Mindset Series Part II: Learn how to balance business and personal life
Continuing on with the series, Part I is all bout taking action and eliminating procrastination. If you missed that post, check it out here: 7 Keys To Stop Procrastination and Start Taking Action. Part II is about striking a balance between your business and your personal life. It is a delicate balance fed by a desire to succeed and a willingness to enjoy life.
Part II: Learn how to balance business and personal life
When you are young, you have no trouble balancing multiple activities in your life. As you grow older, responsibilities seem to be multiplied times 10 and you can easily find yourself juggling the available hours in the day between business and your personal life. Outsiders that do not live your life can tell you just to take a step back and to make more time. Asking a life coach to tell you what is wrong with your life is not an option for most people that are already short on time.
How Your Life Becomes Off Balance
The shifting of priorities is one of the fastest routes to throwing your life off balance. Many business owners go through last minute problems that take away the free time to complete other scheduled tasks. This disruption creates a downward spiral effect that begins to take away personal time. Both internal and external issues can affect family time and priorities become displaced. Recognizing the symptoms of becoming off balance can help you to understand what areas of your life need to receive a higher priority.
Prioritize What Matters Most
Making a list of your biggest priorities in your business and personal life will help to expose what areas are taking all of your time and what areas are being neglected. If you work long hours and have little personal time, the problem likely happened gradually and multiple factors could be disrupting your available personal time.
List your biggest business priorities like:
- Increasing Sales
- Following Up After Completed Sales
- Phone or Email Customer Service
- Reconciling Your Bank Account
- Reviewing Current Marketing Methods
- Investing in New Marketing Methods
List your biggest personal priorities like:
- Paying Monthly Bills
- Family Time
- Health
- Children or Spouse Hobbies
- Education Expenses
- Saving for Retirement
- Socializing
Compare Your Priority Lists
A quick comparison of the two prioritized lists shows many areas that are off balance. Putting these two lists side by side shows that following up after completed sales conflicts with available family time. Problems that happen in between each of these priorities is what causes a shortage of time.
It is easy to put work before your family time, but the effects on your personal life will soon grow out of control and disrupt your balance. Each of your lists can be changed according to your needs each day. Learning to shift what matters most ahead of the areas in life that eat up your free time will allow you to move ahead to create balance in your life.
How Your Happiness Contributes to Balance
Many people do things that they do not love in life. Being stuck in a job that you hate only makes your personal life suffer. Personal happiness plays a big role in the natural balance of life. Finding the perfect mixture of business and personal happiness is easier said than done. Achieving more happiness in life is very similar to organizing your priorities. Making a list of things that make you happy will allow you to see where you can focus more of your time to create a balanced life.
Motivators that create more happiness:
- Good Health
- Personal and Family Security
- Positive Reinforcement
- Social Relationships
- Creativity
- Income Generation
- Avoiding Negativity
- Knowing How to Say No
Putting Everything Together to Create Balance
Knowing how to prioritize will build the foundation to balancing your business and personal life. Avoiding conflicts is easy to do when you know how to use your time more wisely. Putting what matters the most first in life and putting what matters the least in last place will help you stay organized and on track. Mixing in the things that you love to do and that create your happiness will help you to grow as a person. Happiness is contagious. A happy today will lead to a happy tomorrow.
Balancing your business and personal life takes a commitment to yourself and understanding of your life. Knowing how to avoid disruptions and maximize your available time will bring you to a more productive and less stressful period. Time management is the glue that holds a balanced life together.
