Do you ever feel like your work/personal life is out of balance and leaning far to heavy on the work side? If you do, you’re not alone. A lot of us, especially entrepreneurs, tend to willingly overwork ourselves for no reason at all.
In this video lesson I talk about creating boundaries around your pesonal time to help you find a healthy balance in your life. Your business is what you do not who you are.
Put healthy boundaries in place. Get your life back. Take care of yourself and your family because at the end of the day, family, friends and time for yourself is a currency that cannot be earned by overworking yourself in an office.
Stop Overworking Today:
I want you to make a list of the things that are important to you in life. This can be anything from reading books, spending time with your family, relaxing, playing with your kids, vacation time, etc. Also, don’t forget to account for the time you spend working. Next to each of these categories write down the number of hours you spend on each of these items.
This exercise is a great visual representation for finding those areas that need attention or in some cases less attention. Remember that in the end, balance is not only key to success in your business but in your personal life as well.
You are so right Chris! 3 years of putting everything I have in the business, I really looked at my life this fall and said this is crazy. I was working all the time and realized my husband was having fun without me, I didn’t see my friends, I wasn’t serving others which is my joy because there was no time. The business needed me. Finally,I said I’m going for broke as I wasn’t sure sales would support a 3rd employee but something had to give as I wasn’t happy and down right burnt out. I started out small and hired a PART TIME baker/production person to take over one my many task. To my amazement I had time to do more marketing and sales came in. She is now full time. The weight of a work task is lifted off of me, I gained time to be creative, work on the business end where I am most needed and strong in and my personal life is finally coming back and I am having fun with my husband again. This year is about balance and serving others. Yes I will work hard everyday in the business but it control me any longer. God wants us to work hard but live a joyful life too. Remember who says you need to hire FULL time. Start in small steps by a quality part time employee and move from there to allow you to do the tasks you should be doing which is working on the business NOT in the business. In Joy! The Cookie Lady
What is important to me in life is having a life. I was about to say that I’ve been into my “side business” a month or so and I’m already worked up. Truth is I’ve been building up to this moment of running a side business for two years, and it’s all your fault 🙂 . And the Tribe’s. Two years ago, I did not consider myself an entrepreneur. There are many comments on this blog’s archive to prove it. You guys have convinced me that I have skills and talents that I can use to help others spread their message and together we can effectively change people’s lives. Go figure.
Bad news is that I do spend too much time on the computer when I’m at home. And on the train. And for my day job. Good news is that I have the awesome wisdom of the Tribe so I am not going blindly into the adventure of owning a business. I am designing a plan on how to go about it and gathering tools to get my life in sync.
One of my goals this year is to complete my LifePlan. I NEED to find out if this idea of mine aligns with God’s plan for my life.
Guacamole.
I used to be a workaholic 24/7. Now I am for 9 hours a day M-F and a few on Saturday. Then, I am done.
My family is my highest priorities (after my relationship with God).
I was able to get a new position at my full-time job that reduced my hours from 55-60 down closer to 40. Part of my endeavor for my family is to get enough sleep – this has helped tremendously in every area of my life, as well.
I’m getting a new focus on my business and getting ready to market more (and better). I’m working on setting things up for my business so I can scale the business and have more flexibility with my time. After I get the business running steadily, I should be able to quit my full time job. I may let this overlap a little long than I would like because we are also working hard to pay off our mortgage and become fully debt-free (yet another aspect of taking care of my family).
You’re rocking it, Josh! So happy for you!!!
Praying for wisdom for you brother man!
Oh yes, definitely a workaholic – haven’t even been keeping up with the Tribe like I want to because I’ve basically taken on a second “job” (nonpaying right now, but hoping it will become paying soon). I’m taking steps now to set some of those boundaries – like making sure I don’t work too late at night and not get enough sleep, taking Friday and Saturday nights off to watch a movie or read, and planning more down time with family and friends. it’s tough to balance it all, but you are so right Chris about carve out time for all the things that are important. Great reminder!