Are you looking for ways to get your calm back? Here are nine ways and tips to improve your work-life balance for entrepreneurs.

1. Do not let your life get ahead of your vision.

My biggest goal for my clients is to help them get clarity in their life. I frequently ask them, “What is important to you?” This is such an easy (yet difficult) question. 

It is hard to get a good handle on things when it feels like life is moving at a speed of 500 mph. This high velocity of change makes it hard to tell what is most important or urgent. 

With all these competing priorities, finding balance feels downright impossible. It is okay to be honest about that. We live in a society that wants to pretend that everyone should be okay regardless of circumstance.

What is even relevant today?

With social media and our fast 48 hour news cycle it may seem that certain ideas are outdated and stale within nanoseconds. We may not even know what is relevant to our ideal customer giving the constant input of new information.

That is why it is so important to take the time to start writing down your goals so you do not get easily swayed from one thing onto another.

2. Make sure your goals align with your priorities And Improve Work-Life Balance

You may be thinking, wait? I thought we are talking about work/life balance, why are we talking about priorities. Priorities are important so we can create goals that align with our values. We want to make sure that our goals matter to us and us alone.

Do not let anyone sway you from what matters most in your life.

We all know that you need to make a profit in order to stay in business. Everyone talks about feeling successful, but what good is making money in your business if you do not feel happy?

That is why it is so important to think about the things that will take you closer to feeling fulfilled and happy. After you think about it, consolidate your thoughts onto your physical or electronic journal.

As you write down your goals, make sure they align with your HEART.

Never lose sight that you have to stay in love with your business. Love doesn’t mean feeling happy about it 24/7, but it does mean that despite the setbacks and failures you would never dream to abandon it.

3. Make sure your goals are SMART with a dash of Love.

You may have heard of making your goals SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) but I also want you to not forget the heart component of business.

Remember, no one wants to buy a product or service that is not filled with love or passion. That love for helping others will also spill into the quality of your product or service.

Question: Are you in love in with your business or just staying in it for the money?

I am not saying we should not worry about money. Hitting a sales target or achieving a certain revenue is important. Those things are important in business, but there are other priorities. Other business priorities could include positively impacting your local community or helping a cause that matters most to you.

I have one client that is passionate about helping abandoned dogs. Another client uses her clothing to help improve the self esteem of women in battered shelters. They both want to make money but they never lose sight on what matters most. 

4. Create a Vision of Success And Improve Work-Life Balance

Ask yourself, “Are my goals aligned with my grand vision of fulfillment?” If no, you may need to revise those goals. What is the point of making millions of dollars in a business only to feel exhausted, tired and spent?

Do not just look at your targets, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are these goals helping to reach my overall business vision?
2. As of now, is this business leaving a legacy I would be proud of?
3. Am I constantly thinking of new and exciting ways to help improve the life of my customer or client? If no, what happened?
4. Does this business give me joy (most of the time)?
5. Is my business helping improve my local community or target customer for the long term?

After you start thinking about these types of questions, start looking at your goals and retool, refine or if necessarily, remove them. There is no point in building a brand that has no element of passion, joy or love.

5. Stop being busy for the sake of being busy.

Yes, I know that it feels tempting to fill in the gaps during the day. Your website could use an update. Yes, you want to attend a popular networking event. But before you make a move, ask yourself this one question:

“Does this (action, behavior) fit into my short term business plan?”

Make sure every decision you make is a strategic decision that will help advance your business right now, or within the next six months.

Yes, we need to plan for the future. More importantly, we need to manage the resources we have right now. The best tips to improve work-life balance for entrepreneurs is to make the best use of what you have and then you will be able to scale up your resources for your bigger plan or vision.

If you haven’t done so already, create short term and long term plans for your business.

6. Evaluate the short and long term impacts of your decisions

“I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but not everything is constructive.1 Corinthians 10:23

We all want to make decisions in the way that best suits us. When you choose to make a decision for your business, make sure that all of your decisions are beneficial and constructive.

Make your decisions align with your own values and ethics.

For example, you may be able to sell more products if you purposely omit a detail that may turn off potential clients. Is that a decision you can deal with if some clients find out later and are upset with you?

7. Set expectations others of what you can and cannot do.

Make sure that you tell your clients, family and friends how much time you can budget with them for an activity or project. And stick with it! Do not tell them you can only spend one hour when they know they can cajole you into working for more than four hours.

8. Schedule time for rest and relaxation And Improve Work-Life Balance

You cannot be a success at your business if you do not schedule these moments. I want you to embrace the things that keep you whole and happy. All of my guests on my show talk about the importance of balance. Because of burnout, they learned this lesson the hard way.

Give yourself permission to permission to relax and disconnect.

9. Master the art of boundaries

There are many, many, ways to reset and recharge. Spend time with your friends. Go see a movie. Carve out time to do the things that makes you feel happy!

If you need to schedule your rest time on your calendar so that you can hold yourself accountable.

And when you rest, do not feel ashamed or embarrassed. Yes, we need to work in order to feel productive. But we also need to rest and relax. There is nothing wrong with helping yourself feel better. When you allow periodic breaks, your mind as well as body can relax.

Once you return you will be able to work at a more optimal level.

Are you scheduling time to rest? What is your relaxation plan? If you haven’t created a relaxation plan, now is a great time to start!

Do you have any questions or comments about the best tips to improve work-life balance for entrepreneurs? Write them down in the comment section below and let’s start talking!

Closing Thoughts 

Growing a business is not easy. If you need more support creating a work/life balance, consider working with me today!

Need more help getting a good work-life balance? Click here to listen to my podcast episode or press the play button below.