Oftentimes, the size of a company is inversely proportionate to the amount of downtime the owner gets. The fewer employees the business has, the more responsibilities fall to the person in charge.
If you own a small or microbusiness, we understand you shoulder a lot of the burden for getting things done. Still, in order to stay productive during the hours you do work, you need some time away for yourself. So here are five things you can start doing right now to achieve better work-life balance:
Find time to get away...completely
We understand that sometimes a 15-hour day with no lunch break is simply unavoidable. But it becomes a problem when those days become the norm. Finding time to shut off all your devices, turn your brain off and just relax will get you recharged when it’s time to get back to work.
Work from home
Even if you’ll be busy conducting business, it’s nice to spend time in comfortable surroundings and with people you might not see as much as you’d like. Working from home gives you more face time with loved ones, which is invaluable. Today’s technology makes telecommuting easier than ever as well. You can use a small business virtual phone, for instance, and none of your customers will have the slightest idea that you’re talking to them from your living room.
Let others carry the load
As a business owner, you may have the urge to make sure you work closely on every project. But if you hired employees, you have to trust your own judgment and believe they can handle the responsibilities you throw at them. Not only will working yourself to the bone burn you out physically, the quality of your work will suffer as well. Simply put, nobody can be two—or 20—places at once.
Figure out when you work best
For whatever reason, some people do their best work at 6 a.m. while others are more productive at 10 p.m. It doesn’t really matter as long as you know when you work best and schedule accordingly. Don’t schedule a crucial client call during a time you usually feel a little low energy.
Take care of your health
In the short term, skipping meals or cutting down on sleep might seem like a way to increase productivity, but it’s likely to come back to hurt you down the line. Cutting out lunch, for instance, may just leave you with less energy during the afternoon hours. Not sleeping enough can hurt your productivity on a given day, but it also weakens your immune system. When your defenses are down, you’re more likely to get sick and miss significant chunks of time.
Some of these practices may be difficult to put into place, especially if you have contradictory habits deeply ingrained already. But these suggestions will put you in a better frame of mind and help you achieve better focus. In turn, your business will grow and thrive—and that’s the reason you work so hard in the first place.