 |
| Image by Marianne Taylor at the Beloved Workshop |
The past few months have been pretty intense.. what with the burglary back in March we started wedding season as if we'd been spun round and let go... but in the past few weeks it feels like everything has started to settle down. We finally feel (after 3 years) like we're getting on top of things and that we're now driving the business rather than the business driving us. Where I've seen this the most is with our work/life balance.
For the past few years I'll be honest my work/life balance sucked. There was no balance. We were both working from home.. sitting in our pyjamas all day surrounded by washing up, most days not stepping out of the front door.. no fresh air, not much real human interaction and then we'd drive to weddings at the weekend, shoot, drive, pack, unpack (sometimes).. Sundays we'd work.. we'd meet couples, shoot, edit. Through the week I'd start work at 11am and work through til midnight.. we'd eat crap constantly.. anything for convenience.. anything for a little reward for working so hard, we smoked, we occasionally socialised, crowbarring it in between the massive to do list and feeling guilty any time I wasn't sat in front of my computer replying to emails or editing.. we were loving the job but I stopped caring about me.. and that had to change.
Since the office move EVERYTHING has changed. We get up and get dressed, we come to work, we see real people, we get out in the fresh air, we work normal hours, we're more productive, we now have our home back, I sit on the sofa of an evening and watch a DVD, I sit in my pyjamas on a Sunday when the rest of the world also sits in their pyjamas, we eat healthily, we quit smoking, we book little holidays in peak wedding season, we make time to socialise and spend time with each other, I don't reply to emails after hours, I make time for personal projects and the best thing by far is now we have bikes and we ride to work! Thirty minutes there and back every day that gives me the space to not look at Twitter/fb/emails.. to not only exercise but to really have some time for myself.. and see the world around me. It might sound crazy but I've never felt so free as I do riding my bike.. it's the best thing I've ever done.. :)
aww i love you Cases. so proud of you for making these changes and moving yourselves and your business forward. bloody hell i still cant believe we all quit smoking
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to read this, Emma. I still work from home (with a toddler underfoot) and I YEARN for an office space. It's so important to divide the two parts of your life. Yay for balance x
ReplyDeleteAww...love you guys. Good for you. Definitely the way forward. It's inspiring to see yo making that work life balance thing work so well! x
ReplyDeleteOh Emma, we're where you were before the office move (I even started smoking again last month :( BUT we're moving into an office next month and I hope in a few months time I can report all the same positive changes you guys have had! So happy you guys have found the perfect balance, and it shows! xx
ReplyDeleteI love that you've found some balance and that it's making you so happy. I've found with my business being just over 18 months old and still working alongside it that i'm constantly 'plugged in'. I've decided I need to discover a new hobby and stop receiving work emails on my phone just so I can switch off for a bit. Maybe one day i'll even afford that desired office space...
ReplyDeletewell done Emma, you deserve it all :-)xxx
ReplyDeleteAww, this post makes us smile :) We're bloomin' lucky to have you guys as friends... getting to spend our days with you both makes our hearts sing! We really don't think we would change a thing right now...
ReplyDeleteLee & Dawn x
I love that you ride to work, us Wardles love our bikes and can't wait for our toddler to start using her balance bike. Maybe then we'll make more time away from the business to get out there while the rest of the country is working. Much as we love shooting, editing and all the rest of it, there's nothing nicer to get out as a family (preferably on a week day!), without our cameras and just ride.
ReplyDeleteEmma I love this post, it's just given me the push I needed to organise my life and factor in some me time. Sometimes I work 24 hour shifts and work 90 hour weeks. I am so tired that the weekends (the ones I'm not working), I just want to sit still or sleep. I can't tell you how many days I get home at 9pm and realise I've not peed or eaten since I left the house at 7am that morning. Living on junk food because you haven't got the time for a proper lunch break. Left over energy to do some exercise is non-existent. Sometimes I look like I've been punched in the face because the bags under my eyes are so dark, face full of spots & feeling really run down. I've been thinking of dusting off my beautiful duchess bike for a while & cycle to work. This post has just given me the push I needed to 1. cycle to work ( I love cycling) & 2. plan some quality time for me & my boy. Thank you Emma.
ReplyDeleteoh emma this is great and also gives me some hope! as i don't run a business with my boyfriend (he actually works in something way to different), i need to find a way to balance things out, because either way, i might not have him waiting for me in three years! :) but i still work from home (i cannot afford an office right now!), but i have a schedule and that was a major deal for me! i was so tired, so anxious last year by november, because i was doing everything, working late, going to bed at 3am, waking up at 8am... and suddenly what i loved to do was becoming a pressure, a punishment and i knew that had to stop. so i changed things, let me head go with stress and anxiety and things have been working out beautifully! loved the bike detail by the way! oh i have a dog, which actually does his job also beautifully in making me go outside three times a day, every single day, rain or sun, we need to be out! and it's great! other than that i stop sometimes what i'm doing to pet him and laugh with him!
ReplyDeleteHey there Emma and Pete - what a crackin picture - its one of my favs of the this year - it speaks volumes :) I've read this post hungrily - checking off each thing you've said and thinking - yes - I can relate to that. Except I have yet to achieve the balance! The key words in this post for me are where you say "we work normal hours, we are more productive..." please tell me how you've achieved this without sacrificing something on your editing? It is my bete noir and all advice is most welcome. Can I say again how much I love this picture! :) xx
ReplyDeleteHow your life was, sounds so familiar to me. Well done for getting things on track, it's so important to find a balance. I'm sure it must make you more creative having space to think and live at home, rather than feeling guilty about not doing work all the time. Having a separate space for your business sounds like it's done the trick.
ReplyDeleteGod that all sounds so familiar. The first three years of running a business are nearly always like that I think. It was in year four that we figured out a balance, with proper working hours and proper 'off' hours. (now I just need an office!)
ReplyDeleteWell done to you guys for working this stuff out!
Good to know in a couple of years time I might just get past the silly hours, editing pyjamas and not-working guilt... I did at least get dressed today. It's a start.
ReplyDeleteBlimey, thanks for reminding us there is a thing called work life balance. It's so easy to get sucked into work, work, work. Well done for fixing yours. Time to work on mine, and spend more quality time with my wife.
ReplyDeleteI work at home too and I think it's really hard to keep things balanced! It's difficult to get off the computer and not to feel guilty if I have a break to eat calmly or go to the gym. I think that having a working space outside home is the best! I can't affort it right now, but I think that the ritual of getting dressed, walking/biking to the office, having a coffee, seeing people... really makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts!
Emma and Pete, your an inspiration! Now, we're do I find that office?
ReplyDelete