I’ll just clear my inbox so I get a head start tomorrow morning.
” Sound Familiar?
It’s one we’ve all struggled with on a Sunday afternoon, or increasingly, every other night of the week, when we should be relaxing.
Work-life balance is hard to define. For some, work is life, but for others, the term means making time for family, friends or even just relaxing.
Do you find yourself thinking – Should I sleep in or exercise? Exercise or catch up on emails? Take the kids to school or get to work on time? Research home health aides for my parents or mentor a young co-worker during my lunch hour? Go to a Business Networking event or to my daughter’s soccer game? Stay until the end of the game or go to another Business Meeting? Meet a friend for a glass of wine or stay home with my husband? Catch up on my emails or go to sleep? Etc etc……..
Here is what a few up and coming Business Entrepreneurs say about their work-life balance.
Here is what they had to say:
Name: Damien Patton
Position: Founder and CEO
Company: Banjo, a social media and digital signal organization service that lets you know what’s going on in anywhere in the world live.
As a founder and CEO that’s very active in running the company in all parts, there’s no such thing as a work-life balance — and that’s my choice. I love what I do. It’s my life. I’m literally in love with Banjo and the idea behind the company. So, why wouldn’t that be all encompassing in my life? It’s not just a company, it’s THE company for me.
Name: Dave Rusinko
Position: Founder and CEO
Company: Weebly, a website builder and web design service.
It’s very important. It means you’re working at a sustainable pace. It’s also important to devote the right amount of time toward the important relationships in your life, like my marriage.
There’s lots of people at Weebly, and they also have families and that’s the most important part of their life. This is why it’s important to have a flexible schedule. For example, leaving at 5 p.m on the dot should not be looked down upon. You can come in early, so you can go home, eat dinner and get your kids ready for bed. It’s all about staying healthy and taking care of the important relationships in life.
Name: Melissa Ben-Ishay
Position: Co-founder and President
Company: Baked by Melissa, a bakery known for it’s bite sized desserts.
It means kicking ass when I’m at work and being the best mom ever when I’m home. It’s just about enjoying it. I thought it would be really hard to come back to work, but it wasn’t. Having a kid has made me better when I’m at work and better when I’m at home. I’m able to look forward to both.
Name: Jeff Chapin
Position: Co-founder and Chief Product Officer
Company: Casper, an online mattress company.
I have a good signal for whether or not I’m doing good at this or not. If I go to bed and I’m not thinking about work, then I’m doing OK in the work-life balance. It’s about being able to shut off work at certain times.
Name: Jessica Dilullo Herrin
Position: CEO and Founder
Company: Stella & Dot, a jewelry and accessory line that you can purchase through in-home trunk shows, independent stylists or on its website.
It means living your life in accordance with your values. I practice work-life integration and being what’s right in your life.
Name: Aaron Hirschhorn
Position: CEO and Co-founder
Company: Dog Vacay, a company that connects pets with hosts for pet sitting, dog walking and more.
I’m an introvert, so being the CEO of a company where I have to be the face of the company, do press interviews, stand in front of the whole company and be motivational — all those things are pretty draining for me. I need to find ways to recharge and to me that’s personal time, mostly exercising. I have to find time for exercise, to stay healthy, clear my mind, and I have to find time for family. I literally schedule it like I would for any other meeting, and I think that’s a really good way to find balance.
Name: Julia Hartz
Position: Co-founder and President
Company: Eventbrite, an online marketplace for live events like concerts, sporting games and more.
Finding balance is an ongoing challenge, which requires constant attention and dedication. My life is extremely binary –my passion is in Eventbrite, and my love is in my family. The nature of business today is that the lines of “work” and “life” are a little more blurred. Time spent outside of the office or with family is sacred, so we try our best to bring many things that happen outside, into the office.
As a Small Business Consultant, I have seen the following work wonders for a client. Here’s what happened for him; by choosing to spend 4 straight hours on his business, then shutting it down (laptop, stop responding to work calls, emails and texts etc.) and spending 3 hours with his family, He created balance as defined by me. Which he quotes “Now I have become super productive because I have become more focused and committed in the time allocated to my business. I am a calmer and happier me when I am with my family. My mind and entire being is present (and not flipping back to work thinking what I have to do instead of giving my family my entire presence) because I have allocated the time to where I want and need to be”.
Quality family time and quality work time — what is better than that.
Work life balance when you work for yourself is also about breaking that mind set on the normal and being able to think of something completely different. Allowing your mind to think allows it to be creative in overcoming those little niggly problems. You allow your employees a RDO, why do you not allow yourself and RDO? We here at Small Business Improvement Services see it all too often. Business owners do not allow themselves time, that is why we created the campaign for The Small Business Big Day Off, which we promote in September each year.
Yes, as a Business Coach and Mother of 5 I would say there is such a thing as work-life balance, it is just a matter of making it “WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANT IT TO BE”
