Here’s Episode 8 of In the Balance, the series of work-life balance videos I’ve been doing for the Standing Out Facebook group. This episode focuses on boundaries: why you need them and how to set them. I mention three types of boundaries that freelancers need to think about, plus a bonus tip on knowing when to give up on certain boundaries! In the comments, let us know a) a boundary that you’d like to set in 2016, or b) a boundary-setting technique that works well for you. Enjoy!
Corinne —
Excellent episode! As a variation on the theme of three sets of boundaries, let me add that sometimes it is possible to replace a boundary of one type with another to achieve the same effect. This can happen in various ways as we grow and life sends its changes.
For example, I used time boundaries for the first 36 years of my business, because I was moonlighting as a freelancer. After I went full-time, I used physical boundaries. Like your co-worker space, I remodeled the far end of the basement into a state of the art office for me and my admin assistant. It commanded respect from the family when I was working, and it kept me in the mindset of “I am at work now”.
I also used to dress for work every day. Coat and tie.
After I started living on the road, I had to go back to time boundaries. There are no physical boundaries on a bicycle. I make sure that I get where I am going in time to put in a credible amount of work each afternoon/evening. Riding alone, I have the luxury of returning to my moonlighting hours: I can work late, but I don’t need to get up at dawn either.
No room for a coat in the panniers (one bow tie, however), but I do get dressed to work or ride. No PJ’s outside of bed or sleeping bag.
My time boundaries shift as I cross time zones, which is another interesting variation on the theme.
Thanks for all you do to help grow our profession. Brava!
Jonathan.
Thanks Jonathan! Very interesting about all of those shifts; and that’s hilarious that you still carry a bow tie with you! Personally, I agree with you about pajamas: I am a sleep enthusiast, but I just cannot get in the work mindset in PJs… And readers: look for a guest post on Jonathan’s life on the road later this week!
Great tips Corinne, thank you!
At my co-working space a group of us use the Pomodoro technique in 25 minute chunks with a five minute break in between. We stand up and have a ‘huddle’ before and after the 25 minutes to set work goals for the session and then to report back to everyone else in the group on whether we stayed focused and managed to achieve them. This adds an element of (gentle) accountability, which can be helpful for people working alone, as well as forcing you to get up and take a break, stretch and chat to people!
As for my boundary for 2016: stop using my phone as my alarm! Having my phone by my bed definitely means I check emails right up to sleep time which also affects how long it takes me to drift off.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Thanks Kate! I really agree about the “burst of energy” blocks of time. We do that during our Do It Days (quick check-in, then work for an hour), and it’s *super* helpful. That’s very cool that you do that at your office! Let us know how it goes with weaning yourself off the phone alarm.
Hi Corinne,
thanks for another thought-provoking post. I think I’d join you on the workaholic’s bench as, with both my business and two very young children to nurture 24/7, it’s difficult to hit the off switch…
My boundaries include no data consumption (computer/phone/even books) within half an hour of bedtime; during the working day, fitting in housework only when I take a break from work; scheduling time for running; and not working during the hour we get the children ready for bed – story time is sacrosanct!
Now I just need to work on the not-getting-interrupted boundary…
Best wishes,
Francesca Gatenby
German-English & French-English translation.
Thanks Francesca! One way I avoid getting interrupted (not by other people, but by my own thoughts…) is to keep a notepad right on my desk (you could do the same thing with your phone, tablet, etc.). Then when I think, “Are we low on cat food?,” “When is the furnace service appointment?,” etc., I write that thought down instead of acting on it right that second.
Thanks Corinne, that’s a useful tip and worth adopting! I also like the idea of signalling working time through clothes. Might go over the kids’ heads at the moment, but may work later on.
Thanks Francesca! On the clothes thing, I would say that the boundary is *to other adults* (other parents, teachers, etc.) in addition to kids. I definitely found that when my daughter was in elementary school and I still worked at home: to the other adults, I was in some amorphous category between the stay at home moms and the working moms. The clothes can help fix that!
