Published on 15 April 2015. Updated on 8 December 2025.
In today’s hectic lifestyle, all of us face days with packed schedules from morning to evening. If you’re a business owner, then chances are that you’re also working nights or early mornings on bookkeeping, invoicing or quotes. Time seems to disappear and the weeks blur into months. If you’ve got family, or other commitments, then time is even more precious and limited. So often, especially for women, we tend to put ourselves last. Invariably, we fall into bed exhausted, but with a list of ‘things to do’ rolling around our heads. So, here are some practical tips for work-life balance; it might not be quite perfect, but an awful lot better. 😊
Learn Work-Life Balance
1. Take a break – even if it’s a short one
This is one important thing that we always overlook in the maddening rush to take a break. This does not necessarily need to be a long one, even if you find 10 minutes every couple of hours in your day to listen to music, go for a walk or simply sit down on the floor and stretch. You might lose say a half hour each day, but I can promise you that your productivity will absolutely increase and that time won’t be ‘lost’ at all.
2. Set boundaries
Often in business, you get requests for things, like “can I call you tonight?” or “can we do a 7am appointment?”, and what is really important here is to set boundaries that you are not ‘on call’ 24 /7. This might mean being clear about the work hours up front as part of your client onboarding, or simply saying, sorry, I’m not available then, but I can do xxxx. If a client texts you at say 8pm at night, don’t respond. If you respond, you’re saying “it’s ok, I’m here and happy to text with you after office hours”. If a client rings multiple times at night, you might text and say “I’ll get back to you in the morning, or is it super urgent?” It’s not only about training yourself, but also training your customers and clients. You might have a standard message text response “Sorry I missed your call; our business hours are 8am to 5pm; I’ll get back to you during those times”. Even with prospective clients I might respond, but I’ll say “I’ll email you some pricing in the morning”.
3. Stop being on your phone/laptop
We are seriously glued to our phones; people even walking across the road have their nose to a phone; it’s a wonder more accidents don’t happen. Part of setting boundaries is turning off your phone or being disciplined enough to not answer it unless it’s a family member or friend. If you’re replying to emails at night, then don’t be surprised if someone sees the response come in and thinks, oh you’re working, I’ll call you now. But really, don’t spend all night catching up on emails; limit the time and hit them when you’re fresh.
4. Say no to things that don’t match your goals or objectives
Obviously not talking to telemarketers, or even the requests on LinkedIn for a quick 10-minute chat for that person to sell to you. Value your time and decline – you can do it politely, but quickly. I often will just say “No, thanks”. If someone wants something from you, and you don’t really want to do it, say no.
5. Delegate certain tasks
Some tasks either we hate, we are not good at, or are not good use of our time. You might have no bookkeeping skills and struggle with this, so delegate that to a contract bookkeeper (there are heaps out there). Perhaps you hate cleaning; again, lots of great cleaners out there, or perhaps IT is just beyond your skill level. Rather than struggling with a problem, get your IT person to ‘dial in’ and sort the problem for you. Yes, you pay for their time – but it will mean you are happier and often free to do what you are good at, or which will most help your business grow and be successful.
6. Book mini breaks or holidays
Too often business owners don’t take holidays for far too long. At first when they are starting out, they feel they can’t afford to take any time off, or simply don’t have the funds set aside to not work. Then later, work is so busy, they feel they can’t escape because of the constant needs of the business. If a larger break isn’t always possible, then take smaller but far more regular breaks. Many business owners are taking Fridays off (or even Wednesdays mid-week) to give them a bit of a break. The trick here is to schedule your breaks or holidays well in advance, so they are in the diary, and even better, book it or pay a deposit, so there is no temptation to cancel. This recharge time allows you to return revitalised and refreshed.
7. When on holidays – don’t work (or hugely limit it)
If you’ve got team, then there is no reason they cannot be trained to cover for you for a week or two. However, if you don’t have team, then you might have to work a little whilst away. I highly recommend you limit this time to say an hour a day and do it early/first up and run a timer. Maximum 1 hour, first up before breakfast, will handle any urgent emails or enquiries. If you are a trade business, then partner up with another tradie in your industry that you trust; s/he can cover any urgent jobs whilst you’re away, and likewise, you can do the same.
8. Release negativity
If things are not going well in your business, then get help and turn that around. If you’re simply overthinking things or focussed on the negatives, then there are strategies to change that as well. They can include everything from tapping and hypnotherapy, through to listening to audiobooks or reading books about changing your mindset.
9. Healthy lifestyle
Part of all wellness is not only keeping the mind happy, getting breaks and not overworking yourself, is also to have a healthy body. This means eating well (nutrition), exercise and movement as well as switching off and getting good quality sleep. Meditation is often popular, or at least going for a walk and listening to some music. Having a dog has so many health benefits as well; not just the good dopamine you get from patting them, but being ‘forced’ to go out and walk every day is great too.
So often we have to focus on our wellness in order to make it happen. This might be a conscious effort to cut back on coffee, or say no to night work, or carve out ‘you’ time so that you get breaks and can wind down and switch off. If you’re running a business, then part of being able to look after yourself is ensuring the business is running well, and that’s where I come in. As an experienced business coach, I help business owners in every aspect of their business, whether it’s sales and marketing, ensuring operations run smoothly or getting the money side of your business on track. When your business is healthy, it’s much easier for you to be happy and healthy and get back to that perfect wellness that we all want at a level in our lives. If you’d like to talk to me about Business Coaching, Life Coaching or Leadership Mentoring, reach out to me at either donna@donna-stone.com.au or click on the CONTACT LINK HERE. My passion is your potential!
