How to balance a relationship and work when self-employed

Self-employed people have busy lifestyles, and figuring out how to balance a relationship and your work can be challenging. You might feel like you always need to be switched on and available to keep your business running. As a result, your relationship might suffer because you have no time to spend with your partner. 

This guide will share tips on how to balance a relationship and work when you’re self-employed, including:

• Communicate with your partner
• Prioritise the important stuff
• Share your calendar with your partner
• Set time aside when you can
• Optimise your processes
• Streamline your financial management

In the business world, the content you publish and share could mean the difference between building a successful business and having your brand disappear into the void. Similarly, how you communicate with your partner could make or break your relationship. 

Unless your partner is also an entrepreneur, there are many aspects of building a business that they won’t understand. For that reason, it’s important always to keep an open line of communication. 

Be upfront about your obligations, what you’re doing, and how much room for flexibility. Explain to your partner what you’re trying to achieve this week or month and what you need to do to accomplish your goals. 

Communication is key, but putting your relationship first sometimes is also important. The best way to find a balance between your work and your relationship is to make a list of priorities. Break down your work and relationship into specific moments or activities. 

For example, important work-related things might be client meetings, budgeting, filing your Self Assessment tax return, or other major tasks. For your relationship, these moments and activities would be anniversaries, birthdays, big holidays, or important milestones in your partner’s life (graduation, promotion, etc.).

When you have a list of can’t-miss occasions for your career and your relationship, you can start figuring out your priorities. For example, could you move a morning client meeting to make your partner a birthday breakfast in bed? Or could you plan a short trip later if you have to work on your anniversary? 

The more transparent you are with your work schedule, the better it’ll be for your relationship. You can try sharing your calendar with your significant other. 

Knowing how you schedule your days will give your partner a clear picture of how busy you are, so they understand why you might have less time for them. If you keep your partner in the loop, it helps them understand your perspective and, in turn, support you in your hard work.

You could also try setting aside regular check-ins with your partner where you talk about your days, goals, challenges, and so on. The more transparent you can be, the better. 

Every entrepreneur needs to occasionally put in long hours to get their business off the ground and maintain momentum. Being self-employed means the company falls and rises with you, so taking time off might seem scary and even impossible. 

Still, it’s important to park the car or close the laptop, and put away your phone sometimes so you can be present with your partner. Even if you can only manage 30 minutes in the evening before you go to bed, setting aside that time will help you create and maintain intimacy with your partner. 

You can also set aside a day or two per month where you and your partner spend quality time. Why not take a day trip somewhere, or go to a nice restaurant? Or you could relax in front of Netflix. Do whatever makes you and your partner feel connected. 

Slow processes take up unnecessary time that you could otherwise spend with your partner. The key to balancing a relationship and work as self-employed is to find ways to improve your time management and organise your workload. 

The best way to manage your time and workload more efficiently is to invest in tools to streamline your processes. If you can get the same tasks done in less time, figuring out how to balance a relationship and work is much easier. Tools you can try include:

• Todoist helps professionals and small businesses create to-do lists and manage tasks easier.
• Calendly makes scheduling meetings easy and quick.
• Upwork helps you outsource tasks to capable freelancers if you need to.
• Countingup automates bookkeeping and financial admin.

These days, there’s basically a tool for every business need. So, think about what tools you can implement to optimise your processes and have more time for your relationship.

As we mentioned in our previous point, optimising your business processes will significantly impact how easily you can balance your relationship and running your company. One of the most time-consuming and often stressful tasks of self-employment is managing your finances. 

Without the right system, financial management can take a lot of unnecessary time out of your day. That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier and free up time to focus on other things. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 
Find out more here.