10 Tips for a Successful Work-Life Balance  

Many driven business leaders have a “success equals sacrifice” mentality regarding their careers, which during certain times along your job path makes perfect sense: one example would be early in your professional life, as you build respect in your field and prove yourself to your colleagues and leadership team.

Another might be if you are an entrepreneur starting a business; typically the first three years will be the hardest and most sleep-deprived — but the truth is that keeping up at such a pace will eventually have a negative impact on your personal and professional life.  In fact, making time to re-charge, clear your mind, and take a break from a hyper-focused mindset in order to see the bigger picture, will bring you big rewards.

Here, then, are a few key strategies to help you keep you balanced: 

Build with Balance in Mind – Balance doesn’t happen overnight and it certainly doesn’t happen by chance. Those who achieve it plan for it on a regular, constant basis. Leverage the latest technology to automate your processes. Use mobile solutions so you can access all your tools and resources from anywhere, at any time. Train your colleagues on your business critical tasks, so they can cover for you when you’re out sick or on vacation.

Prioritize the Most Important – Most of us are bogged down by too many things on the to-do list. Instead, make a list of all the activities you do on a daily basis and prioritize them as follows: At the beginning, write the ones that you absolutely must do (like paying bills), then continue with the next most urgent tasks. Eventually get to the most impactful for the business (driving sales, growth activities, etc.) that may be longer-term aims. Then work though the list starting at the top; take care of the most pressing duties, but make sure to pay attention to the longer-term goals on a weekly basis.

Identify your Time-Wasters – Most people waste at least twenty percent of their time on activities that have limited to no impact on their lives. This includes meetings we don’t need to attend, and an inbox full of emails we don’t need to read.  Identify your top three or four time-wasters and resolve to eliminate them from your personal and professional life.

Focus on the Positive – Life is challenging, so it’s easy to sometimes get overwhelmed by the difficulties we’re working through, but it’s important to push yourself to keep a positive outlook and focus on the things that are going well and that you enjoy and make you happy.  So, spend more time of the activities you enjoy and less on the ones you don’t.  Read here for an article about “How to be Optimistic, According to Science” to get some well-researched tips on the subject.

Get Enough Sleep – Whether you’re going to bed too late — and getting up too early — or stress is keeping you up tossing and turning every night, missing crucial hours of slumber has just as much of an impact on your health as eating badly or skipping out on exercise.  Instead, make it a top priority to get a minimum seven hours of sleep every night, or make up for the lost hours as much as you can by taking a day off.  The famed Mayo Clinic offers these pointers to help you make the most of your shut-eye.

Take Tomorrow Off – The vast majority of Americans forfeit their vacation days. Resolve to use yours as much as you can.  If the idea of planning ahead and booking a vacation stresses you out, take more impromptu days off.  Play hooky for the day and go to the spa, sleep in, read a book, go shopping or take a three-hour lunch.  In the end, adding a midweek break or a three-day weekend will help rejuvenate you.

Stop and Smell the Roses (literally) – The longer and harder we work, the more time we stay inside, and stuck in our small offices or cubicles. Reverse this trend as follows: Make a habit of going for a walk or run to break up the chained-to-the-desk monotony of the work day.  Go out for lunch instead of eating at your desk.  Walk thru a beautiful park or stop by a city garden to get an eyeful of greenery.  Work at a coffee shop next to a window or somewhere outside for a few hours.  Getting outside, seeing the sun, and taking a deep breath of fresh air will help keep you energized. Read this university study about the beneficial link between nature and mental health if you need further convincing.

Enjoy the Moment – Just as important as getting outside and smelling the actual roses is the ability to stop and enjoy the moment with friends, co-workers, and your social circle.  Take a break to grab a drink with colleagues to celebrate a big win after work. Have lunch with girlfriends you haven’t seen in months and talk about the exciting things going on in your life. Surprise your significant other with tickets to a concert.  Bottom line: It’s important to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the here and now.

Release your Grip – Surround yourself with good people and let them take the load off. It’s natural to feel that we’re the only ones who can do our jobs the best, but you can’t do it all. Instead: Identify a list of activities that someone else can easily do, then assign them. Or start the process of training someone else to do the tasks, let them know that this will be a new format going forward, and then start offloading and sharing the projects.

Adding balance to your life needs to be just as important as your other personal and professional goals. You don’t want to get burned out mid-career or miss out on the moment. Take a step back and breathe – and then follow the tips above to give yourself mental and emotional fuel that will energize your professional life.