As a small business owner, it’s hard to separate you from your business. Not surprisingly, some of the best ways to get more personal time combine or leverage things you are already doing for your business.
Carol’s latest post on the Nextiva blog, “5 Ways to Run a Successful Small Business While Retaining Some of Your Personal Life,” includes some suggestions you might not have thought of. She begins:
“When you operate a small business, you look for creative ways to provide your employees with a work-life balance to offset the many sacrifices that they often make. This is how you reward them, while trying to stop them from fleeing to larger employers that probably offer less daily pressure.
But, are you doing the same thing for yourself? The head honcho certainly has a greater incentive to work around the clock, but this stops being effective when exhaustion and poor health become the inevitable result. Granted, Tony Stark (a.k.a., Iron Man) probably only takes time for himself when he needs medical attention, but you are not a superhero.
With the right system in place, you can refresh and restore yourself without damaging your business. Here are five ways to scratch out time for yourself and your family, while keeping your company strong.
#1. A great second-in-command can lighten the load
In the early days of your business, micromanaging was probably a virtual necessity, but your business is stronger now. At some point, you have to be able trust others to do their jobs well and make decisions on their own.
You need to groom at least one person to handle emergency situations as well as you do. Empowering someone that you can trust as a second-in-command can provide you with a day off or even a much-needed family vacation.
#2. Working from home works for the top boss, too
Just as some of your employees work effectively from home, you can do the same thing. As long as your job does not require physical contact with your employees (which would probably create HR issues, anyway), a single tool can provide access to data and face-to-face meetings. Your employees will think you’re right there with them while you let the cable guy in for a service call — or comfort your child during the flu.”
You can read the rest of the post here.
