Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about finding harmony and balance in my life as my business (and to do list) continues to grow!

#1 – Set Personal Goals and Business Goals + Find Hobbies!

Without a clear set of goals, you cannot set yourself up with an action plan to achieve them. Plain and simple!  Because life and business can get so chaotic (especially during busy seasons) it is important for me to set both business and personal goals.

A few things on my personal goals list this year are reconnecting with friends and doing a creative project once a month! First, I would love to learn macrame this year!! 🙂 Second, I have scheduled two lunch dates with personal friends (not just my entrepreneur friends) each month. I put this on my bathroom mirror and in my task management system to remind me – it’s THAT important.

Additionally, I’ve also been realizing the importance of having hobbies!  When your hobby becomes your career, it’s important to find new hobbies to help you unwind! Maybe it’s a sport, or becoming a professional brunch-er 😉 or doing something else creative like painting or weaving or calligraphy! Not only is finding a new hobby fun, it also taps into and sparks a new part of my creative brain, and I think that this really helps us be creative in our businesses.

#2 – Say No When Things Don’t Align With Your Vision or Your Goals.  

As you increase your client base and build a reputation for your business, you will start to receive more requests from new clients or fellow entrepreneurs who want to work with you. If one additional client or coffee chat is going to distract or divert you from your goals, it’s okay to say no. I recently received an inquiry to photograph a fashion shoot for a magazine. In the end, I turned it down because it didn’t directly align with my brand or business goals. As you know, I am not trying to become a fashion photographer so it wasn’t something I needed to push me forward. More importantly, losing a day to work on my upcoming projects and launches would have caused me more stress than excitement. Remember your goals and don’t be afraid to say no. I promise, your business will not crumble if you say that two letter word.

#3 – Realize Where Your Time is Going.

Are you being productive or just being busy? One of the biggest lessons I learned when I went full time with my business was time management. Without realizing, I was spending most of my day deciding what to do instead of doing it. And, I wasn’t tracking how much time I was spending on projects. Leaving me with hours of “busy” time and not real, productive time.

Prioritize your lists and eliminate the things that don’t need to be done right away. I put long-term projects and low priority items on a list for the offseason. Busy and productive are two very different things. As business owners, it’s important to understand how we’re spending our time. By doing so, it allows you to see where you have bottlenecks and where you can streamline. This will be a game-changing revelation for you and your business.

If you’re curious how I schedule my work day or how I set priorities each day, Read these two posts:

• How  to Schedule Your Work Day and Stay on Task {My 7-Step Process} 
• How to Set Priorities to Achieve Your Biggest Goals {And Stop Wasting Time} 

#4 – Ask for Help.

Without the support of my team and editor, I would be drowning in to do’s every day now that I’m running TWO businesses. But, before you can grow your team, you need to look at your task list and decide what items to outsource. Delegating can be challenging (and even scary.) Letting go of the pieces of your business that can easily be done by someone else is an invaluable lesson to learn. I am so passionate about this strategy that I’ve written two other posts on the Laura Lee Blog about it. Check them out below.

• How Outsourcing Your Editing Will Change Your Business and Life 
• Start Scaling Your Business: 22 Tasks You Can Delegate as a Small Business Owner 

#5  – Practice Self Care Often.

As many of us know, self-care is often the first thing to go out the window when life or work gets busy. I will be the first one to admit that self-care is not always the easiest routine to follow! I work hard each day to follow my morning routine and take care of my body and mind, it’s NOT easy when all you want to do is tackle your to-do list!! But I’ve found that you cannot pour into others if your cup is not full to start. Practicing self-care is one of the most important pieces of developing work-life harmony.

I recently wrote a post about establishing a morning routine and it was a favorite amongst the community! It is full of fun self-care tips and tricks and you can read about my routine and tips here:

• My Morning Routine for a Successful and Productive Day 

So back to you, do you have a favorite tip or routine you implement in your life to have better work-life harmony?

Want to learn even more about creating a balance between work and life, for FREE? I have you covered! Last year, I created this workbook, Intentionally Designing Your Life and Business, to help creatives work through their priorities, non-negotiables, goals, and so much more. If you just finished reading this post and are ready to start designing a more intentional life while running your small business, then don’t wait. Click the link below to download this free workbook =)