Small business owners are under a lot of pressure. You’re juggling a business—and all the responsibilities that come along with it—with the life you lead outside the office. They often don’t know when to stop, and end up exhausting themselves from all the ongoing demands of self-employment.

But overworking is counterproductive. You become tired, stressed; you become irritable, lashing out over little things at the people who are just trying to help you.

When you’re overworked, it shows. It can lead to:

• Being short-tempered towards your family, which affects your home life
• Being short-tempered towards your staff, which affects their performance and attitude
• Missing opportunities, because you’re always working
• Resenting what you do, potentially losing the passion you had
• Getting sick, and burning out altogether.

How to get the balance right

Here are some steps you can put in place to ensure you get your balance right.

Take daily time-out

It’s as simple as getting up from the desk and stretching every now and then, or going for a short walk. Getting outside in the sun for a couple of minutes does wonders, and helps you stay focused for longer.

Delegate where you can

Delegating tasks takes the pressure off you, and frees up your time to focus on more important tasks. You don’t need to do everything—give specialist tasks to specialists roles.

Put good systems in place

Creating robust systems and clear workflows for your business’ processes means that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, and your business will run more efficiently.

Talk with your family

Often you’re so focussed on your business that you can’t see things from the outside. Your family might have ideas for managing your work-life balance that you haven’t thought of.

Talk to other business owners

If you know a business owner who seems to be working ‘normal’ hours, don’t be afraid to ask them how they do it. After all, they’re in the same boat.

Take a longer break

Schedule down-time into your diary, even if it’s just one day a month. Make sure everyone knows about it. This way, they’ll keep you accountable for actually taking your time off.

Re-evaluate your client base

Look at your client base and work out where you actually want to spend your energy. If there are some clients taking up too much time for little gain, it might be time to re-evaluate your business relationship.

You need to get the work bit right, too

The joy of a life outside of work can fuel your passion for your work. This is why effectively managing your work-life balance is so important.

But there are also a few things you can try to keep the motivation and energy up at work, too. It can be as simple as:

• Refreshing your daily routine. It doesn’t have to be wild: start by blocking out distraction-free times, or setting aside a certain time of day to check emails and make calls
• Setting new, exciting goals and challenges
• Sharing these goals with your staff so everyone is on the same page
• Setting clear, measurable steps to achieving these goals
• Celebrating achievements

Getting the balance right means you’ll feel excited, energised, and fulfilled, and allow you to get more enjoyment out of those times you’re not working.

Because life’s not all about work—it’s about balance.

If you need help with getting the balance right in your business contact us here.