When is the last time you got seven or eight hours of sleep? Do you work too many hours?
Work-life balance is a problem among entrepreneurs and the results have consequences.
According to a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of service professionals put in 50+ hours a week. And while some people claim long hours are necessary, study after study shows that when we lose work life balance, everyone suffers the consequences.
When is the last time you only put in 50 hours a week?
Burning the candle at both ends lead to problems. MacKay points out,
Once we pass a certain threshold of working hours, our sleep starts to become impaired; we’re more likely to feel depressed and stressed; and can even have a harder time communicating, collaborating, and getting things done.
Fewer people know more about the consequences of work-life balance than mothers. This weekend, we celebrate mothers in the US.
We can learn something from mothers about finding work-life balance, so I decided to see what three use to help.
I received feedback from Amélie Walker-Yung, Roxanne Merket, and Elsie Fantino, all three who are in the MainWP Users Facebook Group. They were nice enough to tell me the tools they used to keep a work-life balance.
Amélie Walker-Yung
Glo
“I use Glo (until recently known as Yoga Glo) for yoga/pilates/meditation at home, online or via Roku. You can do 10 mins to an hour+ which is great for moms with no time to even do a normal
class length at home much less get to a class elsewhere. Can do a quick workout while waiting for updates to run or for the pasta water to boil.”
Calendly
“I use Calendly for scheduling client calls. It syncs with my business and personal calendars to show availability. My clients love it, too. No time for that back and forth thing to schedule!”
Amélie Walker-Yung, Castle Builder
Roxanne Merket
“Work-life balance is no joke! I live off my Google Calendar. Seriously – if it’s not on my calendar it doesn’t exist.
“I use Calendly for scheduling and Dubsado for workflows. I manage several sites, so MainWP is a definite must in my world.
“Let’s see… I’m an Asana convert as of late, and that’s been marvelous.
“And then there’s the whole ‘balance’ side of things (which is a different topic for a different day)… Apple Music, 10% happier, and Audible provide some semblance of balance to an otherwise chaotic life.”
Roxanne Merket, Merket Creative
Elsie Fantino
“I use Namatata for meditation.
“I use Google Calendar to share with my husband and my daughter.
“We use Trello as a shared project manager and Google Drive to share docs and photos.
I use Signal for instant messages and Messenger for live discussions.
“Finally, I’ve linked Google Drive and Google Calendar with Trello.”
Elsie Fantino, GARD 360
Wrapping it up
Keeping work-balance affects our health and thus, our productivity. We simply can’t keep going and without giving our bodies a rest.
Do you tools similar to the ones that Elsie, Roxanne, and Amélie use? What do you use to keep your work-life balance?
