Is work-life balance something achievable for the entrepreneur? This was a question posed by my client last week, as we had a casual talk outside of our ordinarily monthly call. This is one of the things I mention as a difference between a business coach vs. a mentor. Well, she asked me how I was able to do it all. I immediately stopped her and shared some tidbits I thought I share here too.
Work-Life Balance For Entrepreneurs Is It A Myth
Several times over, I have heard that it is a myth, and now one can achieve that, but I beg to differ. We make time for what matters to us most, and my second point goes into depth about that. However, what are you putting before the next on your list? Every day, I have a schedule, and since getting married, becoming a stepmom, and dog into the mix, I have revamped my schedule to work for me. For example, verse getting eight hours of sleep, now I get six-hour. It is recommended we get six to eight hours of rest a day. Honestly, those two extra hours make me more grumpy, and I use them to read now. That was my biggest complaint I would tell my husband and others.
Time Management Skills
The one essential aspect of work-life balance for an entrepreneur will be their time management skills, and most lack them if I am honest. However, you can utilize skills as day designation, productivity tips, and most importantly, to know how to make time for your business. All the articles I just listed provide excellent tools and resources to help you with that. Once you master your time management, you can create a work-life balance as an entrepreneur.
In addition to that, a friend said when she plans her day, she writes a list of all the tasks she needs to do and how much time it will take. It allows her to know where her time is going. If something takes less than five minutes, do it now, versus putting it off.
Remove Things From Your Plate
During the conversation with my client, we chatted about how society has added things to our plate that don’t need to be there. I decided a couple of years ago; I would remove them from my plate and raise my son to add things to appease people. Thinking back, I always wanted my child to play the piano, sports, hang with friends, and more. Why am I adding things to their plate that will create more work on my end. What is on your plate that you do out of obligation. For example, I don’t really like hanging out, and it became easier to say no to more happy hour hangouts so I could create time for myself and my business. Instead, I ask friends out once a month for coffee which is also low cost to drinks and happy hour food. We can catch up in a more personal space.
Creating a schedule, stick to the time management plan, and removing things from your plate will make a work-life balance that works for you. There will be days you’re excellent at all three aspects and days that you struggle. It’s important to know that it’s okay if the day did not go as planned. It’s okay if you threw the schedule out because your grandparents came to town or your child is sick. It’s okay if you stay up an extra hour to finish that deck for an investor meeting. The one great thing about this journey, it’s yours to be designed how you like it.
