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As a solopreneur, work bleeding into your personal life is pretty much inevitable. Sometimes that's actually okay. Maybe you get a brilliant idea during a morning or afternoon walk, or you want to knock out a quick task while dinner's cooking. The problem comes when work starts taking over everything, and you find yourself constantly being in a state of being on the real question isn't how to completely separate work and life. I think that's pretty unrealistic when you're running your own show, but it's how to plan your business around your actual life, so that you're not working all the time, so you're not feeling guilty when you're not working, or letting everything else suffer, because work has become this demanding beast that never sleeps. That's what we're going to dive into in today's episode. Ready to break free from the solopreneur struggle. This is the ease and impact thriving as a solopreneur Podcast. I'm Frankie Jay, a surfer, a mum and an eight year solopreneur myself. Join me as I peel back the layers to a thriving online business without the guru hype or the burnout. I'm going to show you the proven strategies and tools that I use so you can build a sustainable digital business without sacrificing your well being. Let's get you thriving as a solopreneur.

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Well, welcome back to ease

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and impact thriving as a solopreneur. I am your host, Frankie Jay, and this is where we have open and honest chats about making this whole solo business thing actually work for real people with real lives, especially when you've got kids in the mix, when you're running a business and a household, and that can include raising kids. Everything gets a little more complicated. Your business and your life aren't separate things. They're all mixed up together, and when one does badly, the other often suffers too. So if you find this helpful today, hit that follow button wherever you're listening so you don't miss out on our weekly reality checks. But by the time you're done today, my goal is you'll see your business set up slightly differently. Instead of feeling guilty every time you need to pick up the kids or take a proper break for yourself, you'll know how to build a business that actually works with your life instead of against it. And I'll give you a simple way to figure out what needs to change right now. So in this episode, we'll cover how to identify your natural energy patterns and work through them, instead of having them work against you. Why your family commitments should be the foundation of your business planning and not obstacles to work around how to create proper boundaries without feeling like you're being difficult, and a simple life audit you can do to figure out what needs to change in your current setup. Plus, I'll share how hiring a virtual assistant can take a huge load off your plate as a parent entrepreneur, and where to find my step by step guide on how and when to hire your first VA. Right now I'm recording this from Maui, not because I'm about to sell you some work from anywhere, course or nomadic lifestyle, but because I'm able to make my business work around my actual life, and this for me, is a working holiday. I have a non work Holiday Later in the year, so in the weeks before this trip, sure, I worked longer days to get everything sorted, and now I get to spend my days at the beach with family, checking out our favorite spots and places to eat and just being present. Then in the evenings, when everyone's winding down, I'm busy working on my business, so that means doing the big picture stuff that needs that proper headspace. This didn't happen by accident. I had to rethink how I was doing and thinking about things in my business. The truth is, constantly hustling doesn't make you more successful. I made this mistake. It makes you just less effective. When you're always on, always available. You're teaching everyone around you that you don't have boundaries. Your clients start expecting instant replies. Your family gets used to competing with your phone for attention. And if you have young kids like me, your kids, they start seeing this as normal behavior. And of course, your brain never gets a break too. I think some hustle in spurts or in the beginning is important, but it's just not sustainable. So the solopreneurs I know, who are genuinely successful and actually happy, they're not the ones working all day every day. They're the ones who work out how to do business in a way that fits their actual life. One way to do this is working with your natural rhythms. Most of us completely ignore this, but we all have times when we're naturally more switched on. Some people are sharp first thing in the morning. This is like my wife. Others don't hit their stride until lunch or after lunch. That's more like me. Some people love Monday energy, and others find their groove more midweek. But the key is, we are all a bit different, and if 5am starts aren't for you, then don't do them. I tried to force them for ages, and I just don't do it anymore. So think about the last time you did work you were really proud of what time was it? What day were you done? Earlier that day? This stuff isn't random. It's telling you something about how you work best. I actually. Learned heaps about my own energy patterns from using the rise app. It tracks your energy levels throughout the day. Turns out my peak times are mid morning and mid evening. So when I'm traveling like I am now, those evening work sessions hit right when my brain is naturally switched back on. At home, I schedule my most important calls and creative work for mid morning when I'm at my sharpest, the trick is to stop fighting how you naturally work and start using it. But let's talk about making time for what actually matters when you've got kids as a parent running a business, your family time, school, pickups, bedtime