Forum Discussion

bennettwelding's avatar
bennettwelding
Contributor 2
24 days ago

Having good boundaries when you are self employed

You know how it goes - the phone never stops ringing, the emails never stop coming - on one hand, it is a blessing to be busy in your business. On the other, it becomes painful when you do not have good boundaries or a good balance of work/home life. So, how do we do that? Many times as small business owners, our families work with us or for us. Even when they do not, they see the 18 hour days that it takes to start a successful business. 

Boundaries are key to creating that healthy balance. Some of the ones that immediately come to mind are time boundaries, and physical boundaries. Time boundaries are those that require us to accept a shift that comes when we get home. If it is not an emergency, it can wait until tomorrow. That choice includes things like answering emails and text messages while eating dinner, or while your wife is trying to tell you about her day. Our home life is our anchor, and we need to be able to unplug.

Physical boundaries come up when you bring your work home with you, or when you have customers knocking on your front door, or when you again do not unplug and are intentional in shifting from work to home behaviors. 

This gets better the more intentional and aware of it we are, but we have to understand the importance of it. There will always be more to do, and there will always be a better time to do it if it is interfering with another area of your life when it is not a true emergency. The more you work out this skill, the stronger it becomes, and the more in balance you will feel.

1 Reply

  • ryaantuttle's avatar
    ryaantuttle
    Jobber Ambassador
    24 days ago

    I get what you’re saying about boundaries, but I don’t think this is just a “set better boundaries” issue. It’s a systems problem.

    If you’re a home service business owner constantly answering calls, texts, and emails after hours, it usually means there’s no system in place to protect your time.

    For me, things really changed when I stopped hiring and working with family & friends. That blurred line made it almost impossible to separate work life and home life.

    After that, I built systems that created boundaries automatically:

    • Set clear communication hours with customers (no guessing when I’m available)
    • Used an auto-responder/text-back system after hours so clients still felt taken care of
    • Built a reliable schedule that my team and customers could count on

    Now I’m not deciding whether to answer my phone at 7pm. The system already made that decision!

    Boundaries still matter, but systems are what actually enforce them when you’re tired, busy, or overwhelmed.

    If you rely on willpower, you’ll break your own rules.
    If you rely on systems, your business runs without you sacrificing your personal life.