As a business owner, you’re juggling SO MUCH. You’ve got client questions, inquiries to respond to, and client work to finish, PLUS you’ve got to market your business, keep up with admin tasks, and make sure you are taking care of yourself and your family. It’s no wonder why burnout is common among business owners. 

Burnout and anxiety happens when you’re operating from a place of urgency rather than intention. When a client issue comes up, do you have to deal with it right away? When your morning gets off to a rough start, does your task list suffer? Without boundaries in place, your energy gets depleted until you have nothing left to give. I know because I lived it!

My Story of Burnout

In 2024, I experienced major burnout that led to a mental health crisis. On the outside, my business looked super successful. I had scaled my business to $10k months and I was growing my team. But on the inside, I was having panic attacks multiple times a week, I kept getting sick, and I wasn’t sleeping.

My clients were messaging me at all hours of the day and I kept having to put out fires. I also didn’t manage my project timelines well, so regularly ended up with multiple launches on the same day. Eventually I hit a breaking point and had to shut down my business for 6 months. It all happened because I didn’t have any boundaries in place. 

Boundaries are Freeing, Not Limiting

When I rebuilt, I started getting to know my true capacity instead of what I thought I could get done, designing a business that worked with my energy instead of against it, and prioritizing boundaries that supported my capacity and energy. You’ll learn about those exact boundaries in a minute. 

We tend to have a negative view of boundaries and think they’re limiting. If we tell our clients to only communicate with us via email, we’ll think they will feel disrespected. If we don’t make ourselves available all the time, we think they’ll feel ignored. But the truth is that boundaries are freeing. 

Setting intentional boundaries in your business will help you protect your energy so you can show up from a place of excitement rather than stress, produce your best work so your clients get you at 100%, and save you time so you can do less but better. 

How to Set Boundaries Step 1: Know Yourself First

The key to setting intentional boundaries is knowing how you work best. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• What self care do I need to function at my best?
• What calendar parameters do I need to function at my best?
• When do I work best? Mornings, afternoons, evenings?
• What tasks energize vs. drain me?
• How much time do I really need to complete my projects (not the rushed version, but the realistic version)?

For example, as a human with ADHD, transitions are hard for me. If I have a meeting on my calendar at 1pm and another at 4pm, it’s likely that I won’t get any work done in between those meetings. It’s better for me if I only put 30 minutes in between my meetings so I have enough time to wind down from the first meeting and get ready for the second one without spending 2 hours spiraling on random tasks. Once you know what you need to work at your best, you can set boundaries to ensure you get what you need to thrive.

How to Set Time Boundaries

The first thing to protect yourself is to set boundaries around your time. For me, that looks like not having meetings before 11am so that I can prioritize sleep and self-care, having one day a week with no meetings so I have time to get stuff done, and limiting the number of meetings I have to a max of 3 per day.

For these boundaries, it’s important to consider your energy. When do you naturally feel energized to work? Plan your deep work sessions for those times. When do you naturally feel low energy? Plan your tasks that are more fun (hello dopamine!) or require less energy for those times or simply just don’t work. Small changes will lead to big results.

Also, give yourself more time than you think you need to accomplish tasks. I like to put as much white space in my calendar as possible so that I have buffer time built in and don’t have to panic when things take longer than I think they should.

Setting Communication Boundaries

Next, you’ll want to set boundaries around your communication. Here are some you can steal: 

• Checking your email at certain times of the day only
• Only having office hours on certain days of the week
• Responding to client questions within 24 or 48 hours rather than immediately
• Giving your clients one avenue of communication whether that’s email, Slack, Voxer, or through a form
• Putting your phone on “do not disturb” during your deep work blocks so you don’t get distracted

Remember: your boundaries are only as good as your willingness to enforce them. If you are going to set a boundary, it’s important to communicate the boundary to your clients. The more you practice enforcing the boundary, the easier it will get!

Setting Boundaries with Yourself around Work

Finally, set boundaries around your work by only doing work that will either 1) truly light you up or 2) move your business forward. I completely changed my offers after I burnt out last year because I realized my day-to-day life was not actually how I wanted to be spending my time. Now, my personal boundary is that if I don’t want to do something I simply don’t do it. 

I also honor my energy by not working when I have low energy or am not feeling well. Your body is really good at sending you signals of what you need. You just need to listen to it. If you ignore your signals, you’re telling your brain that you don’t care about what your body needs which will give you a one-way ticket to chronic stress or burnout. 

How to Get Stuff Done Once You’ve Set Your Boundaries

I know what you’re thinking: “But how do you get stuff done?” Set up a task management system that supports your energy. This way, you can work intuitively rather than pushing through tasks you don’t have energy for. 

For me, I brain dump everything I want to do at the beginning of the week. I first check if there’s anything I can delegate, then I check if there’s anything I simply don’t have to do and remove it altogether without guilt. Then I just pick what I want to do throughout the week. And because I’ve set my time boundaries, I’m able to go with the flow of my energy. I have time to work when I want to and rest when I want to.

For tasks that you are not as good at or you don’t have time for, you can delegate or automate them. If there is a task you’re struggling with getting done and you’ve already decided it’s something you want to do and will be a needle mover, consider changing your environment or incentivizing yourself. 

Go to a coffee shop and get yourself your favorite treat when you complete your task. Turn on your favorite song and have a 5-minute dance break. Go on a nature walk around the block. Anything you can do to help spark your creativity and motivate you into action will be helpful for motivation.

Need some support setting boundaries for yourself? I created this Burnout-Proof Business Planner & Boundaries Toolkit for you. You can download it for free.

How Enji Can Help with Your Boundaries 

I know a lot of small business owners struggle with feeling good at or finding time for marketing. I’m a big fan of having systems and processes in place so you can eliminate decision fatigue and work smarter, not harder. That’s why Enji is such a fantastic tool!

• Enji will create a simple marketing plan for you that takes how much time you have into account
• And Enji will help you feel like you’re good at marketing because it will help you get better!

In the end, Enji will help you set boundaries with your marketing (in a good way) that can save you hours of time and stress! 

Burnout Is Not a Personal Failure

I want to remind you of something: burnout is not a personal failure. It’s a signal that something needs to shift. After I burnt out in 2024, I set time boundaries to prioritize self care, communication boundaries to reduce my stress, and work boundaries so I am only doing work I actually want to do.

The good news is that you don’t have to burn out to make those decisions. Consider this your permission slip to set up your business to support yourself. You can prevent burnout altogether by listening to what your body needs. Set yourself up for success with your time, communication, and work so you can reclaim your time, energy, and peace. You got this, friend!

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Christi Johnson is a business strategist and the founder of The Dream Biz® Lab, where she helps creative entrepreneurs build sustainable, joy-driven businesses that work with their brains, not against them. With a background in photography and operations, Christi combines heart and strategy to help women grow profitable businesses without burning out. When she’s not working with clients, you’ll find her playing the piano, planning her next beach trip, or recording episodes for The Dream Biz® Podcast.