routines, weekend sports. These aren't things getting in the way of your business, though, I can completely resonate that some days it feels like that, right? But they're the foundation that makes your business worthwhile. In fact, you probably set up your business so you could have that kind of work life balance. So when you start planning your business around these commitments, instead of trying to squeeze them in around work, you can find that you're more focused during work time, because you know the kids will be home at, say, 330 you show up better for your clients, because you're not constantly stressed about missing another school event. Think about it. Would you rather work with someone who who's constantly frazzled and distracted by family chaos, or someone who's energized because they figured out how to make it all work together? So I want to talk a little bit about the always available trap, and this might sting a little bit, but being available 24/7 isn't professional. It's a red flag. And I know this because I did it. It says you don't value your own time. So why would anyone else? Good Restaurants aren't open all the time busy. Tradies don't answer their phones during dinner. You your GP doesn't even text you back on the weekends when you have proper boundaries. You're not being difficult, you're being professional. So you need to plan for real life with kids, your business should be able to flex and flow with what's actually happening in your family life. School holidays mean different rhythms, and in all honesty, I'm still working on really cracking this one so that I'm very prepared in advance. Somehow it always seems to sneak up on me, but sports, school events, family birthdays, they all need to factor into how you plan your business here. And Sick Kids, well, that means emergency schedule changes. None of this is being unprofessional. It's just about being realistic. It means when you are working, you're actually present on doing good work, instead of trying to juggle a client call while helping with homework, while that client might be understanding because they have kids, your attention is split and you're not able to give your best to either. So I like to plan my business in chunks. Now, busy periods when the kids are at school, when I can really focus, and then quieter times during holidays to be present. It's not just more sustainable. It actually makes me more money, because the work I'm doing during those focus periods is so much better. And here's something that really helped. Hiring a virtual assistant, even just a few hours a week, can take so much pressure off, if you're thinking about this, but you don't know where to start. Go back and check out episode 11, how and when to hire your first virtual assistant. It'll walk you through exactly how to figure out what to delegate and how and when to find the right person. Now you might be thinking, this all sounds nice, but I've got clients and with deadlines and expectations, and fair enough, The secret lies in building flexibility into your structure from the start, rather than trying to add it in later. This means being upfront about how you work, building extra time into projects when you're scheduling them into them into your project manager. And a side note for you, I use motion as my project manager because it's aI powered, so it means less organization on my end, but that way you're not constantly stressed and managing expectations before problems come up, rather than scrambling to fix them all the time. But how do we work out where our changes need to happen and what really matters. All right. Well, here's what I want you to do right now, grab a piece of paper and make three lists. The first list, what are your non negotiables as a parent and as a person? These are things that if you skip them, you turn into a grumpy, less effective version of yourself. Maybe it's something about family being there for school pickup, or keeping bedtime routines sacred, or Sunday mornings being work free for pancakes. Or maybe it's something like my wife and you have to work out every day. That's a non negotiable for her. What is it for you? The second list, when do you actually work best? When are you most creative? When do you focus easily? When do you naturally want to switch off? If you have no idea, I recommend downloading the rise app and using the free trial to figure this out. And the third list, how do you want your year to look are there times that you want to work more and times you want to step back? Look at any events that are coming up for you and the kids now, once you've done all that, have a look at how you're actually running your business right now. How well does it match up with these three lists? Where are the biggest gaps? Those gaps aren't things wrong with you. They're things wrong with how you've set up your business. And this is not a reflection of you. It's now an opportunity to change look. There's no. One right way to do this. What works for me might not work for you, and that's completely fine. The point is, if things aren't working currently, to try something new and work towards building something that actually fits your life instead of fighting against it. The solopreneurs who stick around for the long haul aren't the ones burning themselves out trying to be everything to everyone while juggling kids and work. They're the ones who figured out how to do good work while still being present for their families and actually enjoying the crazy life that they've built. You don't have to choose between having a successful business and being the parent you want to be. You just need to set things up so you can have both. If this got you thinking about how you might want to change things up, or if you've got questions about how you can make this work for your specific situation, chuck them in the comments below. I read all of them, and I really appreciate you taking the time to engage. Thank you so much for listening and remember, keep creating impact with ease.