More words of wisdom from Dr Grace Olugbodi who offers a few key points on how best to combine business with family life.
In last week’s feature, which I will call ‘Part One‘, I wrote about the importance of finding a work-life balance for entrepreneurs. I suggested a few points and concluded the article by discussing the topic of good health. ‘Part Two’ is a continuation of this overall topic, in which I will mention other key elements as we journey towards becoming a happy, healthy, successful and satisfied entrepreneur.
Be intentional and realistic
Setting achievable goals that require some effort is the best way to ensure you remain intentional about what you want to achieve. Don’t worry about what other people’s goals are or could have been.
You cannot compare yourself to others because there’s only one version of each person. Therefore, no one else can be exactly like you, even if they try exceedingly hard.
In addition, you should allow for some flexibility with your goals. It can be easy to work on your goals and stick with them regardless of circumstances which may change around us. But being flexible allows us to adapt when things don’t go according to plan, and will help maintain our sanity.eader
Keep work and life separate
To maintain a healthy balance, it’s important to separate your work from your home life. For many of us entrepreneurs, our job is the centre of our world. That can be a problem because things must be balanced out with family. You need to make sure that you are not bringing your work issues home with you.
Alternatively, neither should you take your problems from the home into the office – whether that’s a physical office or a remote one within your own house. This can be hard at first, especially if one person within a relationship works much longer hours than the other. But it’s crucial for maintaining good mental health.
If something stresses you out, try talking it through with someone who does not have any involvement with this particular problem. If there are issues in another part of your life, that could affect your performance, then it’s important to make sure you have dealt with them before tackling anything else.
Take vacations
Vacations are an important part of maintaining your mental health as an entrepreneur. Taking time off helps you to recharge your batteries, while allowing you to step back from the business so you can view it with a fresh pair of eyes on your return. It also allows you to spend time with your loved ones. This is something that’s often neglected when we’re busy working on our businesses.
Some people are afraid of vacations because they think it may make them feel lazy or unproductive. However, this is not the case. Taking time off gives your team members a better, more relaxed and more focused person to relate to when you get back.
Fitness and healthy eating
As an entrepreneur, finding time for fitness and healthy eating can be difficult. But it is so important for both your health and productivity. You don’t have to go to the gym every day, but try to find at least 30 minutes each day – and more if possible – to undertake something active and healthy. Go for a walk during your lunch hour or do some yoga before bedtime – regardless of weather or tiredness. It’s whatever works for you!
Stop multitasking
One of the most significant issues for entrepreneurs is that we are usually multitaskers. We’re constantly juggling tasks, projects and priorities all at once. There’s always something else we need to do, such as taking part in a conference call or checking a bank account balance.
But this constant switching between tasks can be detrimental to productivity. When you juggle one task into another, without completing it first, your brain will never feel fully satisfied with any one thing. This makes it harder for you to pay attention to what matters most in the long term.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, you must strike a balance between work and everything else. Finding that perfect balance is challenging, but it can be achieved if you’re smart. The key is to identify what matters most in your life and finding ways to make this work for you. After all, our lives are really too short not to enjoy them.
