When you work at a full-time job, you perform your duties a few or even several hours a day and go home. However, when working remotely – or running your own business your work starts to dangerously intrude on your personal life. How do you achieve the famous balance?
Most people are convinced that in order to be successful at work, you have to work from dawn to dusk and also on weekends, with no time for rest. This behavior is seen especially in people who run their own business. Unfortunately, having your own company, you can’t leave the office and not think about work. However, the number of hours worked does not determine the success of the company, and can lead to professional burnout of its owner. That is why work-life balance is so important.
Work-life balance is a balance between work and personal life. Very often it happens that these two spheres of life permeate each other and it is not possible to precisely define “when you leave work”. Such interpenetration of these two worlds may be associated with unpleasant consequences such as overwork or professional burnout. The more tired a person is, the less efficiently he or she fulfills their duties
The concept of work-life balance was created at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. It was noticed then that the increasingly common workaholism causes negative consequences and affects employees’ productivity
Work-life balance indicates that one should devote the same amount of time to work and rest in order to feel good. This action must be in line with your inner values.
It is widely known that it is much easier to maintain balance if you work full time and have regular working hours – you can “relax” after symbolically closing the door on your business. It’s much harder for entrepreneurs, especially if you’re a sole proprietor.
Entrepreneurs feel responsible for their companies, so they often work all day and on weekends, are always on the phone and available to their clients. In such a model, it can be very easy for a business owner to lose balance and ultimately become a slave to themselves
If the boundaries between work and rest are not established, after some time such a person will lack the strength to run the company effectively, which will lead to frustration and excessive stress. Therefore, it is worth trying to achieve work-life balance so that life is in full balance. Work is important, but it cannot be the most important
There is no golden recipe, because too much depends on our personality, values, and finally the nature of the work we do. However, there are some simple solutions which are worth trying out and finding something among them for yourself
If an entrepreneur rents an office, it is easier for him because he sets working hours in which he is available for the client. The problem starts when he does the work from his home
Regardless of the industry, it is a good idea to impose rigid working hours on yourself and just stick to them
Planning your day is very helpful in achieving work-life balance. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the list of tasks that we set ourselves is realistic and achievable. You should also estimate the time of each task separately. If we estimate that fulfilling all the points from the list will take us more than 10-12 hours, we should rewrite it – nobody is able to be productive all the time.
In case of home office type of work, it is worth to take care of changing the environment. It is impossible to work 8 hours with a laptop on your lap. It is a good idea to go for a walk in the park after work. You can also work outside your home from time to time, for example in coworking spaces – it helps to concentrate.
If you want to maintain a work-life balance, you should constantly work on your productivity. Working from home can be very distracting: you often do a lot of things that you wouldn’t have time to do in the office. That’s why it’s a good idea to discipline yourself and focus on your professional duties during the set hours
Very helpful in maintaining work-life balance is selection of tasks, so that it is possible to complete them on time. It will also be useful to be able to prioritize, i .e. determine which tasks require immediate execution and which can wait without harming the company.
Most entrepreneurs simply forget to take vacations or use their days off. Some business owners even go on a short vacation with a laptop on their lap. This should be banned! Put down your laptop, turn off your phone and take a deep breath. The world will not stop without you
