Ah the elusive work/life balance. Does anyone actually have it? And when work is actually such a big part of your life, the phrase actually confuses me a little. Shouldn't we just be looking for balance, period? Oh how I like to get philosophical in these posts! But truth be told the mantra work life balance has been drummed into us to the extent I feel a lot of us are more stressed trying to establish it than if we just got on with our lives. We're expected to have great careers, fabulous love lives, clever children that we spend ample time with, a great circle of friends that we see regularly, and time for hobbies. Hmm. No wonder I drink. Just typing all that has left me worn out and realizing how inadequate I must be!
The key to balance is finding your own. Listening to the endless noise that surrounds the concept will only make you feel like you're failing. I know from watching our hundreds of Century 21 franchisees that you need to set your own rules as far as how to best manage your time that everyone is different. You need to determine your own terms of success and failure and not worry about traditional views and expectations. That's the best way to achieve the type of balance you're looking for, and it's the best way to avoid guilt. Find balance on your own terms.
Like running a successful business, to gain balance, you need to figure out what your priorities are, and actually treat them according to rank. How often do you push your family or friends down the ranking ladder because you think they'll understand? That's not how you get balance! That's how you get old and lonely. Sometimes you can't actually keep all the balls you're trying to juggle in the air, so take control and you decide which one you allow to drop.
Finding balance is about knowing what matters most to you, and making sure that's where your priorities lie. So many of us spend more time than we should on things that just don't really matter at the end of the day – whether it's physical or mental time. I'm not in any way saying the success of your business should become a secondary consideration. You don't make a success of yourself without time and effort, but if you're not in it for love, then as the lovely Ms Shania Twain once sang to me through the speakers of my car, I'm outta here.