By Samantha Flavell
The term entrepreneur is often paired with words and phrases like “innovation,” “hustle culture,” and “persistence.” All are true, but that doesn’t mean that to be a successful entrepreneur your work life needs to be always “on.” In this blog, we are going to share some of our top tips for creating sustainable success as an entrepreneur through cultivating a healthy work-life balance.
As an entrepreneur you often work remotely and on your own hours, making it easy to blur the line between work hours and free time. While it’s important to stay motivated and driven as a self-starter, it is equally as important to set healthy boundaries and protect yourself from burnout.
By setting yourself up with some boundaries and tools, you’ll be better prepared for long-term success by ensuring you are working hard but also giving yourself the necessary time to break, recharge, and become re-inspired.
Define your priorities
The first step to establishing a healthy work-life balance is to define what your priorities are. To sign off and relax, you’ll need to make sure that you can complete the work that needs to be done that day. If you understand what matters to you most, both personally and professionally, you’ll be able to ensure that those items are scheduled into your day and won’t slip by the wayside.
Set boundaries
There is a lot of pressure as an entrepreneur to always be “on,” and to always be accessible for clients. Even entrepreneurs are human though, and we all need breaks and boundaries to ensure that we don’t burn out.
Boundaries will look different for everyone. Using your personal and professional priorities, you can define what health boundaries look like to you. Maybe it’s turning off your computer at 6 p.m. and not looking at anything work-related until the next morning, or maybe it’s giving yourself an hour-long lunch every day. Whatever it may be, find what works best for you and stick to it.
Delegate and outsource tasks
As an entrepreneur, you work for yourself but that doesn’t mean you have to work alone. Build a team that you trust and feel comfortable with so that you can delegate duties, ensuring a realistic workload for everyone. This allows you to outsource time-consuming tasks so that you can choose which projects and aspects of your business you want and need to devote your time and attention towards.
Utilize time management techniques
Taking the time to learn some time management techniques can also be an incredibly effective way to improve your work-life balance. When you use techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique, time blocking, or productivity apps, you’re able to be more efficient and make the most out of the time you have scheduled for work-related tasks.
Pomodoro Technique: A time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It's designed to improve productivity and focus by breaking work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.
Time Blocking: A time management technique that involves scheduling specific blocks of time for different tasks or activities throughout the day. It helps individuals organize their time effectively, prioritize tasks, and focus on one activity at a time.
Productivity Apps: Productivity apps for time management help individuals organize tasks, track progress, and optimize their use of time. Some popular examples are:
Todoist: A task manager that lets users create to-do lists, set deadlines, and prioritize tasks.
Trello: A visual collaboration tool that uses boards, lists, and cards to organize tasks and projects.
Monday: A work operating system that enables teams to manage their work and projects efficiently. It offers a visual and customizable platform that helps teams organize tasks, track progress, and collaborate effectively. (We use this one at Boone Logic!)
Check out this blog’s accompanying infographic to learn more about these time management techniques.
Scheduling downtime and self-care
All work and no play does not pave the way for a healthy, happy, and fulfilling lifestyle or sustainable success. To keep yourself motivated and free from burnout, make sure you’re scheduling downtime and practicing self-care. This will look different for everyone but it is crucial to make sure that you’re getting enough sleep, exercise, and engaging in activities that help you de-stress and stay mentally stimulated. Some examples of ways to schedule self-care could be:
Take a break to walk your pet (or just yourself!) after a meeting to refresh yourself before getting back to work.
Take a longer lunch to make something fresh and healthy and eat it without rushing through the meal.
Do some mid-day yoga to give your eyes a break from screens and stretch your body from the strain of (probably) poor posture.
As is true anytime you’re trying to find a balance, there will be trial and error. There is no one-size fits all so you will need to try a few different things to find what works best for you.
Are you ready to open yourself to some outsourcing so you can focus on yourself and the aspects of your business that are most important to you? Visit www.boonelogic.com to learn more about how we can help you take a load off by leading the charge on a variety of marketing needs!
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