When you’re the boss, even if your business isn’t very large, your work can seem all-consuming. Work/life balance becomes a distant target in the face of deadlines, marketing your services, trying to keep your blog updated and sorting out your payables from your receivables. Step away from the desk and do these three things to better manage the stress of business ownership, and be more productive and focused while at work.
Exercise
There is just no getting around it. Exercise is one of the most important things we can do for our body and our brain, but too many people back burner this productive tool. Exercise does not always have to be a heavy sweat at the gym. It can be volleyball with your friends, a walk around a park, gardening, cycling – anything that gets the body in motion. The benefits are immediate and long lasting: stress reduction, self-esteem improvement, better cognitive function, better sleep, more energy and an improved outlook, to name a few.
Get social
The temptation to bury yourself behind a desk is strong, but without breaks to spend time with your friends and family, you are heading for a burnout. A Huffington Post article written by Timi Gustafson, R.D. & health counsellor, notes that “Lack of social connections can be as harmful to people’s well-being as suffering from diseases, stress or poverty, and can even reduce life expectancy.” Studies also suggest that isolation can cause the stress hormone cortisol to rise, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Being buried in work should not be an excuse to avoid family dinners, coffee with a friend or networking outside your home with other entrepreneurs. Rather than taking away from your work time, you’ll be increasing your ability to work mindfully.
Eat well
The benefits of eating whole, healthy, unprocessed foods in reasonable portions have been studied, documented and proved over and over for years. However, too many entrepreneurs consider themselves just too busy to prepare proper meals. Hard workers that don’t take the time necessary to eat properly are choosing to impair their cognitive function. Rather than grabbing a candy bar at lunch and skipping breakfast, take the time to prepare meals ahead of time. Pack a lunch made of leftovers from dinner (even if you work from home) and keep quick and easy-to-grab healthy snacks on hand like nuts, mandarin oranges and carrot sticks. If you are on the road, choose healthier fast food options like Subway or Chopped Leaf. The supermarket deli is also a fast and affordable place to grab a roasted chicken leg and salad when you don’t have time to cook.
AF Accounting works with many small and medium sized businesses, so we see, first hand, the busy life of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are truly the backbone of Canada’s industry, innovating, creating and helping to grow the nation. Make sure you take care of yourself! If you are too busy to manage your health, step back and reassess your workload. Can you delegate tasks to your team? Can your family pitch in more on the home front? Work/life balance is tricky, but it’s not impossible.
Help maintain your balance by outsourcing your accounting needs to us. Designed to support small businesses, AF Accounting provides tax planning, year-end management, virtual CFO services and more.
