Finding Balance

By Danielle Andrews Sunkel

Finding balance.  Unfortunately no one thinks about this until it is, or is almost, too late.

In the Wedding Industry, you usually start out slow.  It takes time to build your name and reputation.  You take courses, attend conferences, put time and money into marketing, social networking and SEO management, then one day, it all clicks and you are swamped with work.

It comes on relatively fast, one day you are toiling away, the next media outlets are calling you and clients are right behind them.  Suddenly you are in demand and your family starts resenting your job.  You feel pulled in every direction.  You are so happy that your company is successful, yet you feel guilty about missing important family occasions and valuable time with your spouse and children.   Not only do your family and friends miss you, you may start to feel out of the loop because you are missing so many milestones.

There is a reason that people in the Wedding Industry have a higher divorce rate than the national average.  We are so busy making other people’s special moments, we don’t have time for our own family’s special moments.  The key is finding a balance between success and our personal lives.

Tips for Finding Balance:

Learn to say no.  Do not do things out of guilt or a false sense of obligation.  By cutting out favors that you resent, you’ll make more room in your life for activities that are both meaningful to you and bring you joy.

Be in the moment and turn off the technology.  Whether you are giving yourself a well-deserved coffee break or spa break or spending time with loved ones, be in the moment and turn off the technology.  Your clients can wait for a reply, nothing is a life and death situation, a couple of hours will not kill them, but it can go a long way to restoring you, feeding your soul and nurturing your relationships.  If you have children or a spouse at home, make evenings family time, you can always return emails when they go to bed.

Delegate and out-source.  Make a list of all the responsibilitites you have, one for work and one for home.  Do you really need to micromanage everything on the lists?  Can you delegate some tasks to older children, employees, your spouse or out-source?  Hire a cleaning service, they are remarkably inexpensive and free up 3-4 hours every week.  Hire other coordinators on contract to work on some of your events.  Do you have a physical office?  Events Management students are clamouring for positions at Wedding Firms, they get to learn how to run a wedding business and you get much-needed assistance.  Hire a virtual office firm to answer your business phone, so you are not tied down to your desk.

Take “Me Time”.  If you are burnt out, you are help to no one and may be risking your health.  Go to the gym three times a week, get that manicure, go for that massage, take an interest course and don’t feel guilty about it!  Instead of grabbing your coffee at the drive-thru go in to the cafe and sit down with it.  That 10 minutes can feel so indulgent!  A happy you makes a better you, for your clients and your loved ones.

Take a day of rest.  The good book proclaims it and even if you aren’t religious, everyone needs a day of rest.  Choose one day (preferably on the weekend) that is dedicated to your loved ones, it can change as your work flow needs, but make sure one day a week is dedicated to just your loved ones.  You can give them that and it will make you feel better too.

Finding balance is an on-going struggle, you are going to need to adjust your balance as workflow and family-life dictates.   Our friends and families deserve our dedication and effort even more than our clients do, so it is important to work just as hard to achieve balance as it is to build our business.  Even more important, you deserve balance so you can enjoy your business and your loved ones.