011 : Mastering Work/Life Balance
Today’s episode talks about something that moooost people struggle with: balancing work and life. no matter what profession you may be in, there is usually some aspect of it that you find hard to navigate or “leave at work.” whether that is a work-related conflict, an overwhelming work load, or maybe just over-working and neglecting your personal life, it is difficult to figure out how to navigate the different aspects of it all. maddie and kait tackle this topic head on by discussing personal experiences where their work/life balance was all out of wack, and what that looked like for them, as well as tips to improving your own work/life balance starting today. this episode gives you a behind the scenes look of what our co-hosts do to keep their lives and businesses afloat and is aimed to teach you how to make similar improvements in your own life.
to start this episode on mastering work/life balance maddie and kait dive straight into discussing seasons of their businesses where their work/life balance was at a really unhealthy place.
maddie begins by stating that there have been a few instances where she had to re-evaluate and remind herself that she cannot live the way that she was—drowning in work and lacking excitement in her life. for a more specific example, maddie explains that in one season she really overbooked herself, by a loooot. and then, to make matters worse, the pandemic happened and by the end of it she was doing 47 weddings for 2020. on top of her other, non-bridal, sessions. and then she had to not only edit allll of the photos, but she still had to run her business as a whole and do all of the things that did not involve actually taking photos. in this season maddie explains that she was staying up all night, barely eating, not drinking water, and just totally not feeling well. in these moments, maddie expresses that she was burnt out—sick to her stomach, weak in her body, totally burnt out. maddie says that 2020 in specific she learned that living the way she was was in no way sustainable and something had to give, so she implemented healthy boundaries into her life and business in order to take better care of both.
kaitlin transitions into her own story, which she prefaces by saying was before the pandemic. kaitlin explains that it was before she really got into weddings, but she was shooting so.many.sessions. she was completely booked, exhausted and burnt out. kaitlin tells listeners that she remembers one night her mom called and invited her to a family outing, to which kait replied she couldn’t go because she had too much to do. kaitlin says that after she hung up with her mom she just broke down because she realized that she had just said no to family in order to work. kaitlin explains that this was really her turning point in prioritizing finding a balance between work and life.
maddie explains that there have also been instances in her life where she declined doing something fun with her husband or family in order to “get ahead” on work, or just stay on track, or catch up. maddie also expresses that situations like this are often why people slip into depressing feelings or episodes of loneliness. looking back on these seasons, maddie expresses that she was not honoring her relationship with the lord or respecting her personal relationship either. the lord wants us to have relationships, both with him and the people he has places in our life. the lord honors rest in more ways than we could ever imagine.
kaitlin says that she has always had the motto “work comes after”—
after jesus, her husband, her family, everything.. but she admits that she has not always lived by that in different seasons of her business. but we all fall short, what is important is that you are able to recognize there is an imbalance, and work to make changes that will even the field.
kaitlin transitions the conversation into boundaries in which she and maddie have implemented to attempt to balance work/life, though they do state that not everyone’s boundaries will look exactly the same, and that is okay.
scheduled work times—maddie and kait both have set work hours and they try to stick to them, though that is definitely not easy in general, and even harder since they had babies. re-train your mind to know that you do not have to work every second, nor do your clients expect that of you. if you do go out of your work hours and reply at times that you “normally wouldn’t” then that could be then you could accidentally set the precedent that you will reply in the middle of the night, day, evening, or whatever times your clients reach out. maddie and kait both use a planner to keep up with day-to-day life and schedule out when they will edit, shoot, etc.
outsource—maddie and kait both have experience with this. whether you work at home or outside of the house, if need someone to clean your house, get the help you need. if you need help editing because you are overwhelmed, outsource! outsourcing gives you more freedom in your business and time.
maddie explains that the first thing she outsourced was editing. she prefaces by saying that if you are a photographer and are scared of the price, it is so worth it. maddie says that kaitlin is one of her outsources and edits wedding photos for her.
maddie also outsourced a virtual assistant early on who helped with social media, booked all of her travel plans, and so much more.
brain dump— right down lists of everything in your head, n0 matter what it is about. getting your brain on paper, even if its just chicken scratch, until you can’t think of anything more will allow you to work the things you want to work on or think about into your schedule for the day or week.
maddie and kaitlin then move the conversation to what their routines looked like before and after having babies.
kaitlin begins by talking about what her life looked like before she had her son, beckett, and explains that before having a baby she worked really hard for a good work/life balance and was quite successful at it. her usual routine looked like:
wake up and have slow mornings—took her vitamins, her probiotics, breakfast/coffee, make her bed, spend time with jesus.
go straight into working—normally around 9:00 am and work in increments. for instance, 9-11, 12-2, etc. and then finish up her day at 4:30. the only time she worked after 4:30 was if she was meeting with a bride or something like that.
only shot sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, unless there was a really special circumstances. Saturdays were only weddings, and a Sunday here and there. there was no breaking her rules on when she would shoot or work, unless it was a really special occurrence.
Maddie explains that Kaitlin is really good at boundaries and always stuck to her boundaries before she had a baby, and has done really well after as well.
Maddie reminds listeners that you have to have it at the forefront of your mind that you have to be flexible and show yourself grace.
maddie’s life after having a baby looks a little like this:
sundays set up maddie’s whole week—shaun is home so he helps with the baby, getting groceries, the house clean, whatever.
maddie took saturdays and sundays off of her calendar totally, unless it was a wedding. she states that she knows that those are the busiest days as a photographer, but she had to set that boundary for herself and stick to it.
on mondays maddie tries to do something that is going to set her up for a successful week—take her son to the park, hang out with kaitlin and her son, whatever that week needs.
utilizes nap times—it may not look the same everyday, but whenever he sleeps, she works. because she knows that is when she has to knock that stuff out.
kaitlin reminds allll moms that having someone to watch your child so that you can work or take a break is mooooore than okay. maddie doesn’t work on mondays, but kaitlin’s mom can watch beckett on mondays so in busy season, or even slow season, she will gladly accept the help and schedule the heck out of her mondays so that when she does have her son the other six days of the week, she can relax and enjoy that time.
there really isn’t one good way for people to balance work/life, but these are some of the ways that maddie and kait have found to help them find balance in their own experiences.
maddie and kait leave listeners with helpful tips for improving your own work/life balance:
utilize your iPhone—turn on do not disturb, utilize the new scheduling tools and control who can text, call, notify, or contact you.
set your work hours and stick to them—Maddie says she is not very good at this, but she is working on it. get out of the mindset that you have to work 24-7.
put your workhours, usual response time, or some indication of what your schedule looks like in your email signature. kaitlin explains that she sends out information to her brides of what her usual weekly hours are, when she will not reply, and other things.
take breaks—make sure you eat, rest and take care of your body. utilize your phone, computer, alarm, whatever it is to remind you to take a breather: eat, drink water, take a walk, etc.
at the end of the day write down all of the things that you get done or accomplish.
maddie and kait end the episode by telling listeners that they are proud of all of them for even listening to this and working to make improvements on your work/life balance.
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Music : Better Than Life by Oliver Dodge