Hard work is heavily encouraged in our culture. You might hear friends and family talk about how rarely they take sick days, or how they put in 10-12 hour days regularly (maybe you've even been guilty of this).
Yet, it's not sustainable. Most of us aren't meant to work ourselves to the breaking point (stop comparing yourself to the billionaires who claim they never stop working and sleep under their desks at their startups). Not only does your health suffer, but you'll eventually notice how it impacts your relationships and joy levels.
It's okay to take care of yourself first, and it's even better if you can figure out how to choose happiness now rather than continue promising yourself that once you achieve xyz, then you'll be happy.
What is Work-Life Balance?
Work-life balance is something you've probably heard a lot about recently (we even shared our updated schedule, which embraced a 4 day work week).
Balance between work-life means that you aren't devoting all of your time and energy to doing or thinking about work. Instead, you make time to take care of yourself, relax, enjoy a hobby, or spend time with family and friends.
But work-life balance looks different for every business owner, and many don't realize how it starts with the right mindset.
It's Up to You to Decide If You're Serious About It
Achieving work-life balance takes time and effort to make it happen. Like any type of meaningful change, there is going to be some discomfort, and you're going to be tempted to abandon your efforts.
Here are a few things you can do to start laying the foundation to achieve work-life balance:
Setting up automations to streamline manual steps - choose to embrace technology to make your life easier and stop doing the manual tasks that take up your time.
Enabling online booking so you can avoid back and forth emails to schedule a meeting - the sooner you embrace this and allow your website to automatically accept bookings while you're working on something else, or enjoying some time off, the more freedom you'll have in your life.
Setting & enforcing healthy boundaries can be hard nowadays because we can access emails and our phone whenever, but it's up to you to set your boundaries and actually stick to them! If you don't work on the weekends, stop checking your emails on the weekend. You're not doing yourself any favors by worrying, or trying to get ahead and respond - there will always be more emails to respond to.
MVP (most viable product or service) mindset - get something up and refine it as you go rather than putting off launch until it's "perfect."
Willing to accept there will be bumps along the way - mistakes will happen and you'll figure out better ways to do things, but that's because you're actually doing something and making progress!
Perks of Work-Life Balance
Still not convinced that you'd be even a little happier with more balance in your life? Let's talk about some of the benefits:
Mental health & overall health improves - let's face it, stressing about work while sitting at a desk for hours on end while staring at a screen isn't doing your body any favors.
Ability to take time off when you need and/or enjoy a 4 day work week - didn't you become your own boss so you can have more freedom in your schedule? Instead, are you feeling more like an employee who can just never afford to take time off? Let's change that!
Understand the flow of push & pull weeks - some weeks are going to be lighter or more intense than others. Once you start recognizing the type of week you're faced with, you can learn how to store more energy in your reserves for push weeks, while allowing yourself to enjoy time off during pull weeks.
Find more joy in your life - build a business that supports the life you want to live today, not tomorrow. None of us really know how much time we have, so it's important we fill our lives with joy as best and as often as we can!
Spend more time with those you love - your family and friends cherish the time you spend with them. Instead of working late hours or over the weekend, use that time to connect or create memories.
Still Unsure of How You Can Achieve Work-Life Balance for Your Specific Business?
Let's Chat! Schedule a free strategy session with our team, so we can talk about where you are now and what you feel is holding you back from achieving work-life balance.