Francesca, I’d be very interested to hear how you juggle translating with taking care of two very young kids. If it’s too far off topic, maybe we could exchange email addresses through Corinne if you might have time to share your tips with me. I have a 15-month-old, and I have a second due in May. I have training in translation, but I haven’t even started up a business yet because I haven’t solved the catch-22 of childcare: I need childcare in order to work, but I can’t afford childcare unless I work (and have built my business up to the point where it’s profitable, which I know doesn’t happen right away). I’m not someone who has an easy time doing work in little nap-time slivers — quickly switching gears from toddler care to the kind of strategic thinking required to develop a business from scratch, then switching back when my child wakes up. An alternative is to work in the evenings when my husband is free, but I’m not at my most alert in the evenings, and I would like to actually talk to my husband every once in a while! I’ve listened to Corinne’s podcasts on work-life balance for parents, but I didn’t get many ideas for very young kids, so I’d appreciate any tips.
Morning Rachael, I’d be very happy to chat and pass on any tips that might be helpful. Corinne, would you mind if I stated my email address here? It is fgatenby@byword-translations.co.uk Or, if you prefer, simply search for me: Francesca Gatenby Byword Translations and my email is on my website. Thanks! Francesca
No problem; glad you two are getting in touch.
Thanks Rachael! I bet that Francesca will have some good tips for you. My two cents: with tiny kids, I think you have three basic options. Work very part-time so that you can mostly work when they’re sleeping, use paid child care, or get creative (for example trade child care with friends, work when the other parent is home, work on weekends, etc.). When my daughter was little, I tried all three of those options and they all have their pluses and minuses. I think the main factor is how much you’re willing to juggle/inconvenience yourself, versus just throwing some money at the dilemma and using paid child care. For example I really wanted to avoid group child care until my daughter was old enough to go to preschool; for her first year, I mostly worked when she was sleeping or when my husband was around, and for her second year, I was able to patch together a semi-normal work day by having a babysitter come 2-3 hours in the morning, then working while she slept in the afternoon. It was tiring and took some juggling, but in the end it worked out really well. Francesca, feel free to submit your tips as a comment, because I’m sure other people would benefit as well.
Hi Rachael,
Good for you to be looking into starting a business when you have so much on your plate! I am not sure how best I can help, however: as Corinne indicated, when trying to manage both a business and young children, one either arranges paid/unpaid childcare, or works while the children are in bed…
If you have not already started up as a professional translator then it’s probably most helpful to hear tips about how to do this first. The crux of the matter is, as you said, finding time slots in which to research the industry, work on your business plan, find clients and, eventually, take on translation jobs. It could take 3/4mths to get repeat work, involving contacting 200-ish companies – and by that time you will probably be focused on the birth of your child(!), so might it be more realistic to find out about the industry now, but wait until your second child is a bit older to start work? Completely your decision: all I know is that to put lots of hard work into building a business to then tell your hard-won clients you are off on mat leave seems like a lot of effort to go to! Also, with young babies one has to consider the heavy demands of no sleep, cluster feeding, illness, etc. and how this affects your ability to work.
Our children are 3 & 1. I took 8mths’ full maternity leave off with each and encouraged them to adopt a 7pm-7am sleep pattern as soon as feasible, which luckily worked well. They now attend preschool/nursery 3 days a week (I like having them at home 2 days a week so I get to see them reach their milestones: walking, talking, etc.), which allows me to get work done – and also to book in work that I then do in the evenings/at weekends. I cannot realistically work when they are at home if I want my computer to remain free of milk dribbles and dried apricots! When I returned from mat leave(s) I started off just with 2 afternoons of childcare and built it up gradually as the work came in. It’s a stop/start process, especially for the first year. I only ever book myself to 80% capacity, so that, if they are ill, I can take time off and/or work late to make sure I still deliver high quality work on time. Working in the evening is part and parcel of my business, my husband often plays games at his computer while I work on mine in the same room, so it’s a companionable sort of process and we still talk! I also always try to answer clients’ emails within an hour every day – even if that means sitting in the car for 5mins with the children before going into a play centre (never phone clients from a play centre…).
I’m not sure how far along you are with planning your business? Recommend the following initially:
– research the industry;
– look into courses such as the ITI SWATI course (in the UK);
– research possible financial grants;
– compile list of possible translation agencies with whom to work;
– decide on your translation specialisms (e.g. have you worked in business? law? HR?)
Translation business books (Mackay, Jenner, Durban) will give you an excellent overview of what is required and how to set about it.
