A florist asked about a healthy work-life balance in my Facebook group the other day and frankly, it’s nearly impossible to achieve a balance because there’s an ebb and flow to everything–and rarely do business pressures and demands of personal life come in equal measure.
Some days are heavily focused on family, while other days are work days. Some days I’m a better designer than I am at dinner preparation and some days all the laundry is clean, but my studio is a royal mess!
This doesn’t mean I’m falling short–it means I’m human. And lucky for me, I’m not aiming for perfection.
Designing is my favorite thing about being a florist, but it’s a small part of all the work I really do. That’s pretty obvious to you if you’re a floral designer, too! (You know exactly what I mean.)
For example, I did a beautiful wedding earlier this month, which I LOVED, but the rest of the time I’ve mostly been doing things I don’t want to do. Now, I’m not saying that to complain! I’m just being truthful. And that can definitely contribute to a work-life balance that feels less than balanced!
Yet one of my strongest skills as a small business owner for 22 years is my ability to get through all that stuff I don’t love so that I CAN do the thing I really love!
(But trust me, it’s taken a lot of practice.)
And as I focus more on “being human” vs. the title of “business owner”, I notice that in the times when I’m feeling like my BEST self are when I’m not in a constant self-judging cycle and I’m not spending (wasting) as much time on social media.
If you’re interested in reducing the amount of time you’re spending on social media too, I want to make sure you know that every month I send 5 social media prompts to the members of my Patreon Community in the Marketing Mavens Tier. The intention is to save florists time and help you create posts that represent your brand instead of just posting because you “have to”. (These prompts land in your inbox on the first Monday of each month when you’re a subscriber!)
Whether you’re currently feeling balanced or not, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and I hope you’ll make the most of it!
Keep doing beautiful work!
Very best,
Alison Ellis