Your Business Or Your Life?
June 10, 2009
Is the rest of your life suffering because of your business? Do you believe you’ll never be a success unless you put in at least 70 hours a week? That’s what I used to think. So many successful business owners seemed to survive on 4 hours sleep a night and have no life outside of work, I thought I should do the same.
Trouble is, I missed an important fact. The folk I’d read about were successful in terms of growing their business quickly and making a lot of cash. But they really didn’t have much else to brag about – they didn’t have a life.
Cash and growth aren’t worth much if your health is suffering, you barely ever see your family and friends and you’ve put off doing anything remotely interesting with your life for at least 5 years.
I’m not saying you don’t need to put in a lot of hard work when you start a business but it shouldn’t be at the expense of everything else. But you don’t have to choose between your business or your life. Check out these great resources to help you achieve a balance:
1. Time isn’t important – it’s what you do in that time that counts. If you struggle with time management, check out: Grilled Frog On Toast Anyone?
Eating ready made crap and depriving yourself of sleep, to spend more time working on your business is counter productive. Check out 100 great resources for preparing healthy meals quickly. And if you don’t sleep well, you can learn how to sort out your sleep patterns here. It will really improve your life.
Coming up with new ideas is essential, if you want to be successful in your business and life. But most people don’t come up with their best ideas when they’re working. Check out 27 Ways to Fuel Your Imagination & Come Up With Great Ideas.
Are you working every waking hour, or do you feel as though your having to choose between your business or life?
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Comments
18 Responses to “Your Business Or Your Life?”
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Cath – Since I started working from home full time I’m having a hard time with that. I don’t work 70 hours a week (I think) or not get enough sleep but even when I’m not being productive I think I should site here and try to work. I need to get better at walking away, doing something else for awhile, and not feeling guilty about it. Otherwise I feel like I’m spending my life working but not getting anything done.
Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..WordPress 2.8 Release Contest
For this reason I have a 5 year plan which I am 1 an a half years into. If I am not where I expect to be when I am 35, then I will not work this way. I will sell out my shares in my other businesses and truly relax in Costa Rica.
:~)
Jim Gaudet’s last blog post..Wolverines – Howling at the Bloggess
I agree with Kim – working from home is great, but it’s hard to walk away. Keeping the balance when you work from home takes extra vigilance.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Bizarre Vintage Ads
Hi Cath,
I not only work from home (for our business), but I also blog. My days are always full, but I’ve learned to step away from it all by picking up a book and reading, going for a drive, or out to dinner, or whatever, just to give myself a break from it.
Although at times it’s hard to find a perfect balance, I never quit trying.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Just The Facts
Nice post, let me reply for me i also have 2 life bussiness and personal, it is quite good if u can keep seperate both of them, any how i also can manage both. nice thinking about business and thought.
Hi Cath, I tend to go in fits and starts when it comes to work-life balance. I go through phases where all I want to do is work, and then there are times when I want to do anything but work. That’s probably not a very good approach, is it?
Brad Shorr’s last blog post..Different Audience Temperaments Require Different Presentation Styles
Hello Cath. My first comment here. I became officially unemployed about 3 weeks ago when the General Motors plant I work at closed for 7 weeks. In the time since then, I have found that I have been missing a great many of life’s little pleasures. When I go back, or get a different job, which ever happens first, I will hopefully remember some of these and not make my life revolve around work as much as I had. To quote another engineer I correspond with, “A family lasts a lot longer than a job”
Tom Stevic’s last blog post..UD +23 – View and Post Comments
I say this all the time, but I need a quick way to send a tweet out, this needs one
Jim Gaudet’s last blog post..Wolverines – Howling at the Bloggess
I think boundaries are my best friend. When I have limits on how much time I spend on things, it makes me more effective.
J.D. Meier’s last blog post..Hot Spots for Life
Hi Cath. I love that article by Alex. I downloaded his example excel sheet the other day and turned it into my own. I plan to start using it next week.
Time management is always an issue with me. I have so much to do and so much to get to.
But that’s why I need that spreadsheet. I need to tell myself, “I’m done.”
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Hi Kim – I hear your pain. A lot of people say working from home is hard. If it makes you feel better – when I had an office, I spent too much time there too and it was haunted.
