Finding the Elusive Work-Life Balance

This week, SurePayroll offers a few strategies to help you find your work-life balance.

Find your boundaries

In her article, “8 Ways to Improve your Work-Life Balance”, Business News Staff writer Skye Schooley emphasizes the importance of defining your own needs. Every personality is different, with different obstacles and goals. It’s all about flexibility. That means you decide when to unplug, take that weekend off, or even a vacation to rest and recharge. Learn to rely on and trust your employees to take charge so you don’t have to micromanage and have the option to take a day or a weekend off. If you run a home business by yourself, it’s even more important to set work boundaries and stick to them. 

You determine your own limitations when it comes to time spent at work and how you work. Along the way, pay attention to your physical, mental, and emotional health. Constant stress, anxiety, or depression is not good for your health and may lead to serious physical issues such cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

Make Rules

As a small business owner, you have many responsibilities. In her article (“5 Ways to Create a Work-Life Balance in Your Small Business”) for The Balance Small Business, Alyssa Gregory suggests you create rules and then stand by them. Create a list of dos and don’ts that help set your personal and professional boundaries.

For example, don’t take business calls after closing hours. Set firm open and closing hours, whether you run a brick and mortar business or an online home-based business. Resist the urge to talk too much about your workday problems with family after work. Make your rules and stick to them to avoid similar issues of work-life balance that prove the most challenging for small business owners.

Prioritize and Delegate

It’s common knowledge that small business owners often work more than 50 hours a week. Many work well over that. However, in his article “Entrepreneurs Need to Pay more Attention to Work-Life Balance – Here’s How”, Joe McCann, writing for Forbes, suggests key factors such as prioritizing and delegating to help you find that elusive separation between work and personal life. Identify which work factors are your most pressing and important, such as those that require a deadline. Focus on those first and delegate remaining tasks for the day to someone else. If you work from home and don’t have time for personal tasks such as shopping, cleaning, or errands, try hiring a part-time student or friend to perform those tasks for you. For business needs, consider hiring a freelance virtual assistant, or pass off marketing and promotion to a freelance copywriter. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

SurePayroll knows that running a small business isn’t easy. Still, find ways to share the load. Tune in next week for more tips for small business success.