Careers and ambitions are the recipe for the perfect entrepreneur. And as potential world changers, it is forever being drilled into our minds that the only way towards these successful futures we desire is dedication, work ethic and determination. But although entrepreneurs are a different breed of person, you could argue, we are still a person and our spiritual development and wellbeing are just as important to our daily lives as that of a stay-at-home-mother.

Although focus reaps results even if we neglect the reason as to why we’re focusing on what we are, it can lead to stress if we don’t, and stress reduces our productivity severely. Yet time and time again we hear of people, who push themselves so much towards the future that they in turn push themselves away from the people that shaped their present.

Sound familiar? Then read on! There are twenty four hours in a day. That’s plenty of time to enjoy both styles of life, to keep your family, your friends, you wife close. But to also keep your work at the highest levels in terms of quality and quantity. So here are my top tips for shaping the perfect work-life balance.

1) Stop Multi-Tasking…

My Dad once told me that you get what you put into life. Whether that’s time, money and energy into a relationship or time, money and energy into a task or goal at hand. Ever since I heard these words, I’ve absorbed them. Lived my life by them. And actually it’s an interesting concept that the best of us make our own luck. So the easy solution here is simply to give your all, your everything to one thing at a time.

If you’re at a party, with family, or even just eating dinner with your wife treat that time as you would treat your work time; as valuable and something to make the most of. It’s important to share the things that matter to us. But simply talking about the work you have to do later or being preoccupied with a deadline won’t make that work or deadline go away. It’ll just reduce the relationships you have.

So hang up on business calls when you’re away from the office or your desk. Don’t let yourself even check e-mails. Focus only on giving your attention to the person your with right now. Similarly, if you’re at work, focus only on work. The office or your study area is the place where you should leave all of your other concerns behind you. Don’t answer call from home. Don’t think about what’s for tea or what you’re doing at the weekend. Have time only for the work your doing. If you can manage to put your all into both sides of life, then neither will be compromised by the other.

2) Work for the Right Reasons…

Prioritizing is extremely important for the self-developer because it ensures that we are putting our efforts into the right things. But to prioritize a life, we must know exactly what we want out of life.  What dreams do you have? What’s your goal? Who are you working to become? What life do you aim for?

It’s all very well questioning these things, but what’s more important is aligning what we do with what we dream of. If you’re working for a better family life, you shouldn’t be neglecting your family to improve this.  If you’re working to become a writer, you shouldn’t be compromising any spare time you have to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Work for the right reasons, and ensure that your work aligns up with what’s needed to be done to fulfil your life purpose. You’re much more likely to succeed in achieving your vision if you’re focusing on doing the best you can in one area so do only what’s necessary but do it well.

3) Figure Out Where You Waste Time…

As self-developers time is our greatest currency, but also our greatest excuse. I’m asking you to consider it no longer as a scapegoat for your stress. Be honest with yourself. What could you eliminate from your day, which isn’t necessary to your day?

These eliminations could be things that consume a lot of time out of your day (multiple hours) or things that consume just a half an hour of your day. But every minute counts and every minute add up overtime. So be economical and learn to identify and control areas for improvement.

Three good examples of wasted time are:

1) Lie-ins 2) Social networking 3) Wasteful Television

Chances are that these things won’t help you achieve your life purpose, but they are great starting points for breeding time as they can also be easily sacrificed.

4) Turn Off Your Mobile Phone…

Despite popular belief; you do not need your mobile phone. Nobody does. And for quite a few years before my time (maybe even before yours) people had never even heard of a mobile phone and had to arrange meetings – gasp! – face to face.

This is the problem with our society. Firstly, we think that texting is as quality as a conversation. Secondly, we allow our phones to get in the way of our work.

Both of these compromise our working and social lives because there is nothing like a face to face conversation and we carry around with us devices designed to distract us! So how can we control this?

If you can’t be without your phone for one day, give yourself five minutes at the end of the day to answer any non-business calls. This will ensure that things like instagram, twitter and texts don’t replace vital time that could be spent on the tasks you are facing.

Equally, we can switch off our phones when we’re in social situations. Or make more of an effort to spend time that is elsewhere spent texting, actually going to visit the person. It’s respectful and will add quality to the social times we have.

5) Be Flexible…

There will always be times when life gets in the way of our plans. Part of being an entrepreneur (and not a business man/woman) is seizing the opportunities we face. So again, try striking a balance between organisation and saying “no” and being creative in our approach.

A good way to do this is arranging specific genres of tasks to days or even just listing tasks that must be completed by the end of the week. That way, if someone jumps in with a task that aligns with your priorities it won’t throw you off course. But always be willing to say no if a task doesn’t align with these priorities. We can’t be everywhere at once, pleasing everyone. It’s far more important to do the jobs we need to do well rather than doing every job available at the time. 

The way I prioritize is by triangulating my goals. I select the most important three for the time being e.g. friends, writing, education and then replace one of these focuses at a later date e.g. when exams are over, replacing education with a job. This might not be a task that works for you, but that’s what developing a balance is all about; finding out what does!

6) Enjoy Time Alone…

When we’re not working, or socialising it’s important that we take time out of our busy schedule to do the things we like and take care of ourselves. Whether you’ve an hour a week spare, or a full day. Ensure your taking time out to do the things that make you the person you are and add richness to your life. This will make you far more prepared to get to work again. A good way of taking time away, is taking a vacation.

You may be reluctant to set aside time that doesn’t fuel your usual work ethic. But a holiday can really help to realign our vision and bring worth to the people and goals that we have. Taking care of ourselves is also important. Our bodies are like machines. And if we are to, as my Dad says, get the most out of life. Then we must ensure we’re putting into our bodies, the right things. From food, to sleep, the best cars run on the right fuel. 

7) Have the Right Mind-Set…

It’s all very well keeping to time strategies, but nobody wants to do work that they don’t believe has a point and nobody wants to be around someone who’s so negative all the time.

The key to the perfect mindset, inside and outside the office, is positivity, organisation and insight. So ensure your using positive verbal and non-verbal language as you go around the tasks at hand. And keep all things in order to ensure that you are keeping stress levels down and are consistently reflecting on your progresses.

If you’re struggling to juggle the demands of your life, it’s these small changes that will pull you through. We’ve all been there. I’ve been there. Joe’s been there. Your parents have been there. Bill Gates has probably been there.

Wasting time or sticking to the wrong priorities is hard habit to notice, but not a hard habit to break if you’re willing to make cutbacks and focus on what you can control. Your biggest aim is not to be a social butterfly. It’s not even to achieve your goals or become the best in your field. Your aim is to enjoy the life you lead. And for the life you lead to reflect the places you want to go.

Wrote by Aimee Hall