How to Make Room for What Matters in Your WFH Business … Because Your Vision Needs a Place to Live

Your vision needs a place to live. My boysenberry vines have been reminding me of that lately.

These particular berries have a history. They came from starts brought over from the vines my Grandma and Grandpa grew in their backyard throughout my life.

My grandparents had three or four long rows of boysenberries. And I have VERY fond memories of my Grandma’s berry pies and boysenberry jam.

So when I planted my own starts, I was growing something that mattered to me beyond what we might eventually pick and eat. Those vines carried a connection to people I love and memories I treasure.

For about 10 years, my berries have lived in a small, contained area of our backyard next to the garden. They’ve done well there. They’re still alive, and we’ve enjoyed a modest crop each year.

That little patch has given us something good.

This year, though, things changed.

We took out a diseased loquat tree. Our neighbors also cut down the overgrown trees on their side of the fence that had shaded that same area.

Suddenly, the space had more sunlight. And I had room to expand the berry patch.

I’ve transplanted a few new starts into the new location. I’ve also allowed long runners from the original patch to grow toward the new area so they can root there.

It’s a work in progress.

I don’t have an abundant new berry harvest to show you yet. I have the beginnings of a space where it can grow.

And that’s where I want to start our conversation about putting your vision to work.

Something Meaningful Can Outgrow Its Little Corner

Something can matter deeply to you and still be living in the little corner you gave it years ago.

Maybe that corner was exactly right when you chose it.

You had certain responsibilities, certain resources, and a certain amount of room. You did what you could within those conditions. And something worthwhile grew there.

That counts.

My original berry patch has produced fruit and kept that family connection alive for a decade. I appreciate what it has given us.

But now, with new space available, I get to reconsider the size and shape of it.

You can do that with your priorities, too.

Maybe developing your own business has lived in the leftover hours around client work. Maybe caring for your energy has depended on whether the day happened to leave anything in reserve. Maybe learning a skill you want as a leader has stayed on the “when things settle down” list.

Those arrangements may have helped you through an earlier season.

The question for this season is:

Does the space I’ve given this ─ the size I’ve allowed it to be ─ still match how much it matters to me?

You might discover that it does. Or you might discover that a small adjustment would make a meaningful difference.

Either answer gives you something useful to lead from.

Your Vision Begins Showing Up in Your Choices

In prior articles, we explored choosing a direction for the season ahead. I asked you to think about what you want for your business, the life you want it to support, and the woman you want to become while you build it.

Now we’re taking that direction into an ordinary workweek.

Start by asking yourself:

What matters enough in this season that I want it to influence how I spend my time, use my resources, or respond to requests?

Your answer might be strengthening client relationships, protecting your energy, or making more thoughtful decisions as a business owner. Choose one thing that matters to you.

Making this first intentional choice is important.

Because you can write “develop my own business” on a worksheet and still spend every available hour responding to other people’s work.

You can name “protect my energy” as a priority and keep making commitments that require you to borrow from tomorrow’s reserves.

You can choose “lead with greater intention” and never give yourself time to think before the next request arrives.

There can be a gap between what you’ve chosen and how your week operates. Seeing that gap gives you a place to begin.

The next question is practical:

What decision should look different because I chose this priority?

That’s the bridge between your vision and your self-leadership.

If your priority is building stronger relationships with past clients, perhaps you reserve time for thoughtful follow-up before opening your inbox.

If your priority is protecting your energy, perhaps you stop treating lunchtime as an available meeting slot.

And if your priority is growing as CEO, perhaps you give your weekly CEO Meeting an actual appointment — and decide when it will happen if the original time gets disrupted.

Each choice gives your priority a place to live.

Begin With One Priority and One Visible Change

You don’t have to rearrange your entire business this week. Please don’t.

Just choose one priority for this season you’re currently in. It can be something you want for your business, something your life needs, or a way you want to grow as its leader. Then look for one recurring decision it could influence.

Suppose your business priority is developing a new service …

“Work on my new service” is easy to carry from one week’s list to the next. It matters, but it remains vague enough to wait. To get put aside when other things ask for time and attention.

