Sunday post #14

Do you believe in work-life balance? This question came up in conversation with two clients this week and I’ve been reflecting on what work-life balance really looks like.

One client said she felt it wasn’t work-life that was out of balance but that if something in her life was out of balance then if showed up at work. When she was content and doing meaningful work it didn’t matter if she was working 60 or 5 hours, she felt she had the balance right.

I agree 100%. When I look back on the occasions when I felt work was out of balance or I was feeling burnt out it was because I was out of alignment with myself.

Like most people who run their own business, I often put work first. For years I tried the work hard, play hard cycle. Like clockwork, I would feel exhausted and anxious about the future. My friends and family often commented, asking me when I had last taken time off and telling me they were worried. I felt they didn’t understand that working for someone has different stresses from working for yourself.

About a year and a half ago, the burnout was strong and I was miserable. I decided enough was enough and committed to creating balance. I asked for help and worked with Emma my brilliant work coach to explore what balance was for me.

I used to believe that work balance meant having immovable boundaries, working set hours and times, and anything or anyone who challenged them caused me a great deal of stress.

It felt like every day I was drawing my boundaries in the sand. Some days it would be fine the boundaries would remain undisturbed until the evening tide washed them away. On other days it was as if a dog had run through the sand destroying the boundaries or a child had decided to draw over them changing everything. Regardless every day the tide would come and I would have to redraw my boundaries again. Exhausting.

Now I imagine my work boundaries as a brightly coloured flotation device. They can be seen, played with, and react and adapt to the coming tides.

What that looks like for me in real life is prioritising three things outside of work:

1. Me time

Every morning I create an hour to do something I want to do. Doing this makes me feel like regardless of what else happens in the day I have achieved something, I think of it as putting on my own mask before helping others.

2. Daily exercise

This one is non-negotiable. You’ll find me walking every day and strength training three times a week, once with my trainer Patrick and often with my business partner Vicki. The gym is becoming our second studio.

3. No booze

The unpopular one, I don’t drink alcohol. I feel it gives me more time, drastically reduces anxiety and helps me to make better choices.

In the studio feeling the work-life balance (and wearing socks that match the artwork not intentional)

Prioritising these three things has given me what others would call work-life balance. I’m happier, healthier, and more creative. In the studio I’m more focused, relationships are better and I have the energy to push things forward.

How about you, do you believe in work-life balance? How do you achieve it?

In the studio this week…

Great week in and out of the studio. Vicki and I worked on three brand projects at different stages, finalising a logo design, creating brand guidelines that detail how to apply a visual identity we created, and discussing the plan of a design system for the UI of a digital product.

We also made time to meet clients in person, before and after work, which is always a joy and gives me lots of energy and inspiration to put into the design for their business.

Yoshan update

A sneak peek at the prototype for ALAN a new card game for adults. We are currently planning play testing in Glasgow and Manchester to get feedback. If anyone is curious and would like to play please message me.

ALAN - the new card game from Yoshan

Go outside challenge

This week while focused at work I’ve also been full of the cold, again. I forced myself outside every day but lost the love for taking evidence photos so I admit on some days I forgot. I have cheated and used multiple photos from the days I did take photos to fill the gaps this week.

I’m aware having a brief helped me in the past so I need to get back into that, I’m on holiday next week so I will naturally take photos to share. While I have some downtime I will create photography briefs for the coming weeks to give me some focus and energy.

Day 92 - One-line dude

Day 93 - Duck duck park

Day 94 - Rainy reflections

Day 95 - Graffiti type

Day 96 - More googly eyes

Day 97 - Squirrel crime scene

Day 98 - Bug house