Lots of people suggest creating a seperate workspace if you don’t have room for an office in your home. And if you use a telephone as part of your business – some people suggest a seperate line. I tried that a few years ago but i still answered both the damn phones all hours.
Hi Jim – that plan still sounds a whole lot like killing yourself now to reap the benefits later. Is there a plan you could follow which means you could build your business while still doing stuff you want to now?
Hi Vered – You also sound like you need an extra workspace – someplace you don’t even go after a certain time of day.
Hi Barbara – I know you’ve mentioned this before and it sounds like you’re really becoming proficient at shutting yourself off and doing other stuff. I do wish you’d take a proper break though – at least a week or 2 – you deserve it.
LOL Brad – your approach sounds a lot like mine and whichever you do becomes habit forming. I think you’ve got to avoid doing more than a month of one, or you become stuck.
Hi Tom – It sounds like your layoff has been a positive experience for you, because it’s helped you realise what you value most. Thanks for sharing.
Hi J.D – Boundaries are definitely important. It’s so easy to fritter time away on stuff that doesn’t deserve it.
Hi John – I’m glad you did that. I love Alex’s stuff. I think he does a brill job at getting folk to do the stuff they keep putting off.
I know where you’re coming from on the spreadsheet. I need to put a highlighter through all my completed stuff. I know it sounds kind of childish but it’s kind of like a reward for getting stuff done.
Yeah, I still work pretty hard, but since I am here in Costa Rica it is much more relaxing to me.
But, I WILL sell all my businesses and just keep my, hopefully authority, website…
Jim Gaudet’s last blog post..Costa Rica Squatters Law
Gosh, Cath. After reading your article, I started to refresh back what I’ve missed in the past few years… I devoted so many hours into my jobs, until my loved ones and friends starting to brag about it!
You’re right, we should find the balance point in between work and life. As we aren’t born for working only, isn’t it?
wilhb81′s last blog post..The Useful Business Tips 33: 5 Simple Tips That Can Help You Enhance More Sales
Hi Cath. Funny you should ask. I’ve been living on four hours of sleep a night for the past week. A couple of large proofreading projects landed. I’m very happy to be earning some income, but it was definitely a week spent out of balance.
I’ve learned to accept that this is how it is when you operate your own business — it never rains, but it pours. Thankfully things have calmed down and I spent a lovely sunny afternoon relaxing in the sun with a good book today. And… I’m blogging again! Yayyy.
Davina’s last blog post..The Quote Effect: Naughty, Nice & Niche Bloggers
Hi Jim – I can imagine hard work in Costa Rica feeling a whole heap more relaxing than the same hard work in the UK.
LMAO Wilson – I’m guessing you mean nag, not brag.
Hi Davina – I bet you’re exhausted. But it’s brilliant that you’ve had some big jobs.
Hi Cath,
This has been a constant struggle for me – balancing it all. There’s so much I want to do – but what do I take away from to make it happen – and do I want to do that? It’s good stuff for me to think about…and you’re helping me do that again. That’s good…
Lance’s last blog post..Money Does Grow On Trees
Finding balance is probably the HARDEST aspect of working for yourself.
As a business owner, there are a lot of “forces” pushing us.
First and foremost, the self employed already push themselves – striving for more…. but add to that the media which holding up the “I only sleep 4 hours in pursuit of all the cash I can rake in” as some sort of Holy Grail. (Mike Cramer of Mad Money in the US says sleeping more than 4 hours is “a waste of time”.) It’s almost a bragging point for some people.
Then, we’ve got our own “distorted” perceptions. We see big blogs – like Techcrunch and tend to forget that they have a STAFF of 10 blogging…. (at least I know I did in the beginning). It’s the old “judging other people’s outsides to our insides” syndrome.
I’ve been dancing on the ball while juggling work/home/marriage for over a decade now – and the only thing I can say is you have to figure out what your PRIORITIES are and remind yourself of it constantly.
Defining the difference between what is URGENT and what is IMPORTANT is the key!
Kathy | Virtual Impax’s last blog post..Trust: Essential Element in Word Of Mouth Marketing
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