06 Aug 5 Tips To Find Work-Life Balance While Starting A Company
By Wil Schroter, Forbes.com
You would think that after 20 years of founding companies, I would have the whole work/life balance thing down to a science. When I sit down and talk to young entrepreneurs, often the first thing I’m asked is, “How do you maintain the other facets of your life while building a company?”
My answer is simple: “I really don’t.”
In fact, I have yet to meet a founder that has perfected this balance. We all just seem to build our own methods to deal with the insanity of our relentless schedules. Here are a few of mine:
1. Forget the 9 to 5 Grind and Embrace the 24/7 Grind
Instead of trying to figure out how to fit your startup into a 9 to 5 clock-punching schedule, try to rethink your schedule altogether. There really isn’t a version of your life where you are going to work the same schedule as your peers who are at established companies. Assume your startup will consume every free hour and that the only breaks you will get are those that you work hard to create.
2. Use Irregular Hours to Your Advantage
Even though your schedule may be all consuming, it’s also relatively free form. When all of your hours are accounted for by work, that means your breaks can effectively happen whenever you want them to. Want to go to the gym in the middle of the day? Go for it. You’re going to be working every other waking hour anyway, so make sure that the time you do take off is as useful and optimal as possible.
3. Find a Great Support Network of Entrepreneurs
Being a startup Founder can be a very lonely existence, and one that most of your peers won’t fully understand. The best way I’ve found to work through the business and emotional issues of being a Founder is to surround yourself with other like-minded Founders.
Most of your startup challenges involve ridiculous amounts of stress and uncertainty. We’re all guessing our way through this process. Surround yourself with people who are also working through the same uncertainty and can appreciate your struggles.
4. Schedule Free Time
This might seem strange at first, but believe me, it can be a life saver. Sit down weekly and create blocks of free time by sending calendar invitations to your loved ones — and be sure to keep those meetings. It’s important to set hard boundaries when you do afford yourself some quality time, because it’s unlikely you’ll fit it in if you don’t make it a priority.
5. Prioritize and Learn to Say ‘No’
One of the most important aspects of maintaining a schedule of productivity is to say ‘no’ to the things that aren’t productive, or aren’t a priority.
There will be lots of people who want a piece of your time, from your local PTA to other entrepreneurs that want to ‘pick your brain’ about something. These things ese may be important to you, but that doesn’t make all of them a priority. If you want to maintain your own schedule, get comfortable with saying ‘no’ — or at least ‘let’s talk about it later.’ Otherwise you’ll constantly be fighting to make time for yourself and your startup, while other peoples’ requests dominate your calendar.
Embrace the Entrepreneurial Life
These tips are a lot easier to share than they are to practice. But every day I try to remind myself that I’ve never once regretted moving a meeting in order to see my daughter before she goes to bed, or reconfiguring my schedule to stave off burnout.
If you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur, it can seem like your life will never be normal again. That’s probably true — but if you practice some of these habits, you might just come to love the new normal more than you thought possible.
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