Starting up a business is not a get-rich-quick panacea and will always require a certain level of time and investment if it is to be successful, I don’t think one can avoid this. Hopefully your husband is supportive: maybe discuss with him what you want to achieve (e.g. 2 afternoons’ work a week) and discuss how to find time: could he look after the kids on Saturdays, enabling you to do research then? Or could a friend or family member babysit for half a day? It’s also worth discussing your family financial situation together and deciding on what your options are: the critical amount your family needs to live on; where expenses could be cut; how you could build up a financial cushion, etc.
Once you have started getting work in, tips for efficiency might include:
– get children’s things ready/lay out breakfast things the night before
– decide with your husband on a fair allocation of chores/looking after children’s needs, etc.
– make sure you can send/receive emails on your phone
– swap babysitting with a friend to give you some work time
– prioritise, e.g. if you don’t have time to run a business, care for 2 children and neither you nor your husband want to spend weekends cleaning the house maybe get a cleaner? None of us has more than 24hrs in a day, sadly!
– batch cook meals then freeze to cut down on time in the kitchen
Essentially, one has to become as efficient as possible in everyday life to create time slots in which to work. It is possible, but takes effort and commitment. Hope this has been some help, feel free to email me directly if you have further questions – and good luck with both the pregnancy and the business planning!
Best wishes,
Francesca
Francesca, thanks so much for your detailed thoughts! Not knowing anyone who has done this, it really helps to hear about your experience (and thanks to Corinne also for your two cents). I think the best course of action will be to limit my efforts to no-cost research and preparations over the next few months. Then I can focus on investments and building up a client base starting a couple of months after baby #2 comes. My husband read through your posts, too, and is willing to adjust his schedule to give me some work times each week. Thanks again!
Hi Rachel, very pleased if I have been able to help. I definitely agree that the best way to proceed is by discussing your options as a family. Some see translating as a part-time hobby, but if you are serious about it as a business then it’s important to carve out time and opportunity for it. Your business goals, of course, will change over time and as your children grow. If you want to keep in touch feel free to drop me a line: my email is in an earlier post. Thank you Corinne for facilitating, don’t want to take over your comments section! Francesca
It’s an interesting thread; no problem!
One of my goals for 2016 is to continue to work on setting what I think of as responsibility boundaries. For example, my kids are now old enough to take responsibility for doing their homework, feeding the guinea pigs, etc. I have promised myself that I will leave these responsibilities to them and not take them on myself. Also, in my position of Divisions Committee Chair, I have set boundaries so that I can provide support and assistance without actually taking on work that the divisions should be doing themselves. It’s tempting to help when you know you can, but it makes sense to stop and think about whether or not what you’re about to take on is actually your responsibility.
Thanks Lucy! I *love* that…maybe a topic for a future guest post from you?? In many, many cases (whether it’s the guinea pigs or an ATA-related task), it’s both easier and less time-consuming to just do the task yourself than to mentor someone else through the task of doing it. But it’s important, for them and for you. I had that realization (but phrased less eloquently than you put it!) with my 13 year-old daughter; she’s very responsible, and with only one kid and a flexible job, it’s not like I can never do things for her. But I also want her to be self-sufficient; so I recently started easing her into “life skills” such as putting away her own laundry, learning how to cook, etc. And amazingly enough, or perhaps this is the real lesson…she loves it: came up with a new way of organizing her clothes, was super proud that she made the yule log cake for Christmas eve, etc. Thanks so much for this!!
Thanks, Corinne! I could definitely do a guest post on this. Let me know if you’d still be interested.Lucy
Thanks for this! I love the Pomodoro technique. It keeps me focused. If I see something interesting while I’m doing research, I bookmark it or put it in Pocket and if I suddenly think of something important, I jot it down and keep working.
The boundaries I’m setting for 2016 is not being so available for rush jobs or taking on too much to ensure that I have most evenings and weekends free, especially during very busy periods.
For technological boundaries, I’ve stopped reading on my cell phone before bed. After only a week, I’ve noticed that I have a lot more ideas (blog post ideas, business ideas, etc.) since I’m not keeping my brain occupied all the time. I usually jot those down in a notebook I keep on the bedside table.
Great, thank you!!
Dear Corinne:
One of the boundaries I am setting for 2016 is not working during weekends.
I forwarded this great episode to my newsletter, which has now +800 subscribers.
Best regards,
Horacio R. Dal Dosso
English Spanish Certified Public Translator
A R G E N T I N A