Life-Work Balance: What Most People Neglect
You got a job or a business idea, and you jump right in. Round of applause. I'm sincerely excited for you. But there's one thing you have to prepare for, and it might be the most important one.
Creating a healthy balance between your life and work.
One aspect of working and running your own business is finding a healthy balance between living intentionally by design and also running a successful business or career.
Working yourself into burnout and unhappiness poses a real risk regardless of going at it alone, or not.
Regardless of having a boss or being one, finding a life-work balance can be a bit trickier.
It's your level of accountability that guides you on how to spend your time wisely or end up in bed 24/7 due to burnout, only to hear the words from your therapist:
"It takes the same amount of time to heal as it took to become burned out."
But don't worry. I've got you.
Let’s dive in:
5 Tips for Achieving Life-Work Balance
1. Draw the Line–Set Boundaries
I like to set up a work schedule to follow, so my private life doesn't suffer.
As an example, between 7:00 am and 8:00 am, you'll find me communicating with people on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Come 8:00 am, I'm eating breakfast and going for a short or long 10,000-step walkabout.
Come noon, my brain has already produced enough to end the first half of work with lunch, a walk, or a gym session.
I never argue with my brain. When it's had enough. I fill up with energy through relaxation, exercise, and food.
You need to get to know yourself without lying to yourself that you are some kind of Superman. Trust me when I say you're not. Don't be afraid to say no to protect your sanity and cognition.
Take it from a two-time champion in burnout. You will not be successful as a cucumber in bed 24/7.
Learn to say no.
2: Practice Relaxing
Speaking of emulating a cucumber, I have noticed that as my rear end gets more and more acquainted with my office chair, my health is neglected.
As you sit more than 30 minutes at a time your blood flow is endangered. Not to speak about the midsection forcing itself to grow. Believing you can do it all in a few hours is a fool's errand and a major red flag for your health.
Newsflash: Companies that hire you demand 100% effort every hour. Most people want to get away from that, so why do it to yourself?
Life is all about self-care. If you can't maintain your health you will have to set aside time to be sick later when you least expect it.
What happens to your business then?
Make sure to:
Eat healthy
Strengthen relationships
Help out in your community
I prioritize cooking my own food and I have quit alcohol and coffee altogether in favor of becoming calm, collected, and sleeping well.
My go-to exercises are HIIT, rucking, and talking to friends and family to strengthen my immune system through an increase in beta-endorphins aka love.
Get your ass off that chair and enjoy your life.
3. Outsource and Delegate
Just because you're running your own company all by yourself does not mean you have to do everything.
So please don't try to do it all yourself.
Instead, delegate as many tasks and aspects of your business as you can, so that you can focus on what you're good at.
I delegate my business finances to an accountant even though I am a financial economist.
I am happy to share if it reduces my workload.
Paying for freedom is a blessing in disguise.
4. Technology is your best friend
As technology improves, so does the opportunity to cheaply use it in your line of work.
I can hard code a website myself, but I would rather not since that would eat up all my time and I would not be able to be a successful solopreneur.
UX design I do since I am one and know how to combine marketing strategies with UI design so that customers are funneled into the value creation stream.
I also love that work.
For example: instead of using Calendly for booking 1:1 calls, I use "Intro" to schedule and set up payments directly into my business account.
I also use:
Convertkit for newsletters automation
Squarespace for my website
Yes, learning how to use a new tool is hard and takes time. Because it engages your right hemsiphere and you have to reason your way to common sense.
But it's also how we learn things as humans so that our brains don't wither away into dementia, Alzheimer's, or any other cognitive degeneration.
5. Embrace Good Enough
The best thing I ever learned becoming a UX Designer through Interaction Design Foundation was the life strategy of "Good Enough".
Since I am high in conscientiousness, I've always struggled a bit with perfectionism.
After my first burnout, I realized I was approaching life the wrong way.
The discovery of agile and continuous iteration also helped in understanding human psychology and that perfectionism and do-it-alone culture were a dead end from the very start.
Embracing a good enough work culture is a lifesaver for any human being.
When you create a product or service in private or business. When it's good enough to be tested in the real world, you stop working on it and test it.
Credit: joakimmarias.com
The feedback you get from the test you will use to redesign or iterate a new design to test until the real world has deemed it valuable for consumption.
Good enough is the name of the game and creating a schedule like this:
Set clear work hours: Write down your work hours and stick to them regardless of how fun work is.
Health breaks are nonnegotiable: Food and walk breaks are mandatory during work days. If you start work at 8 am and end at 4 pm. Breaks every 30 minutes or so are mandatory for a healthy cardiovascular system.
The goal is to work less: Intelligence is knowing work never ends. Wisdom is making sure you work towards working less. Set a goal to stop working on Fridays if you have enough money to pay your bills and set aside money for health, fitness, and vacation.
I started my business to be in charge of my own life without having neurotic managers breathing down my neck and earning enough money to survive and then some.
Funny enough, I work way less now, and I am much happier knowing I invest in myself and my community.
Takeaways
Creating a healthy life-work balance is essential regardless if you're a Solopreneur or an employee.
You need to draw the line between life and work, practice relaxation, and health, delegate tasks, leverage technology, and embrace the good enough strategy–bliss is achievable in your personal and professional life.
Life-work balance is doable if you want it to be.
Not only is it doable, but it will motivate you to stay healthier for both your family and business.
You will have the energy to tackle all the obstacles that family and business have to offer.
If you're ready to start this journey, start by following my newsletter for more content like this and future educational opportunities. You'll never regret making the move.