Work-life balance.

Does any of this sound familiar? Two of your vendors just quit and you need to replace them in a hurry. You need an end-of-season event but have no ideas for it, let alone a poster to advertise it. You’re falling behind on keeping your market’s Facebook page up to date. You have no time to take your kids back-to-school shopping, let alone on any of the fun outings you’d promised them. Your spouse and your parents are complaining that you never have time for them. Your smartphone keeps buzzing 24/7. You’re frazzled, exhausted and seem to be late for everything.

Don’t let stress get the best of you during the market season by trying to do everything all by yourself.

We all play different roles—spouse, caregiver, parent, friend, coworker and market manager—and often, there just isn’t enough of us to go around.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 58% of Canadians report feeling “overloaded,” torn between all the different roles they play. The lines between work and life are easily blurred for both paid and unpaid market manager positions—especially in a business as seasonal as farmer’s markets. The season is short and everything has to be done within that time frame.

Here are 10 tips on how to achieve work-life balance:

  1. Do ONLY what ONLY YOU can do.Delegate the rest: to vendors (e.g., helping you find new vendors), volunteers (e.g., updating your Facebook page), even friends and family (e.g., back-to-school shopping trips).
  2. When you DO delegate to other people, resist the urge to micromanage them.Let them run with it (e.g., the event poster). The end result may not be perfect, but “good enough” often IS good enough.
  3. Avoid burnout by scheduling brief breaks throughout the day: taking 10 minutes off every two hours will actually increase your productivity. So will getting a little exercise.
  4. At the end of each day, list your priorities for the next day—in your work and your personal life—and be realistic about how much you can accomplish. Anything left over? Delay it or delegate it.
  5. Refuse to be a slave to your smartphone. Respond to email only once or twice a day, then shut off your email program so you don’t get distracted each time a new message comes in.
  6. Ask for help when you’re too busy or stuck for ideas (e.g., for an end-of-season event). Pick people’s brains: vendors, volunteers, customers, family & friends. People love to contribute & collaborate.
  7. On the home front, don’t be afraid to share or delegate chores.Divvy up the important jobs and let the unimportant stuff slide. Learn to live with a little messiness. Buy grab-and-go meals. Take shortcuts.
  8. Don’t confuse being busy with being productive. The tireder you are, the less you’re actually accomplishing and the more mistakes you’re probably making. Take breaks. Get some sleep and start afresh.
  9. Pick your battles & don’t sweat the small stuff. Spend your time and energy on what matters most RIGHT NOW. Anything else is a distraction.
  10. Learn to say no. You can do it. Other people do it all the time. And don’t feel guilty. There are only so many hours in a day and you’re entitled to some “me” time to recharge your batteries.

Especially with larger markets, remember that you aren’t the market’s ENGINE. You’re its CONDUCTOR.

Here are some links to short, helpful articles on the issue of work-life balance:

Canadian Mental Health Association: Work-life balance quiz

Canadian Mental Health Association: Make work-life balance your business

Forbes: Ways to achieve work-life balance

Forbes: secrets to achieving work-life balance

Profitguide: Are you productive or just busy?

Huffington Post: Signs you’re burned out