How to Create a Work-Life Balance as a Business Owner

Finding work-life balance is essential for both your physical and mental health. But having too much on your plate or many responsibilities steals that balance away. When that happens, both our work and home life can feel heavy.

But how can you achieve that balance and still feel like you are moving your business forward?

Use these strategies to help you create the work-life balance that works for you:

Avoid checking messages outside of your office hours.

During your office hours, you’ll probably check your email and other messages often to ensure that all communications are addressed and deadlines are met. However, checking them when you are offline allows your work life to encroach into your home life.

• Set boundaries with yourself, your clients, and your team regarding communications so that you respond only while in work mode.

Learn to say no.

You may love what you do, but it’s usually unnecessary to be available to your clients 24/7. We all need downtime to recharge, and there is nothing wrong with saying no if you need a break or if something falls outside of your allotted working hours.

Work smarter, not harder.

Instead of working all hours of the day and night, with very little rest, work smarter. You’ll actually get more done in a shorter period of time. (speaking from experience!)

• Prioritize important or hard tasks and do these tasks first each day. This way, the most important things always get done. (“eat the frog”)
  
• Avoid distractions and unproductive activities, such as constantly checking your social media accounts with every new notification ping.

Leave work at work.

This may be hard, and may not always be possible, but when you unplug for the day, make a mental note that work has finished.

• Perhaps take a moment to acknowledge that work has finished by stopping and taking a breath. Set up a shutdown routine where you finish up tasks and set your priorities for the next day. This is to help you from bringing your work life into timeframes you have designated for your personal life.

You don’t need to be perfect.

Have you found yourself “buring the midnight oil”  because you thought of a way to make something you’ve been working on perfect? Sometimes, it pays to remind yourself that you and your work are good enough. Not convinced? Karen Casey said it best in this Forbes article: ‘Progress Over Perfection’.

Focus on things outside work.

For some of us, our work is our life, but what happens if one day we lose our ability to work? Where does that leave us? It may be a scary thought, but as business owners, it’s important to have a life outside of our business.

• Develop some hobbies that interest you or simply be with the one that you love. Spending time doing things that you bring you joy reduces stress and energizes you while relaxing you – uplifting your mood. Refreshing you for when you do step back into work mode.

Make your own rules.

The beautiful most thing about being a business owner is that you can make your own ‘rules’, to fit your life. Come up with your own ideas that will help you separate your work from your home life and then stick to them. Make yourself accountable to these ‘rules’!

Finding a balance between work and your home life can be tough, but it’s worth the effort for both your health and sanity – allowing you to show up as your best self in all areas of your life!