No doubt, your passion as a small business owner, 24/7 work requirements (that may sometimes border on obsession), and home life can be challenging to balance.
Growing a company takes great motivation, perseverance and commitment to move forward, overcome setbacks and reach success. Entrepreneurs thrive on hustle culture — it’s what keeps them going when times are tough.
Wikipedia puts it best: “Work–life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between ‘work’ (career and ambition) and ‘lifestyle’ (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation).”
THE Work-Life balance myth
- Implies that there is a difference between Work and Life, which, for entrepreneurs, is rarely true.
- Only measures output. (Which is exhausting).
- Implies that your energy, like a pie, can be divided.
Let’s face it: The phrase “Work-Life balance” loses all meaning once you become an entrepreneur. However, there are ways to manage your time and energy to optimize not only your health but the health of your business!
To find a balance, you may need to implement some simple practices! Understanding Do’s are always easier to follow than Don’ts!
Do
- Define your Top Five priorities (Everything else is fun but not necessary.) Make a list, sleep on it, narrow it down and review the top 5! And YES, Work can be an essential and meaningful priority in your top 5….just not all 5!
- Become more mobile – Technology allows the ability to integrate Work and Life more than ever. Cloud-based services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or QuickBooks Online will enable you to access and work on your documents and financials anytime, anywhere. From office documents to the family calendar, your list of to-dos can fit in the device that you slip into your pocket. When you become more mobile, you become more agile.
- Take Advantage of ‘Away’ and ‘Snooze’ in your app and on your devices, and take official “break times” during the day to allow yourself time to decompress and recharge during your workday.
- Delegate, delegate, delegate and EMPOWER staff members or professionals with tasks!
Remember YOUR Physical and Mental Well-being.
- Meal delivery services can help with healthier eating.
- You may not think of going to the gym as an investment in your business; reducing your stress is a wise investment of time, energy, and funds.
- Listen to audiobooks to ease tension and maximize your commute times.
- Tomorrow is a new day. Feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day, think about how much more productive you’ll be tomorrow with a good night’s sleep tonight. Get some shut-eye instead of burning that midnight oil.
Hiring a bookkeeper will give you more time to focus on your Work-Life balance!
Often Small business owners have the mentality that they need to have their hand in every task because otherwise, the job won’t get done right.
Don’t take your own time for granted – every minute you spend on a task has a dollar equivalent. Compare your “salary” as your company’s bookkeeper against the price of a professional bookkeeper. Once you treat the time you spend bookkeeping as an actual expense in cash, you’ll have a better idea of whether you should keep doing it.
Accept that finding ‘truly perfect’ Work-Life balance for you may require some work!
Start small. Build from there!
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