Boundary Setting for Solopreneurs

Owning and running your own online business can be a lot of fun and very fulfilling. You can make decisions on your own terms and decide your own business vision and goals. The flip side is that it can feel overwhelming when you wear every hat in your business, like CEO, marketing manager, customer service officer, bookkeeper and accountant and tech support, and you never feel like you have enough time to get it all done.

Boundaries are a crucial tool you can use to help manage your sanity and create your version of what you want your work-life balance equation to be.
The first step starts with defining your boundaries clearly. You may decide you want to define them by working hours, time dedicated to your personal life and/or activities that may be non-negotiable for you. Spend some time thinking about what makes these boundaries important to you. Check-in and notice whether they are aligned with your values. Reinforce the importance of respecting these boundaries for yourself.

Now remember how you’re wearing all those hats. Check on whether you’ve given yourself any “health” breaks during your week, like time to relax (physically/mentally or emotionally) and rest. Time away from work will enhance your creativity and productivity, so make sure your boundaries are set up and help you protect some time for you to recharge your batteries.

Get clear on what your boundaries are going to be for meeting your client’s expectations. It’s so much easier to manage other people’s expectations when you have communicated your availability and response times from the beginning. By following your own client standards, you can create a professional relationship with your clients that helps them to learn to respect your time as you respect theirs.

Creating a distraction-free workspace is imperative for solopreneurs so you can designate what your workspace is and differentiate it from your personal space. Having boundaries like turning off your notifications and creating specific times in your calendar for focus make it easier for you to manage your mind and your distractions.

Finally, learning how to say no to work that is not aligned with your goals so you can respect your boundaries is a necessary skill you need to develop as a solopreneur. Remember, saying no to some things opens up space for other possibly more rewarding business endeavours that may be aligned with your vision.

As a solopreneur creating and following through on boundaries can be the difference between you avoiding burnout and you building a sustainable business.

If you need some help creating boundaries for yourself and your business, take the next step and book a Time Design session with me. I'd love to share more about my program and how it can help you create more hours in your week. Click on the clock to connect!