Say goodbye to the days of burnout and hello to the days of boundaries. Can we be straight-forward with you for a second? You cannot scale your business if you do not set clear boundaries. 

As an agency and team of five, we all desire a well-balanced life and it’s incredibly important to our culture to protect our time as individuals. Olivia, our founder and CEO, has established a healthy internal environment by implementing 4-day workweeks, fun get-togethers, open communication about goals and 2 weekly meetings, all while exceeding client expectations.

This approach to business makes us an approachable agency that we all love to work for and clients love to work with, although, this kind of culture wouldn’t be possible if Olivia didn’t set boundaries for herself from the very beginning.

What we’ve learned is that setting boundaries (for both you and everyone else) is the key to creating a balanced life. If you’ve been feeling like your business has control of your life, here are 3 tips to help you set boundaries so you can focus on the things that truly make a difference

01. Plan Ahead:

Create a weekly block schedule for yourself that sets very specific hours to work on specific tasks. When you create a block schedule, you can batch all similar tasks together and work on them at once. This allows you to stay in flow and helps eliminate distractions. Self-care tip: schedule in free time for yourself. If not, work will always trump any free time on your calendar and well…hello burnout. 

02. Power off.

Literally power off your phone, turn off notifications, or place it in another room. A lot of our jobs require creativity, space for inspiration and reflection. We are easily pulled away from these spaces by our team or clients, so literally power off your phone and watch your productivity skyrocket. It can wait – I promise. This also clearly communicates to your clients (and friends and family) when your working hours are and gives them a realistic time-frame for when they can expect to receive returned work texts, calls and emails. 

03. Prioritize.

Focus on your top three money-making tasks every week. Set aside one hour at the beginning or end of your week to re-prioritize your to-do list. Pick your top three (not 50) money makers to accomplish that week and go from there. Oftentimes we get overly ambitious and that leads to spreading your energy too thin and we get nothing done, but by focusing on the top three needle-moving tasks you’re able to stay focused every day.

Ready for a more productive & relaxed week? Follow these three tips and that’s what you’ll get! If you’re a fellow designer and want more tips and business advice like this be sure to follow Olivia Austin to learn about her coaching services or tune into our top-selling digital masterclass Secure Consistent, High-Quality Clients today!