How to Strike the Perfect Balance Between Life and Work
Rache is a labour of love that I started 2 years ago. A small set-up with a handful of employees makes for a lot of hard work, late nights, and days stretched thin. I’m constantly on my feet getting stuff done to ensure every plan drafted and experience created runs like clockwork. Juggling a myriad of projects is hard — it’s twice as difficult when you’re also a critical perfectionist.
I’m constantly in work-mode, but a scroll through my Instagram feed, filled with snaps from my travels, the food I’m indulging in, and the fun I’m having, might tell you otherwise. I’m not being disingenuous. I honestly do have as much fun as I work. And, I believe that having a work-life balance is very important and very possible, even when you are running your own business. While not perfect, here are some ways I have approached “being a boss” so I can continue to strike the perfect balance between my personal life and my work.
Bend time
If you are your own boss, congratulations! While it’s an unconventional route to take, it also means you’re free from a strict 9-to-6 work life. Time, when it’s not structured or limited by organisational systems, is malleable.
Being my own boss, I allocate different times within each day’s 24 hours for work and play, and these periods of time don’t have to fall between 9 am to 6 pm. This disruption of the traditional work-day may not be for everyone, but hear me out. I spread work out through the day and weave in pockets of rest and social engagement. This might mean I have to take client calls at 11 pm or work on the plane en route to a holiday, but it also means I can apply the same flexibility to my downtime. Modern digital tools have also made this approach possible because I can work anywhere, any time.
Discipline is everything
One of the best things about being the boss is, well, no one is the boss of you. At best, not having anyone else dictate work-related decisions means infinite freedom to make the best choices for yourself and your business. On the flip side, it also means you have to exercise a lot of discipline to get yourself to do what you need to do.
Self-discipline is difficult to implement but can be nurtured by making it a habit. The first habit to form is setting to-do lists. With the list as a guide for the week’s goals, one simple thing I do, no matter how tired I get, is to cross out at least one thing off it, every single day. When time is of the essence, you also have to know the order of things to be done. I ensure the most important and urgent tasks stay on top of my list, ready to be struck out first, so I can reschedule a time to attend to less-pressing matters. If everything on your list seems important, put it through the Eisenhower Matrix, a task and time management tool that helps you figure out the priority of tasks.
It’s also essential to be as disciplined about downtime as you are with work. If you, like me, lead the charge at your own set-up, work probably bleeds into your regular life, and vice versa. While it’s inevitable, setting aside time to unplug and recharge is essential, not just for your wellbeing, but also for your business. Research has shown that stress and burnout often leads to poor decision-making — something you definitely don’t want when your hard work, money and passion are on the line.
No matter how busy I get, I always make time to exercise in the morning and head out for lunch, and see my family and spend time with my husband on weekends, with zero guilt. Being disciplined about relaxation is also as simple as keeping your ‘binge-watch Netflix’ space strictly separate from your work area. This way, your mind recognises where and when it’s time to get down to business or shut off for the day. Work-life balance is not a goal to work towards, but a decision to make.
Learn to say ‘no’
Being able to say ‘no’ is a paramount skill to acquire for any career. It’s particularly crucial to do so when you are your own boss because what you do say ‘yes’ to will shape your work, and your pride and enjoyment in it.
As the figurehead of your company, your time is quite literally money. When time means so much, you have to make the choice to inject it with meetings, collaborations and experiences that add value to your life and work. You are in a position of privilege where you get to decide what adds value, and decline projects that don’t do so.
You’ll also need to learn to say ‘no’ to yourself. It’s natural, to want or need to do-it-all, but it’s definitely not productive — this leads us to the next point.
Trust your people
One of the best business advice I’ve ever gotten was to “trust my people”. It’s important to accept that there are people who can do certain things better than you can, just as you excel in ways others might not. Take the time to recognise your strengths and perfect them, and let team members or partners take the lead in areas they are more adept in. You’ll make much more efficient use of your time, freeing yourself up to enjoy other things you love outside of work.
Achieving work-life balance isn’t a myth — you just have to decide you want it, what it means to you and work out how you’re going to implement it in your life. For some, it might still mean strictly working from 9 am to 6 pm and logging off completely after, while to others it might mean working non-stop for two months then taking a break for four. No matter what work-life balance means to you, getting it all starts with one step.