Achieving a work-life balance?

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Achieving a work-life balance?

Balance

 

Hello everyone,

 

I know that hosting and welcoming guests on a regular basis, takes lot of time and effort, plus for many of you, this may not be your only focus, perhaps you have full/part-time job or other commitments to juggle alongside this. With this in mind, the "term finding a work-life balance" is not always as easy as it sounds, however much you enjoy all the things you do. 

 

I wondered how do you find this, do you find you achieve a good balance? Do you have any tips, perhaps you are a champion of keeping to-do lists and they help with this or perhaps there is always one special thing that you allocate time for, like taking a morning walk or having your hair done every month. 🙂

 

I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

Thanks,
Lizzie

 


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22 Replies 22
Willow3
Level 10
Coupeville, WA

I'm fortunate in that all of my "work" is centered out of my home.  I host, in my home.  I sew/knit, in my home.  I parent, in my home.  And last of all, but certainly the most "work" - being a "professional Navy wife", from my home.  Everything being in house allows me to squeeze/fit each piece of my "work" in, where and when I need to. 

 

Two things that bring me great happiness...

 

I awake each morning with an alarm clock that slowly brightens the room, as the sun would.  And at the alarm time, it plays classical music.  It's a lovely way to waken.  

 

Then, I grab my coffee (we have a good espresso machine, which is a plus too!) and my ipad and soak in our hot tub for a bit.  

 

I'm a morning person, and these elements make my mornings that much better!  And they are also, in my home!  

 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

It sounds like you have a great balance @Willow3 and as you say it is great that you have everything in one place. It is suprising how much time people often spend commuting every day. I am sure with the way technology is going though, we will all be able to use this time to do other activities in the future like exercise inside a train or do the shopping in a car or basically any other thing we can think of! hehe

 

I really like that you allocate time each day to things which provide you joy, is this something you have adopted recently?

 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Retire, @Lizzie 😄  Of course you have to get old 😛

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hehe, that is certainly one option @Linda108! Although, having said this I hear things tend to get even busier when you retire?! Hopefully a lot more life than work though in this case. 🙂

 

Do you have a routine like Willow?

 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

@Lizzie  Like @Willow3  I am a morning person, really early morning.  I wake around 4 AM, go outside to stretch and breath and practice a bit of yoga with my dog, Cami.  She is better at downward facing dog...  I watch the news while I am working on the host forum for a couple of hours.  The next couple of hours are spent walking the dog on some beautiful desert trails and going to the dog park.  House chores are next, followed by going to the gym.  After lunch I read a novel (AKA napping).  More household chores especially if I have Air BNB guests.  Another dog walk.   Dinner and in bed by 8.   Yes, I have a little bit of a routine.  😄

 

My best tip for anyone trying to reach Air BNB on the phone:  Call at 4 AM.  No waiting...

Sharon315
Level 1
Ottawa, Canada

I do love hosting through airbnb.  No guests being the same, it is great to see the world through their eyes and listening to their stories if they want to share.  I am very diplomatic and do not want people to feel uncomfortable however, as I do feel comfortable talking with them, they seem to open up as well.  The balance is a lot of work.  Fortunately, I have the luxury of working from home which makes it a lot simpler. Sorry!!  My main occupation is as a realtor so my hours are all over the map. I also dog and housesit when the opportunity arises.  

 

To achieve the happy balance, I have found it helpful to go to hot yoga at least 3-4 times a week.  I usually go to the 6:00 a.m. class to kickstart my day.   I would love to hear how others cope as well. 

 

Cheers,

Sharon

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

It is lovely to hear more about how you achieve a good balance @Sharon315. It is great you can focus all your work options around your home and there is a good deal of flexibility. It can mean so much.

 

I like that both you and @Linda108 like to do yoga in the morning, it is good way to wake up in the morning and get your body moving. I have only done yoga a couple of times before, but I do find doing exercise is a great way to clear and focus the mind in a busy day. 

 

Linda, Sharon, @Thomas498@Edwin57@Robin129@Βασίλης-and-Ann0@Andrew157,@Jessica-and-Henry0, do you find that you are able to take weekends to recover from busy weeks, even if they are not necessarily on say Friday-Sunday period, which might help to achieve more of a work-life balance?

