in my business - scheduling in regular chunks of time off throughout the year. I tend to take a month off in the summer and a month off over Christmas, with 1-2 week blocks scheduled in at intervals throughout the year too. This space gives me time to fill my tank back up, re-root myself into what matters most, and mostly just have space to enjoy the freedom my business enables me to have. Just knowing I have that time off in my schedule coming up throughout the year helps me push through any of the harder, more draining weeks of navigating work and life alongside each other too.

Some of these steps I’m more consistent with than others, but looking back over this list what I’m reminded of is that it’s up to me to be intentional with how I navigate my work and my life each day.

Whatever you need right now as you navigate your own work/life blend, I hope there’s something on this list you can experiment with that can help bring a little more joy, ease, and flow to your days too.

As always, I’m rooting for you!

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Twelve Simple Habits For An Intentional Work/Life Blend

As always, I’m rooting for you!