There’s a lot of wisdom out there on growing your business, but no one speaks about the importance of work life balance for entrepreneurs!

Quick Links:

• TIP: How to create a healthy work life balance as an entrepreneur [Infographic Download]
• Episode Overview – Creating a Work Life Balance as an Entrepreneur
• Personal Note from Jenn Neal on The Importance of a Healthy Work Life Balance For Entrepreneurs
• Episode audio [Podcast on Spotify]
• Blog Post – Work Life Balance for Entrepreneurs and Why It’s SO Important
• Related Posts

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TIP: How to create a healthy work life balance as an entrepreneur

What’s In This Episode

Finding good work life balance as an entrepreneur or business owner can be really difficult. It’s often hard to balance family and business and sometimes we forget the importance of creating a healthy mix. But living a balanced life can inspire creativity – and creativity in business is the thing that inspires entrepreneurs. I was inspired from a recent Halloween trip with my family and share how I discovered a new message from embracing a new work life balance. Plus, cute kid Halloween photos!

What are you doing to embrace your spirituality, what are you doing to take care of your physical body,  your movement, your activity – all of those things are important because if you are not at your best, you don’t have as much energy.

-Jenn Neal

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As the holiday season approaches, it’s been increasingly clear to me that something is missing in life. Sure, I have a wonderful family and my awesome business, but something seems to be off kilter. It seems to be the balance between work and my personal life. I seem to always be working on my business, mastering the art of branding and outreach – but it isn’t enough. I’ve realized that when I’m hanging out with family, I start to feel guilty that I’m not working. And it really made me understand the concept of work/life balance.

We need to take time to nurture relationships, take care of our health, and attend to the things we love. If your work and your core passions in life overlap, you’re in luck. But for most of us, work is not life, it’s something we do for practical reasons. Yet still, it seems to overtake our entire lives.

But, if you heed the call to entrepreneurship and work hard to grow your sales margins, it can be easy to forget what makes your business work – You.  It’s important to find a balance between work and personal life. I know this subject is usually off limits, but we’re going to discuss ways to create a healthy work/life balance. Ways to stay healthy, stay productive, and retain that vital energy we need to be successful. 

Developing Work Life Balance for Entrepreneurs

Establishing a healthy work/life balance can be tough… Especially for those of us who are especially driven to succeed. But neglecting your mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual health will take its toll on your business in time. Here are a few simple tips for preventing that from happening.

Set Work/Life Boundaries

It’s hard to believe, but there’s a reason why we have a standard work week and standard working hours. It’s because people needed help keeping the demands of their employers out of their private lives. If you’re a motivated entrepreneur, you probably have trouble drawing definitive lines between your work and your private life. It can be tough, especially when you have worked overtime for months or years. Needless to say, you’ve been the go-to person for your customers and clients since the beginning.

There’s got to be a place and a time where work is off-limits. You’ve got to learn to shut off that phone, mute those email notifications, and recuperate from work-related stress. Just know that by taking time to yourself is NOT letting your customers down. In fact, you’ll really see that you’re benefitting them. Taking a break and relaxing will allow you to rest your brain. It won’t feel so cluttered or stressed anymore and you’ll have more capacity than before. In turn, you can be back on your A-game and give your best to each of your clients.

Do What Motivates You, Delegate the Rest

If you’ve got a team on the payroll, then you’ve got a way to take some of the preventable stress out of your everyday routine. There are going to be certain tasks that you are well suited for, certain things you have a talent in. Maybe you’re a good negotiator. Or maybe marketing is your wheelhouse. Better yet – you’ve got a brain for crunching numbers. Whatever it is you’re best at, let that be your focus and delegate the rest.

Likewise, there are bound to be things to be done at work that you dread or struggle to accomplish. Maybe you don’t have a good head for math. Or dealing with customers stresses you out. Whatever it is that zaps your energy and leaves you spent at the end of the day, have someone to do it for you. I’m sure that there is someone on your team who is good at each of the things that you’re not. Hey, that’s why you picked them to be on your team right? They help create a balance in the workplace. Not to mention, it will feel great having someone else do the things that you hate doing, and you’ll take great pleasure in doing what comes naturally to you.

Get a Hobby That Is NOT Work-Related

Get the benefits of doing what you’re good at by engaging in an enjoyable hobby. Make sure it’s something you love doing, and make sure it has nothing to do with work. The idea here is to engage in something that gets you into the flow state but lets you rest your working muscles and brain at the same time. It could be fishing or painting. It could be riding motorcycles. Just make sure you love it and that it is a true and full departure from work.

Set up Time-Saving Systems

You may have noticed that many high-powered decision makers wear the same thing every day. (I mean seriously. Have you ever seen Bill Gates in anything besides that black turtleneck he’s always wearing? My guess is probably not.) Why do they do this? Because it takes the guesswork out of their morning routine. It’s one less thing that they have to think about. It’s part of the reasoning behind military uniforms.

But I’m sure you’re thinking – it’s such a simple decision to make! That’s insane. (I thought that at first too!) However, they know every decision made comes at the cost of valuable mental energy. Look for things like this in your day-to-day work-life, and maybe consider filling your closet with a few dozen iterations of the same outfit. If you can simplify your life and remove some of the decisions you’ll have to make in a day, you’ll find you have more capacity for other more productive decisions to be made.

Listen to Your Body & Mind

Pain is a signal that something is going wrong in the body. Stress is an alarm telling us that our actions are not in line with what we are best suited to do. If you feel a pain in your back, change the way you sit. Get up and move! Take a walk outside. (Fresh air and sunlight are natural antioxidants that are completely free! And I’m not sure about you, but I like free things!) Take a look at your diet to make sure you’re eating things that fuel and rebuild your body rather than tax it needlessly.

Keep an open eye and ear to your need for time off. Tune in and listen to your body when it when it speaks to you. Ignore it at your peril, and risk making bad decisions that will hurt your professional life. The best medicine is preventative, and that’s what maintaining a good work/life balance is all about.

If you enjoyed these tips for staying healthy and productive, check out my brief video on the subject, here. Be sure to check in regularly for more tips on promoting your brand and improving your outreach capabilities.

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What’s a time you got the inspiration you were looking for because you simply took a break from work?