What’s the right balance between work and non-work time? The traditional 9-5 has slowly disappeared with the emails and zoom and texting going far beyond traditional business hours. We asked members of our community to share with us how they think about work-life balance.

Emily Duncan

Work life balance is still something I am figuring out and not sure if I will ever figure it out perfectly. I think as a business owner your job never stops. There are always emails to respond to, invoices to send out, products to order, social media to update and much more. That’s before we even get to planning, taking, editing and delivering the photos. On top of that, I am an elementary special education teacher. While I love being a photographer and teacher it makes work life balance real tough. When I first started my photograph business I hardly had a personal life and my family and friends were not given the time and energy they desreved. As I have transitioned into the wedding industry and booking more clients scheduling and visual calendars have been a life saver for me. Read more>>

Emperatriz Gonzalez | Home baker, specializing in Custom Baked Goods

Since starting my business life has been chaos, but a good chaos to say the least! I have 5 kids at home, they all range from the ages of 16 to 6 years old. I also have a husband who is constantly out of town or working long hours. I try and get most of my work done during the day while they are at school so that way my full attention is dedicated to my kids once they get home. The weeks I have a lot of work I stay up working late nights, but I have noticed that staying up late is not good for my productivity the next day. Organization is definitely key to maintaining a successful schedule, at least for my business! Having calendars, making invoices and maintaining a routine is crucial, especially when small businesses are one man show. So definitely balance for me is routines and planning ahead always, it makes life much easier! Read more>>

Erik Decarvalho | Athletic Gym Owner

when I was younger I focused primarily on work, then when I had a family I my focus definitely changed. I received great advice from someone that was very successful, he said ” Everyone I know would trade all the money for time back with their kids, they”re only young once”. So, I make it a priority to make family time just as important as work. Read more>>