How Can Entrepreneurs Master Work-Life Balance
Having your own business doesn’t have to be stressful. Check out our tips.
Have you stopped to think about your quality of life? What about how work-life balance is important?
This question seems obvious, but many people get bogged down in their jobs and forget about their well-being and, most importantly, their moments with family and friends.
Those who wish to be entrepreneurs need to pay much more attention during these moments.
Starting your own business and changing careers are activities that require a lot of knowledge and flexibility because this attitude greatly increases the pressure for positive results.
But rest assured; there’s no need to hurry!
No one achieves success overnight. So you still have a long way ahead.
Targeting your efforts to professional matters only is the wrong attitude, and you should avoid it at all costs. This can hinder your productivity, however counterintuitive it may seem. Remember: work life balance is important.
In this post, we will demonstrate that it is possible to find a balance between entrepreneurship and quality of life.
Keep on reading and see how to be successful and still have time to accomplish your personal projects.
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Work life balance is important, but… What is quality of life?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), quality of life is the perception that an individual has about their positioning in life, considering the cultural values in which they are inserted.
Be very careful not to confuse this idea with the standard of living. The latter is imposed by the society around you and doesn’t always consider what is important to you.
For some people, financial achievements and international travel can be good indicators of quality of life. In other cases, satisfaction lies in working with something that you like, even with little financial return.
Whatever your definition, since work life balance is important, it is critical that there be a physical, emotional, and financial balance. There is no use, for example, in having money and not relating well to your family. Or, finish a doctorate course and get a good job, but not have the health to perform duties.
Is entrepreneurship for everyone?
A survey conducted by Vistaprint in 2017 showed that 62% of Americans want to have a business of their own. Among the options in the market, digital entrepreneurship is the highest and provides good opportunities for those who want to be their own boss and improve their financial means.
Technological advances have facilitated the exchange of information and knowledge, allowing anyone to open an online store, work on the internet or make videos about a subject they master.
There is no one way to become a successful entrepreneur. The most important thing is to get out of your comfort zone and use your knowledge and skills to come up with solutions and services that can add value to the lives of others.
In all respects, you should be optimistic and be prepared to overcome challenges. After all, perseverance and resilience are the traits of an entrepreneur’s profile.
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Since work life balance is important, what are the best tips for maintaining this balance?
Those who focus too much on their personal life or career don’t get what they want, because both things go hand in hand. It takes a fulfilled person to do a good job and, in most cases, career success is one of the requirements for personal fulfillment.
So here are 8 tips that will help you find the balance between quality of life and entrepreneurship.
Check them out below:
1. Plan properly
What does a trip to the Caribbean and the success of a business venture have in common?
This comparison is strange, but in both situations, a lot of planning is needed.
In the first case, you have to book hotels, buy tickets and create a visitation itinerary.
On the other hand, in order to open a business, you will need a business plan for at least the first twelve months. This document should contain the short and medium-term goals, and all the resources you will need to put your idea into practice.
Regardless of your purpose (personal or professional), this tip should never be overlooked, so always plan beforehand.
2. Have a separate workplace
One of the biggest advantages of being an internet entrepreneur is that you have the freedom to work from anywhere you want, even from your own home.
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If you do not have a room prepared for it or you’re feeling lonely, know that you can find co-working offices in cities around the country. With them, you change your environment and can concentrate more peacefully.
3. Turn off your cell phone on weekends
Phones have changed the way we relate to family, friends, and coworkers. With them, you can answer emails, make video calls to faraway clients and get in touch with your family in a WhatsApp group, for example.
However, certain professionals do not disconnect from work during their off time. This situation may get worse when you become an entrepreneur, because you are responsible for making decisions, getting in touch with customers and grow your business.
Even if you work alone, it is important to enjoy family moments and friends in order to relax and recharge.
Keeping your corporate cellphone turned off on weekends is an attitude that demonstrates maturity, as well as being critical to your physical and mental well-being.
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4. Keep your personal and professional finances separate
Those who start out as entrepreneurs can get excited about financial gains and want to do several things at the same time. To avoid this pitfall, you need to keep your personal finances separate from your business-related expenses.
Let’s say that you start to restore old furniture as a hobby and decide to sell them to friends. Over time, you do a good advertising job social media and can reach several clients.
At first, your personal bank account may even serve to receive payments, but as the demand for your service increases, you need to have control over money coming in and your expenses to calculate the return on your investment.
Only then will you know if your business is profitable and you can focus on actions that bring more results.
5. Value teamwork
Teamwork is a great way of sharing responsibilities and adding value to your product.
An efficient work team is made up of people with different characteristics and opinions. In this manner, it is possible to see the same problem from different perspectives and solve problems more easily.
Also, don’t forget that competent professionals know how to solve complex issues more easily without asking for your help all the time.
6. Don’t procrastinate
Procrastinating means leaving for tomorrow what you can do today.
In most cases, we procrastinate only with things that don’t bring us pleasure and are obligations. However, certain actions are critical to succeeding in your professional journey.
One aspect that can help you avoid these situations is to think about the purpose of each activity you do, and how it can impact the management of your business. That way, you eliminate what you don’t need from your routine, you learn to prioritize tasks and also, you have more freedom to set your deadlines.
7. Establish daily goals
Goals serve as a guide to decision-making and make management grow in an orderly fashion. So set daily goals in your routine and do everything you can to achieve them.
You can propose to read a book for 12 minutes and run two miles every day, for example. These examples do not seem important when analyzed separately. However, you will have read 60 minutes and run 14 kilometers by the end of a week.
Better results can be achieved if you keep pace and follow these goals until the end of a month or a year.
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8. Work on your emotional intelligence
A World Health Organization Report has shown that mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, have been prevalent all over the world and these numbers are predicted to grow in the coming years.
Mental health is an important issue to consider when thinking about your quality of life. Remember: work life balance is important.
Therefore, having emotional intelligence and knowing how to understand and deal with your own emotions can help prevent psychological disorders that will certainly interfere with your work.
In addition to the other tips we mentioned here, having emotional intelligence is a way to find the balance between your well-being and professional success.
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This article was originally posted in February 2018 and has since been updated to convey more complete, accurate information.
