Work/Life Balance: A Basic Necessity in Business

We all know the benefits of having a work-life balance – happier life, less stress, greater fulfillment, improved health, greater clarity and creativity – but are we really living it? For most entrepreneurs, 50- and 60-hour weeks are the norm. There is always something else you can do to improve your service to your clients and to build and sustain a successful business. Always.

Try this:

Decide to make work-life balance a priority. Psychologically, when we prioritize a task, we are more likely to achieve it. It’s the same with work-life balance. When you plan to make it happen, you are more likely to attend and participate in more of the important personal events in your life. In fact, it’s wise to book your free time first and then fill in your business calendar around that. Colour coding your activities in your calendar will help you see clearly where your work/life balance stands at any point in time. It will also help you to plan better and get more of your free time scheduled. Book a quarterly get-away in advance each year to make sure you block the time. Engage your spouse and children in planning the adventure. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be some get-away-from-business time to enjoy your family, hobbies, nature and unwind for a while.

Shorten Your To-Do List to 5 Important Tasks a Day. Not all tasks have the same importance, yet we often treat them as if they do. Sometimes we complete a task because we know we can get it done quickly and we can check it off the to-do list. It’s often tackling those “quick” tasks that makes us late for appointments or meeting other important deadlines. Be more purposeful in prioritizing your to-do list and either ignore or delegate the lowest priority items. Book just 5 tasks for yourself each day – tasks that contribute to the growth of your business. Get them done before adding any more to the list. You can keep a separate running to-do list elsewhere, but use it only for deciding which five are today’s priorities. Several times a day, ask yourself this question, “What is the most important thing for me to do right now?” You’ll see a positive shift in your work-life balance, because sometimes the most important thing to do at the moment is to attend an event with a loved one.

Focus on the tasks that only you can do. This works for both your business and personal life. In business, perhaps it is only you that can negotiate a contract because that is the task that you excel at and which adds the most value to your business. Likewise, only you can be a mom or a dad to your child, or a partner to your spouse or intended. Nobody else can do what you do when it comes to adding value to the life of a loved one. So focus on those tasks that are uniquely yours.

Work-life balance is simple, but it’s not easy. If you follow these few tips, you will begin to see yourself living a more rewarding life. Check next week for more tips on How to Get More Balance in Your Life.