As entrepreneurs we constantly find themselves handling a growing number of ‘important’ issues that never seem to stop. It is very easy to forget that others can handle things and that if you actually go home the world will continue to spin.
The business is YOURS, only you care enough about it to do everything right, right? Wrong. There’s nothing wrong with caring, working hard and wanting to be the best you can be…until that obsession impacts your higher calling…time with family, your friends, your mental well being and your health. There are others who can help get things done.
To be the best, you need to be at your best. It is critical to your longevity that you control your time like the irreplaceable commodity that it is.
Kids only grow up once and no, they don’t understand that you have to work and miss all their games, school award ceremonies and can’t take a vacation.
Your health is very difficult to reclaim AFTER the heart attack, or after you’ve put on an extra 100 pounds because of stress eating and hypertension.
And then there is your mental health and your ability to actually focus. Study after study has proven that constant interruptions, poor sleep habits and lack of activity make our cognitive functions deteriorate.
So what to do about it in a world that never stops? You have to force yourself to get off the ride. You have to make to to recover, rejuvenate and actually hear yourself think. Schedule important family dates onto the calendar before the rest of the world can fill in the dates, then when challenges try to compete for the date, hold tough “I’m sorry I have a meeting that day”. Take a vacation and plan your next one while on the current one.
Health concerns? Find a gym or go for a walk. I go for a morning walk with the dog to a local park with outside exercise equipment. I go in the morning, shut off the phone for 45 minutes and work out a couple of times a week. The world keeps right on going, business still gets done and you will only miss two friends posting pictures of their omelettes on facebook.
You can do this. If you disconnect from your family or drop dead at your desk what was the point? Who are you trying to prove something to anyway?
So…what are your tips for staying sharp and in focus and getting family time?
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