There are few things more exciting and satisfying than starting your own company. For many people, the joy of creating something and building it from the ground up is both indescribable and unparalleled. But that joy can quickly turn to dread, anxiety, and depression if you allow yourself to become burned out…and trust us, the risk of burning out when you start a company is incredibly high.
The best way to combat the burnout that is inherent in the business startup process is to truly commit yourself to achieving a healthy work-life balance.
[1] If you fail to pay reasonable and significant attention to both your work endeavors and your life outside of work, something important is going to suffer as a result. If neglect your life outside of work, your relationships and your health could suffer. If you neglect your business, your startup venture will suffer. It is essential for any and all business owners to work towards a healthy balance between their work lives and their regular lives, and below we have detailed four useful tips to help you do just that.
Don’t become shackled to a traditional work schedule
You may think that, in order to achieve a healthy work life balance, you should try to stick to a standard 9-5 schedule and focus on not working outside of designated hours. However, this can actually do more harm than good. One of the biggest benefits of starting your own company is having the flexibility to work the schedule that best suits your needs. Trying to adhere to a traditional 9-5 schedule will only make you feel more constrained and pressed for time. Plus, if you are truly committed to turning your startup into a successful business, you will almost never be able to limit yourself to your goal of only working between 9-5, which only invokes frustration at your failure and, you guessed it, lack of work-life balance. Instead, get creative and work when the timing best suits your lifestyle. Need to run some errands? Don’t be afraid to do so during the day and make up for the missed work time in the evening. Schedule the aspects of your life that need attention and conduct work around them.
Avoid decision fatigue
It is clinically proven that the more decisions our brains are forced to make in a short period of time, the worse we become at making them. As the founder of a startup company you are going to have endless decisions to make, ranging from the unimportant to the monumental and everything in between. And quite simply, your brain can only handle so much. When we become overwhelmed by the number of decisions in front of us that require our input, people can become paralyzed and more apt to make irrational and potentially detrimental decisions. So what can you do about it? Firstly, recognize that your brain does not distinguish between workplace decisions and life decisions. Combat decision fatigue at work and at home. Next, limit the number of decisions you have to make, particularly unimportant ones. Delegate as much as you can. Wear the same thing to work every day so you aren’t faced with the decision of what to wear every morning. Pack your lunch the night before so the decision regarding what to eat is already made the next day. Simple changes like these can go a long way towards minimizing the detrimental effects of decision fatigue.[2]
Be selfish
It’s your life. Your business is important, but creating a startup should be about working to live rather than living to work. Take control and do the things you want to do in your life. Travel. Go to sporting events and concerts. Take a class and learn something new just to fulfill your personal intellectual curiosity. Too often, when we start a company we become slaves to the needs and goals of others. Don’t be afraid to do things that are just for you.
Prioritize
There will never be enough hours in the day. If you do not learn to prioritize the most important work and the most important aspects of your day to day life ahead of other tasks, you will never be able to achieve an effective work-life balance. Decide what is most important to you, both at work and at home, and learn to say “No” to the things that fall lower on the priority list and may prevent you from fulfilling your top priorities.
If you are interested in starting a company, the law office of Muir & Associates is here to guide you every step of the way with corporate formation services, general counsel services, and many more services to suit all of your budding company’s legal needs. Give us a call today to learn more about how we can help.
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