How To Balance Work And Personal Time

There are lots of positives when starting your own business. Being an entrepreneur allows seeing your ideas become reality and grow more than you thought possible. One of the biggest challenges on this journey, are the personal sacrifices you have to make for your start-up to succeed. According to a survey we conducted on over 600 South African entrepreneurs, most small business owners found that the biggest sacrifices they had to make were giving up a steady income and spending less time with their families. They also found that they had to downscale their lifestyles, focus less on personal relationships, and deal with a lot of stress. We’ve put together some tips and insights to help you find a healthy balance between work and personal time on your journey to 1001 days.

Be realistic about your finance

In our survey, we found that 55.4% of men and 44.2% of women had to downscale their lifestyles. Remember that you won’t necessarily be getting a salary 12 times a year. Advice from entrepreneurs, who have been in this position, is to realize this from the outset and account for the fact that initially, you may need to live below your means.

Set aside time for family and friends

It’s normal to want to make sacrifices for your business and spend 24-7 working to make your goals a reality, but this will only lead to increased stress, depression, and burnout. Of our survey respondents, 64% said that they had to give up precious time with their family and friends, due to work responsibilities. The biggest skill you need to learn is time management. Plan your week and set aside allocated family or personal time.

Deal with stress

During the first six months of business, entrepreneurs in our survey generally felt a mixture of confidence (13%) and excitement (53%). From six months to a year, extreme stress (22%) kicked in as they faced different challenges, even though their confidence grew (19.5%). To make it to 1001 days, it’s important to counter stress. Here are some practical ways to keep balance.

Hone your skills

Remember that starting your own business is a constant process of learning and growth. Challenge yourself to focus on developing both technical and emotional skills to find a balance between personal happiness and professional success:

• Focus on leadership
• Take responsibility
• Work at your people skills
• Learn how to negotiate
• Work at being tolerant
• Learn to be resilient
• Learn how to relate to different people
• Be empathetic
• Focus on strategic management

For more advice on running your start-up, please visit https://www.thesmallbusinesssite.co.za/