The Importance of Good Work / Life Balance

When is the last time that you took some time out for yourself? I don't mean the kind of time where you pretend you're taking it but your mind is still heavily focused on work, the stress over what your clients will be thinking or saying in your absence and the overwhelm you are already feeling at the sort of work overload you'll return to.  I mean pure, enjoyable time to yourself.

If you're like most entrepreneurs, the answer to that is probably either awhile ago or never. We get into really bad cycles as entrepreneurs where we're spinning the wheels constantly... Not stopping to rejuvenate and refresh. Instead, we spend our days, weeks and months in running mode trying to keep all the balls in the air and trying to please everyone around us. The only downside to that is oftentimes, we are the ones who end up unhappy.

We need to maintain good work / life balance in order to be successful. Working 24/7 consistently is NOT a recipe for success. In fact, that's a recipe for failure. Burning on all cylinders will lead to burn out which will put you into a place that is much harder to crawl out of and takes you much longer to overcome. If you break instead and plan out time for yourself, you won't hit burnout because you are honoring your mind and your body with what it needs.

If you are struggling with work / life balance, here are a few things that you can do to infuse some balance into your life:

    * Take 30 minutes each day to go for a walk. Take your dog if you have one or your significant other. The key here is to get out and enjoy the air and get some exercise. Look around at your surroundings, take in the beautiful architecture, nature and the sound of yourself breathing. Don't let your mind wander to what might be happening elsewhere... Instead, just focus on what is around you and on yourself.

    * Plan a short vacation. You don't need to have a huge budget and loads of free time to do this. Plan something easy and quiet but get away for a few days... If you can, leave behind the laptop but if you must bring it, check in once a day for an emergency check only. Deal with what you might need to but then close the laptop and walk away. Make yourself the priority for those few days. Believe me when I say that it'll all be waiting for you when you return.

    * Honor your hobbies. Do you have non-work related things that you like to do? Honor them at least once or twice a week. Set aside some time to scrapbook, work on that old car restoration project, create a website that is more for fun, play video games, whatever YOU are into... Honor that and you'll find that not only are you happier but you'll actually have something non-work related to talk to people about!

Whatever you decide to do for yourself, do it and be consistent. There are going to be people around you who are frustrated, impatient, rude and uncaring about your desire to take some time off and to not give your attention to them in that moment. Know that it's okay and that if they truly respect you as a human being and as a person, they'll understand your desire and need for some time off and they'll know you've worked hard and deserved it. Anyone who doesn't know that is more than likely struggling with their own work / life balance or they are just out of sync a little with what's important.