Balance... that thing you swing past on the way from one extreme to the other. For business owners especially, making time for family, exercise, rest, and other important life pursuits can be difficult. Because you're the bottom line, if anything goes wrong or doesn't get done, it can be easy to justify overworking or putting other things you care about on the back burner. But doing that as a rule can make you irritable, lead to burnout, and in some cases, ruin relationships. Here's how to inch a little closer to balance if your life has gotten out of whack.
Protect your mornings: If the first thing you do when you roll out of bed is check your phone, email, or to do list, then your day has already been hijacked by other people's priorities. Even if you only get 15 minutes to yourself before you have to start doing work stuff, make it intentional. Enjoy your coffee, say hello to your significant other, and take just a few minutes make a deliberate plan for your day.
Remove distractions: Your work will be of higher quality, take less time, and be more enjoyable if you give each task your full focus.
Have a shutdown routine: Especially if you work from home, having a shutdown routine can be invaluable in helping you to "leave" work when you're done. Whether it's cleaning off your desk, fully shutting down your computer, or just making a plan for the next day: pick a few things that will help you to let go of the work day and allow you to think about things other than work.
Plan for extra work: If you have to go back to the office or do some work after dinner, get specific about the time you're willing to spend or what absolutely needs to get done before you can call it a night. That way, you'll be less likely to just work indefinitely.
Prioritize rest and exercise: You just won't be as effective if you don't get both mental and physical rest and do the things you need to do to stay physically healthy. So when you're tempted to skip that workout or stay up far too late because something "has" to get done, don't fool yourself: making yourself sick and miserable is never good for business.
Don't worry about balance: Owning a business is a lot like having kids: when you have to take a kid with appendicitis to the emergency room at 2 a.m., you can't afford to worry about sleep-deprivation. When you're a business owner, things sometimes just have to get done. But, as with having kids, no phase of the journey lasts forever. So if you have to work late three nights in a row, don't make it worse by telling yourself you should be more balanced. The important thing is to be sure you're tending to all areas of your life on a regular basis, so that all that effort you're putting into building a great business results in a life worth living.
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