3 Ways to Find a Balance While Building a Business
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Find a Balance
If there are three things in this world that are certain, they’re death, taxes, and that entrepreneurs live and breathe their business! LOL Entrepreneurs define themselves by their work, and that oftentimes leads to a complete lack of balance between a personal and professional life. To find a balance can be just as hard as the work you do in your business.
Some entrepreneurs will tell you that these two lives – personal and professional – are one and the same. They’ll tell you to completely shirk personal relationships in favor of devoting all of your resources to building your company. Your business, in essence, also becomes your personal life as you are the embodiment of your brand. After all, if you’re not working around the clock on your project, who is?
For me personally, I find a balance by melding the two together because my personal life improves when my entrepreneurial life succeeds. Now that doesn’t mean I can’t separate the two, but it can be difficult.
Other entrepreneurs will tell you that it is impossible to succeed unless you strike a balance between those two lives. Who is right?
Well, both of them.
On one hand, entrepreneurs who are so passionate about their business tend to burn the proverbial candle at both ends of the day. Early to work, late to leave, rinse, repeat. They subscribe to the mantra that the only thing that matters when building a business is the business. Forget their health, forget their relationships, forget their friends; these things don’t exist anymore.
The one thing these entrepreneurs have in common is that they have no personal life to speak of. To find a balance might mean you are not staying focused. Some liken it to their own version of prison and yearn for the day they have more balance, though they take no steps to provide any for themselves. But nobody can argue that hard work doesn’t equal success.
Other entrepreneurs believe you can be just as successful – if not more so – by living a more balanced lifestyle. Their mantra is “Work smarter, not harder.” Here are some tips that can help you attain and find a balance between your personal and professional life.
#1 Find a Balance – Learn When Enough is Enough
If you feel yourself getting sick, are increasingly susceptible to mood swings, or are just downright tired, it might be time to take a day off (or two!) and it certainly means it is time to find a balance.
Structure your hours better so that you have time to decompress at night before getting back to the swing of things in the morning. Or take a personal day and make time for some of the things you enjoy outside of work. The work will still be there when you get back, and there’s a reason people say, “What a difference a day makes!”
#2 Find a Balance – Learn to Delegate Tasks Effectively
My father always told me, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” I took these words to heart, and for most of my career I have pulled the long hours in order to make sure all the work I needed done was always finished to my exact specifications. It wasn’t until after a full year of working 16 to 20 hour days that I decided that I needed more balance otherwise I’d give myself an aneurysm.
Trust the people that you work with to do the job they’ve been given. Delegate some of the smaller tasks to your team, leaving the most important jobs for yourself. If you can’t delegate tasks to your team effectively, what was the point of hiring them in the first place? By focusing on what’s important and letting your team worry about the minutiae, you’ll increase your productivity and leave yourself more time for you without sacrificing productivity.
#3 Find a Balance – Make Plans and Stick to Them
Schedule a day or night out with your friends, your spouse, your kids, and don’t cancel those plans no matter what comes up. Force yourself to step away from work and focus on enjoying the things that you work so hard to have.
As an entrepreneur you’re always working and everybody knows it. However, there’s no shame in living like the other half, so to speak, and quitting for the day to take some time for you. Always remember to include your personal life in your list of daily priorities. How will you find a balance between your business and personal life, share your thoughts and comments below.
Make it happen …. Find a balance and Empower your Success!
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