Owning a business is hard no matter where you live! We are Kentucky Wedding Photographers and with that comes seasonal work. During the months of December-March we are fairly slow with weddings (aside from the occasional few), which means we do a lot of behind the scenes work. During the months of April-November we are in full swing and doing what is priority such as editing photos and video, delivering galleries, blogging, and designing albums. It took us a while to figure out this trend and we would feel overwhelmed during busy season and discouraged during our slow season. This was the first step in finding our work/life balance as business owners.
Assess Your Needs
The first thing you need to do when searching for balance in your life is to figure out what your needs are. What does your family need? What do you need? What does your business need? For me, my personal non-negotiables are quality time with my family, good sleep, and some time to myself each week. Whether it’s kid free time with friends, an hour to read a book, or some time to go browse at Target! My business non-negotiables feel obvious. They are great client communication, quality work, and exceptional service. My clients have to feel important and loved. So during my busy season I am making sure I am reminding myself of my non-negotiables and holding on to them. During my slow season I can take more time to work on things that are not priority to me. Planning social media content, website updates, or revising my client guides. Now all you need to do is share this with someone else.
Related: Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer
Share With Your Loved Ones
Once you have your non-negotiables set you need to let everyone around you know what you need. Maybe not the cashier at the grocery store, but the people you trust. For me, it’s Josh. He knows what I need during busy season. He knows that during busy season I can’t typically make extravagant dinners, I will need more time to work, and we may be gone a lot more. But I always still make time to have quality time with my family by setting aside days for just that. The good news is that during slow season we have more time to make great meals, spend all day together, and do more things as a family.
Give Yourself Some Grace
I don’t know everything. Your life may be different from mine and your business may be “in full swing” 24/7. The best thing you can do is give yourself some grace and realize that you are doing everything you can. Even though it might not feel like you are. If you can, outsource some tasks, ask for help, and hold your business with a loose hand. Your business is not your whole world and even if you lost it all tomorrow, you would be okay. If you don’t feel this way maybe you should try to step away more and find yourself and some personal non-negotiables. But most importantly, give yourself some grace!
