Some may feel that the ideal balance between your work life your social life doesn’t exist. Imagine starting your own business into the mix. Then it becomes an entire new tear of tough. While having a severe devotion to the business can help guide it forward, it’s not without a price. If you bypass the care you need, you can create routines that make it hard to enjoy everything you’re working for. At Spring-Green, we understand. That’s why we have created a guide to help you get your work-life balance in check. Below are some startling statistics that tell the story.
- According to Workfront research, as many as 38% of adults have missed out on a life event because of poor work-life balance.
- A study showed that the US has one of the worst vacation scores globally.
- 33% of Americans work on Saturday, Sunday, or holiday – in addition to their Monday through Friday work week.
What is a healthy work-life balance?
Understanding a healthy work-life balance – While it might seem like working 24 hours, seven days a week will be the secret weapon that propels your business to great heights, it can actually have the opposite effect. From lack of focus to poor leadership ability, your overworking can have the opposite impact on your output. Just like an overworked computer, your brain and your body need to be rebooted on a regular basis. The perfect balance between work and life may not exist in your current occupational role. For many, it looks different from person to person. The key is defining what balance means for you and striving to preserve that balance – for the sake of your health, your relationship with others, and your success in the workplace
How do I create a healthy work like balance as a business owner?
Establish a reasonable schedule – Emergencies happen, true. But not everything is an emergency. Create boundaries around what time you start and what time you finish your workday. Then comes the tough part: stick to those boundaries. It may be hard to pack up and leave work unfinished until tomorrow. Make this a hard and fast rule that, unless it is a true emergency, you quit at quitting time.
Keep the tech in check – A common misstep of the over-worker is to overuse technology. Constantly checking emails, social media performance, or customer sales numbers can leave you exhausted. Making you feel as if you’ve worked around the clock because that’s exactly what you’re doing. Use technology for personal purposes only once the day is done.
Trust your team to work for you – You took the time to build your dream team around you. Now, it’s time to lean on them a little bit. Often, business owners get caught in a mode of doing it all themselves and never shift gears. They often overlook things that could be delegated to employees, especially if the employee needs some training or has a learning curve ahead.
Find a way to deal with stress – Stress is an unavoidable fact of life. It certainly is no stranger to the small business owner. Of course, some levels of stress are normal, but a tipping point does exist. Unchecked, stress can lead to high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and even heart attacks – not to mention chronic conditions like inflammation and weight gain. As a business owner who will, no doubt, be coping with many stresses, it’s imperative that you explore ways to combat the impact. Yoga, meditation, regular exercise, proper sleep, and diet are all great ways to help your body deal with stress. In addition, therapy and professional groups can help talk out the issues that are contributing to stress and look for solutions to alleviate it.
Prioritize family time over all – Many business leaders have to make sacrifices to keep their business running smoothly but be wary of the times you must miss out on family time. Birthday parties, family dinners, and ballet recitals should be added to your schedule – just like a meeting with a client would be. Hold fast to those “meetings” to avoid missing out on key events that are important to you and your family’s quality of life. Truly, you’ll be a happier leader when you return to the office.
Starting your own business is full of stresses and unbalance. Figuring out what is important to you in your work-life balance is the most important thing a business owner can do. At Spring-Green, our Franchise Owners enjoy the support of an experienced marketing team, proven processes strategies, and an on-going business consultant that take the pressure off and allows for them to succeed. Explore a franchise opportunity with Spring-Green today and you’ll find the work-life balance you need as well as an easy pathway to success.
