Healthy Worklife Balance
It's Simple, If You Don't Think About it
When I started my career and began hustling and working simultaneously, I worked around the clock.
It drove everyone nuts, they would ask what I was doing, and the answer nine times out of 10 was "work."
As time went on, I focused on how to remove myself from the process and failed a ton, but I managed to get it down from 9 to 7-8 times out of 10; the answer was "work."
As the years went on, I found different ways to go about perceived "balance."
I realized that the way I earned income and my general life structure didn't fit anyone else's, so I tried out new things.
I started taking months off at a time, focusing on offset income risks and looking to take advantage of my freedoms while providing as much value as possible.
These days, I focus mostly on trading my knowledge rather than my time, I work a ton, and some months I put every waking moment into it, whereas other months, I take time for myself and family.
I managed to have a happy big family and take many vacations a year, but it took years of grinding and finding my own version of balance.
Remember, your life as an entrepreneur isn't going to look like your peers in most cases. You need to find what works for you, your partner, and your family while also doing everything to keep progressing professionally and as an entrperenuer.
Do you know our life is not looking for good? https://bit.ly/3KfWRs8
Teach me, sensei.
I can take weeks off (checking email once a day in the morning, there's usually nothing more often than not), but not months.
And it's not necessarily that my business itself is collapsing per se, it's just the guilt of not working for so long that starts to eat at me.
It could be a few different reasons; I feel like that from time to time when I am taking time off.
Overall, I have had just as many wins from taking time off to refresh as I have from being embedded in my business.
I will say it always comes back to what you're selling. When you're selling products, the need to be in the fold is constant. You always feel like there is work to be done; it's one of the traps of product-based businesses.
However, this can be remedied with the right partner or help.
Just have a VA or COO in the business while you're gone that sends you updates a couple of times a week. I have several partners with whom I feel comfortable leaving the responsibilities, which is what makes it easier for me.
wow thats simple!
Definitely our life is not looking like our peers with full time jobs. I usually do other stuff during the day and work nights and weekends.
Wake up at 11-12, take a nap at 18:00, work between 22:00 and 05:00.
I use Kanban Flow to keep track of things to do. In the morning I put there as many things I think I can accomplish. I go to sleep when they are done.
Yeah, I usually make a list of 6 things to do at the end of every day, wake up, and focus on those 6 things.
I figure that is the best way so that there is appropriate focus time for each.
I use to have massive systems for keeping track but over time I realized the reality of completing more than 6 quality objectives in a day is very low, so now I just cut the noise and stay focused.
Tasks have different time in which to be completed. Maybe some of them are easy like sending an email to someone, while others can take few hours. So, maybe in some days, there is only one task. Other days, there can be dozens.
Completely agree, when I first started the process of deciding on my six, I would break down those tasks that took a few hours into multiple tasks.
If anything takes longer than an hour, I try to break it down.
"Create new API Schema"
haha, can of worms simplified by a list.
I used to think about work 24/7 when I was an IH. When I worked at a company it was very easy for me to switch off once I left the office. That's why I like working at co-working spaces. When I'm at the co-working space I work, when I'm at home I chill out, mostly.
See I was the opposite, it was easy for me to walk away from my own ventures but when I was working for someone else I worked as if it was my own company endlessly to create value.
Over time, of course, I realized that spending 24/7 on anything is counterproductive, so I learned how to just focus on the key objectives that mattered rather than wasting time staring at a screen.
It's so easy to turn work into an endless habit, the goal is to counteract that!
Congrats man! I hope to get to that level someday. I’m finally now just starting to hit my MRR goals, but am a long ways from having the ability to take months off at a time.
Any tips on achieving the work life balance, without sacrificing growth?
@shanefromfargo my biggest advice is just understanding that it's not the amount of time but rather the repetition that creates growth.
If you're in a place where your growth is 100% reliant on you, then take a step back and start planning out what components need to be put in place in order to help you take your time back.
Most founders get consumed by their growth and business, it's always best to invest in yourself and take the time to step outside the box.
When you take time off - it doesn't have to mean going off the grid but you should be able to manage the functions of your business at a distance in just a few hours a day, if you're spending more than 4 hours turning your wheels, it's more likely that the time you're spending on the business is counterproductive, just walk away.
That's how I train my teams as well, I let them know I expect 20 hours of actual work a week, if they are spending 40 hours accomplishing the goals of the week, they are working too hard, split too thin, and it won't be productive in the long run.
So I have them step back, cut the noise out, and focus on doing what they do best and I subscribe to the same mentality.
Thanks for taking the time to write all this up.
Right now I feel blocked because we need a few senior people on board to manage everything. Unfortunately, with todays labor market it only takes a few employees to chew through an entire 7 figure ARR. I’m hoping with continued growth that we will eventually have the income streams to support the full team that is needed.
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