Maintaining a Healthy Work-Life Balance

“When you run a business, there’s no such thing as a day off.  There are always clients and vendors to deal with, employees to manage and all kinds of miscellaneous fires to put out.”  So how do you stop your business from consuming your life and learn to set appropriate boundaries to make that happen?

Determine your priorities or in essence, figure out what’s most important to you.  Do you want to be a person who lives to work or works to live?  Consider writing down a list of top priorities in your personal life such as your anniversary, your children’s (if you have them) birthdays or annual vacations to your favorite places.  Get some perspective.

Learn to say no and be OK with it.  Don’t micromanage.  Hire employees who you trust so that you’ll be able to step away from the office when you’re called on to attend to things in your personal life.  Remember, you have to learn to prioritize.

Leave work at work – don’t take it home with you.  Often this might be a challenge if you do, indeed, run your business out of a home office.  But if you do, set aside time with your family such as dinner and television hour, and then go back to the grind.

Develop hobbies or interests outside of work.  Find things you enjoy.  If you took a passion and turned it into a business, pick another passion and keep it solely a passion.  Exercise, take an art class, find a favorite sports team or anything that fills you up and makes you happy.

Look at life beyond professional achievement.  Don’t let your work define you or have complete control over your happiness.  There’s other ways to be successful in life than solely behind a desk.  Take pride in things you do away from the office.

Get organized.  Set a list for yourself every day and leave some time for personal interests or family.  Time management is key in maintaining a successful work-life balance.

Learn to multitask.  Obviously, you don’t want to spread yourself too thin but realize that your work can’t be the main focus of your life.

Set aside time to unwind.  Instead of going to endless networking events after business hours, spend some time with your friends and family.  Do you have a favorite ritual of meeting your best friends for a drink after work?  Keep it up – don’t back out on them!

Take short breaks throughout the day.  Get out of the office for a little bit and clear your head.  It might remind you of what’s most important in this life.

Most importantly, remember that if you can’t reap the rewards of a successful business by leading a successful, fulfilling life, then you’ve lost sight of what’s really important.

Take some of today’s tips to heart and remember that happiness thrives when you have balance between all aspects of your life.

Here are some articles you might want to check out on maintaining a healthy work-life balance:

“3 Simple Tips for Maintaining Work-Life Balance (and Reducing Stress)”: http://blogs.cio.com/meridith_levinson/3_simple_tips_for_maintaining_work_life_balance_and_reducing_stress

“Management 101: Maintaining Your Work-Life Balance”: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/management-101-maintaining-your-worklife-balance.html

“4 Tips for Maintaining a Work Life balance”: http://homebusiness.about.com/od/worklifebalanceathome/a/4-Tips-For-Making-Working-From-Home-Work.htm

Until next time…