How to Create Work-Life Balance in Entrepreneurship

I know that as business owners, the lines between work and life can get blurred easily. I’ve experienced it myself in my first year of business. It’s a slippery slope to check just that one email or respond to just one DM. Your work life can take over your personal life if you aren’t careful. I want to share a few things that have greatly helped my work-life balance over the last year. I hope they help you too!

Set Start and Stop Times to Work

When you set start and stop times to work, you’re telling yourself that you need to complete your work in a certain amount of time. It actually helps your brain stay focused because it knows you only work until 5 pm, for example. You can also follow these tips to stay productive during those working hours. You’ll get more work done and give yourself time to spend with your family, friends, or any hobbies you have. Remember, you have to actually stick to the hours you set!

Eliminate Unnecessary Activities

Do you 100% need to scroll Instagram for an hour? I doubt it. There is so much time in the day that we waste on things that aren’t helping to grow our business. Now trust me. I understand that sometimes your brain needs a break to mindlessly scroll Instagram. I simply recommend saving unnecessary activities for your after-hours time. 

Take Vacation!

Did you know your brain works more effectively when you take days off? Your brain needs a break from work. Plus, it feels like you’re working toward something, and you have something to look forward to. You aren’t just endlessly working your life away. 

I know a lot of entrepreneurs who work through the weekend, and that’s an easy way to get burned out. Burning yourself out won’t help grow your business. Even taking two days off on the weekend helps your brain. If you absolutely need to work on weekends, I recommend setting shorter start and end times for your workday. That way, you still feel like you have some downtime. 

Turn Off Notifications After Hours

I think I get 1,000 notifications a day. Yes, an exaggeration, but it feels like 1,000 sometimes between all the apps I use! Turn off notifications for work-related apps after you’re done working for the day. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Email
• Social media
• Slack
• Voxer
• Asana
• Trello

By turning off notifications, you’ll be less tempted to check it right away. If you’re anything like me, I can’t stand having notifications on my phone. I have to check them immediately, which gets me in trouble with my work-life balance. Turning off notifications has really helped me, and I highly recommend trying it.

You can also set these boundaries with your clients. Let them know of your working hours and response time. That way, they know when they can expect you to be available and won’t be emailing you at 10 pm (or at least not expecting a response). You can also set up emergency forms of communication. For example, my clients can only text me if it’s an emergency that needs immediate attention. Otherwise, they can email me and expect a response within working hours. It’s totally okay to set those boundaries for yourself and your clients.

Outsource

This may be the hardest one to do. I get it. Your business is your baby and something you’ve worked so hard on. You can’t imagine anyone else taking care of an aspect of it for you. If your situation is dire where you’re working too many hours to enjoy anything outside of work, it may be time to hire someone to take some things off your plate. Here are a few ideas of things you can outsource:

• Social media management
• Email marketing
• Blogging
• Website maintenance
• Bookkeeping
• Pinterest management
• Email organization
• Lead generation
• Video editing
• Podcast management
• Branding
• Graphics creation

How many hours a week do you spend on any of the tasks above? I bet there’s at least one thing on that list that you would love to stop doing yourself. Am I right? It may just be the best thing to happen to your business (and you!) to hire someone to help you. It’s okay to ask for help!

You need to have a work-life balance to create a successful business. By setting start and stop times, eliminating unnecessary tasks, taking a vacation, turning off notifications after hours, and outsourcing, you’ll have a better work-life balance. Working on your business will be more fun, you’ll have more time with family or friends, and you’ll see the most success you ever have. Give these tips a try, and see your business growth explode.

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