I always try and share both: the things I love about being my own boss and the stuff that is challenging. Because there is always both.
Today’s thought is about the rhythm in which I work and live as a business owner.
Pre-business I worked Monday to Friday from 9-5 (ish). All of my friends had the same rhythm. Personal life happened after work and on the weekends.
I know many business owners keep that rhythm but for me it all changed at the same time. We moved house and had a baby all within 4 months and a year later I didn’t return to my job after maternity leave.
The benefit, which I have mentioned before, has been the incredible flexibility. Yes, I work usual business owners on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, plus a Friday afternoon. But I can also go for a swim or take a half day off, or meet our child’s teachers at any point during the week. Because I can fit work around it.
Aside from client calls and sales calls, everything I do by myself (writing, marketing, idea generation, outreach etc.) can happen at any point of the day or week. I love that flexibility.
BUT: all of my friends are employed. They all work in a 9-5 setting, either full-time or part-time. So when I’m keen to catch up over coffee and cake on a Monday, everybody is at work, except me.
I’ll add a caveat (?) here: pretty much all of my friends here are also parents of small children, many of whom go to the same nursery and all of whom live in a 10 mile radius from us. So meeting people, at least briefly at pickup or for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon, is entirely possible.
But the flexibility I love and enjoy isn’t something I can easily share with my friends.
The key lesson has been for Andy and I to continue inviting friends to our place (because we enjoy it) and to be proactive about meeting up. It’s something I hadn’t really thought about before, but I would definitely be more mindful of if I had to start over again.
These relationships and friendships are so important to maintain and with such different work setups across our friend groups it takes more conscious effort and thought.