A more visible choice might be: “On Wednesday morning, I’ll spend 30 minutes outlining the service before I begin client work.”

Now you have something specific to do. You’ve chosen a time, a task, and an order.

Or suppose your YOU, Inc. priority ─ the priority that supports you, the woman leading the business ─ is ending the workday with enough energy to enjoy your evening …

That could influence how you accept deadlines. For example, before promising a next-day turnaround, you check what completing it would actually require. You offer a delivery date you can meet within the workday you intend to keep.

Your priority is now participating in a business decision.

For a leadership priority, the visible change might be taking time to consider a request before answering. You give yourself a response you’ve chosen in advance so you can pause before committing ─ something like: “Let me review what’s already committed, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

Small choices like these are how your direction begins to shape your days.

And because they’re specific, you can revisit them and learn from them.

Make Room Within the Conditions You Have

In my backyard, changed conditions created an opportunity. The trees came down, the space opened up, and I could begin expanding the berries.

Your circumstances may work differently.

You may not have a newly available stretch of time waiting to be claimed. You may have caregiving responsibilities, health needs, financial obligations, or client commitments that take real space.

Leadership has to account for those conditions.

Sometimes giving a priority room means expanding. Sometimes it means protecting the modest space it already has. Sometimes it means choosing a smaller version you can sustain.

For example, if an hour isn’t workable, what could you do in 15 minutes?

If you can’t invest in something this month, what decision could help you prepare for it?

If your week is already full, is there one existing commitment you could reshape — or one task that can reasonably wait?

The point is to find a choice that fits your actual life.

You’re leading both a business and the woman doing the work. The adjustment needs to serve both.

Give the Beginnings a Chance

My expanded berry patch still looks like beginnings. I’ve moved some starts. I’m letting runners reach into the new area. There’s growing ahead of us before I’ll know what this space can produce.

Your first week of putting a priority into practice may look like beginnings, too.

You might keep one appointment with yourself. Send one thoughtful follow-up. Make one resource decision. Offer one deadline that respects the rest of your week.

Those choices give you evidence that your vision is beginning to influence how you lead.

They also give you information.

Perhaps the time you chose worked well. Perhaps it repeatedly collided with a responsibility you need to accommodate. Perhaps the adjustment was too large, and a smaller version would be easier to keep.

Bring that information to your next CEO Meeting, or set aside a few minutes at the end of the week to review it.

Ask what happened, what you learned, and what you want to choose next. Let the experience help you refine the method while keeping the priority in view.

Put Your Decision on Paper

You can work through this with a notebook and a few quiet minutes. Write down:

• My priority: What matters to me in this season?
• The choice it changes: What will I decide differently because this matters?
• Where it will show up: What specific change will I make to my calendar, workflow, or resources — and when will I do it?
• The likely pressure point: What could crowd out this choice?
• My response: If that happens, how will I protect, reshape, or thoughtfully revise the choice?

At the end of the week, look at what happened and ask yourself: Did this choice support both my business and the woman leading it? What did I learn?

That gives you something concrete to try and a way to learn from the experience.

If you’d like a ready-to-use worksheet to guide you, October’s Mini Power Tool, The Tenacious WFH CEO Decision Bridge, organizes these prompts on a single, downloadable page. It also works alongside the CEO Vision Brief and CEO Meeting Agenda as part of our growing CEO toolkit. Insiders and VIPs can access it, along with the Mini Power Tool archive, through their membership.

Your Action Step This Week

Name one thing that matters to you in the season ahead. Think about your business, your well-being, or how you want to lead.

Then complete this sentence:

“Because this matters to me, this week I will _______.”

Finish it with one decision you can see in your calendar, your resources, or the way you respond to a recurring demand.

Make the adjustment. Set a time at the end of the week to notice what happened and what you learned.

You don’t need an abundant harvest to show yet, friend.

Begin by giving something you value a place to grow.

FAQs

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about making room for your WFH business priorities …