Balancing Home based Business and Family Life. Today, the distinction between work and home has been blurred and there is overlap: Communication technology allows you to work from virtually anywhere; international companies function 24 hours a day; and the 40 hour work week has become the dream of a dreamer.
According to Sue Campbell Clark of the University of Idaho, “Balance is attained when a person feels comfortable with the way they have allocated their time and energy, and integrated and separated their responsibilities at work and at home."
Balancing home and business life, however, does not lend itself to one-size-fits-all. Personal perspectives on how to meet work and home obligations affects how often you check your email, phone messages, and PDA as well as whether you leave the office early to attend a parent-teacher conference. Finding the home-business life balance eliminates conflicts and has benefits for everyone, but keep in mind it is a process and requires monitoring and adjustment.
Conflicts - The hourglass sand seems to plummet in the daily grind, but time is only one of the three sources of conflict between home and business life, according Jeffrey Greenhaus, professor of management at Drexel University.
- In strain-based conflict stressors in one role create pressure which negatively affects the other role: Your partner is in the hospital, and you have trouble concentrating on writing your report.
- Behavior-based conflict means one role causes you to act in ways that are incompatible with the other role. For example, if your job requires you to be unemotional and you carry that into the family role, conflict results. Defining the source of conflict helps the process of striking a balance between home and business life.
Flexible Working Hours - Having your hands on the wheel provides you with a greater sense of control. According to psychologist Laurel McNall of Brockport College, “Past research has shown that flexible scheduling increases perceptions of control over work and family matters, and this, in turn, lowers work–family conflict.” The 2009 survey report of the Society for Human Resource Management shows that 54% of HR professionals stated their company offers flextime, 51% some form of telecommuting, and 34% a compressed workweek where employees work longer hours per day to take a day off. Flexible working hours not only benefits the family but increases job satisfaction and your commitment to work.
Your Family Life - Getting more involved with your family is a pleasure, but it also has more hidden benefits. A central aspect to more involvement is knowing and doing concrete things. For example, helping your partner to complete a project around the house invests yourself in your home and creates a sense of accomplishment that is shared. Knowing what your daughter is doing to win the science project contest at school keeps your daughter and you involved in her everyday life. Researchers Kelly Balmforth and Diane Gardner, in their study “Conflict and Facilitation Between Work and Family: Realizing the Outcomes for Organizations,” demonstrate involvement in family results in not only positive feelings about the family but also greater work efficiency, commitment to your company and greater job satisfaction.
Communication - The domains of work and home are largely invisible to each other. Clark states communication at work about family and to family about work leads to “greater work satisfaction, higher work functioning, higher satisfaction with home and family activities, and…more functional families.” In addition, poorly timed and unrealistic demands by work and family are reduced because there is greater understanding and knowledge. The level of communication depends on the individual, but helps to enhance the home and business balance.
Time for yourself - You cannot keep the genie in the bottle forever. With a busy life full of diverse responsibilities, people forget they owe themselves something. The desire to satisfy everyone else’s needs puts a lot of pressure on you, and in the effort to do unto others you do not do unto yourself. Doing things for yourself and even by yourself alleviates resentment that can build up when you constantly do things for others. Find time to do something for you.