 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Andrew157
Level 10
Windermere, United Kingdom

We work for the NHS in the UK, in a demanding role. We are both part time despite there being a shortage of people in the role. The thought of full time makes me depressed 

 

We keep our work life balance in airbnb by having a minimum of 3 days booking and by having a clear day between each booking. This allows us to maintain the quality of our listings 

Julia482
Level 2
Royal Wootton Bassett, United Kingdom

Hi Andrew

 

Rather a mundane question from me I am afraid. 

 

 

This is the first time I have had guests to stay in my detached annex.  My question is; how should I approach going in and changing the bed linen after a week and sprucing up the place a little for them.  I was going to text a couple of days before saying I would be round to do a bit of tidying and cleaning and changing the bed.  What are your thoughts on this/what do you do?

 

Julia

Andrew157
Level 10
Windermere, United Kingdom

Hi Julia

 

Direct question so I will try to answer. We let 3 to 14 days as we live in a holiday area and can get business rates relief. The longest stay we have had was 9 days. 

 

The general advice of this discussion board is that the linen change and tidy up is to protect the host as you can see how things are. 

 

For the two periods of 9 days we offered the change half way and the guests  said not needed. For longer we would be asking about a convenient time and not the option to decline.

 

We welcome all our guests and therefore would ask on arrival. 

 

Hope this answers your questions 

 

Andrew 

Hello @Lizzie

I work full time as an interpreter and travel a lot for work (plus, my current assignment has me working in a different city during the week) so my way of achieving a work-life balance is by depending on Henry and sharing hosting responsibilities  🙂

I'm also lucky that Henry does freelance work (IT) so he's able to work from just about anywhere as long as he has internet connection and his laptop. Henry handles most of the "on-site" housekeeping stuff for me and probably knows my home better than I do!

 

Although it wasn't our initial intention when we decided to become hosts, we have been hosting long-term guests who are exchange students during the school year (Mar~Jun / Sep~Dec) so we have minimal housekeeping and no check-in/outs to worry about during this time. During the summer/winter vacation months, Henry and I take a break from hosting, plan a couple trips and enjoy some down time.

 

Personally, I think it's really important to have people around you who can help when you need help, and  regular "days off" from hosting to spend with family and friends or even have some "me" time without worrying about check-ins/outs or turnovers.

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

I really like what you said about creating a good support network of friends and family around you @Jessica-and-Henry0. I think this is a really good thing to have and it is always nice to have people there for you, especially on those odd occasions when you need some help with check-in etc. or just need some time off. I actually think hosting aside this is something everyone would benefit from in life! 🙂

 

 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

@Lizzie   Thanks for starting a great thread. It's so interesting to learn about other hosts and their work-life balance...  Love the tip @Linda108 about calling Airbnb at 4 a.m.. Will keep that in mind. Thanks  ; -)  We, too, do the reading/napping bit in the afternoon!

 

My early morning routine begins with a walk across fields. Before long I'm joined by some of our more energetic animals - even some of our neighbours' animals come, too. I reach my yoga spot near where anemones have suddenly appeared - it's rained recently so they immediately pop up as if from nowhere. What a joy to see them every year, like old friends.

 

If sunny, I cycle to the beach and swim for a good 15 minutes. If rainy/cold, I get my brushes and paints out and "play" for a while. The results are not always successful but never mind, I can change or correct them another day. ( yes,you've guessed it, I'm retired )If having to do chores, afterwards I find time to see a friend for coffee/tea on the seafront and have a laugh.

 

I see all this as my reward for doing the inevitable boring stuff which fill our lives. Evenings, we sometimes meet each other by the seaside -almost like a date- for a glass of ouzo or wine with mezes.

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Aww I love your afternoon routine @Βασίλης-and-Ann0, it sounds bliss, actually everything you mentioned in your reply sounds wonderful! I am very pleased to hear you have had some rain now, I am sure everything is feeling a lot better for it. 🙂 

 

I mentioned earlier in this discussion to Linda that I have heard in retirement you can often be more busy than beforehand, do you feel this way? 🙂 It sounds like you have created a fantastic balance. 

 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.