On setting boundaries on your work time as a small business owner

Having trouble knowing when you’re done working for the day, or how to step away from your work when you still have a lot left to do?

Here are some ideas on boundaries around your workday that you could set for yourself:

1 – you get done with your planned tasks for the day

This might sound ridiculously simple, but I have on countless occasions finished my tasks for the day and then felt like I *have to* keep going. Often I’ve either still had time left after I finished my tasks, or there’s been so much more on my list I could still do.

But for a human being on this planet, there’s ALWAYS going to be more to do – we gotta learn to step away.

Not to say that I never take on something extra if I finish early, but I do ask myself if it feels good to keep going or if I’m doing it because I’m feeling nervous about being behind etc – which is usually a sign that I really do need a break. Because if that thing  was something that *has to be done*, it would’ve been on my plan!

Grab a PDF that includes my weekly planning practice, if you want some help in planning a manageable amount of tasks per day.

2 – you hit your hard stop for the day

Sometimes tasks just take longer than we’ve estimated they take – and that’s ok. We’re only making educated guesses on how long they’ll take anyway, right? As long as the task is important to do, it doesn’t matter how long it takes – but you taking the time to rest does matter.

Now of course, there are times when I work a little bit over if I have just a bit left and know that it’ll take me a long time to start up again. But I also try to reward myself with a bit of extra time off some other day.

The point is – whether or not we finished everything on time, we’ve still done the work time that we set out to do, which means that we also need to counter that with rest or time off.

3 – when there is something more important to do

Sometimes things come up – and you get to define what’s more important than your work at that moment.

4 – you just know

Sometimes you really do just know that you’re done, that you’re out of capacity for the day. Forcing something at that point usually takes me at least five times as long so I might as well rest, and then get that same thing done in a fraction of the time – when my focus and energy is back.

I would love to hear if you agree or disagree, or if you have ideas that I didn’t think to mention?