Entrepreneurial Leaders on How They Think About Work-Life Balance
Work life balance is a complicated idea and doesn’t necessarily mean what people think it means. It’s about balancing the relationship between two completely necessary parts of your life: work and your relationship to yourself! It’s all about how you treat yourself, your time and your relationships both at work and outside of work. All of us have different ways we engage with this idea and some things may work better than others depending on someone’s situation. For example, a stressed gym trainer might want to take some time to relax rather than do more exercise. An office worker might need the exact opposite of this to maintain a balance. Let’s hear from some entrepreneurial leaders on how they think about work life balance and how you can implement these ideas in your own life.
Set Boundaries
Work Life balance is often not what people think it is. It doesn’t mean taking equal time for both, that’s not always possible. What it does mean is that there are ways while at work and while at home that you can take steps to alleviate stress and ask for boundaries about what you can do, how much time you can offer, and communication. At work, asking for clear communication and being clear about what you can get done will go a long way for creating trust and understanding between you and your employer.
- Brian Lettieri, CEO Quantm Media
An Ongoing Process
When thinking about work-life balance, at Assembly AI we believe it is an ongoing process rather than a quantified goal. It’s an ongoing commitment to making sure you leave time in your life for all the things that matter to you, not just the necessities like work and chores.
- Dylan Fox, Founder and CEO Assembly AI
Everyone Has a Different Situation
Everyone’s life is completely different. Some of them may be maintaining relationships, friendships or family dynamics outside of work. It’s important to not let these relationships fall on the back burner, as those are the connections that will stay with you no matter what your profession is! Work life is important, but we believe maintaining your relationships is even more important at the Quality Edit.
- Lauren Kleinman, Co-founder The Quality Edit
Take Short Breaks
At Banquist, we encourage our employees to implement small acts of meditation or release from your work day to help break up the activities throughout the day. A brief conversation with a coworker or friend can help rest your energy and mood for the day.
- Seb Evans, Co-Founder Banquist
Differentiate Your Routine
Exercise is important, and at PT Pioneer, we get plenty of exercise from our daily jobs. For us, it’s important that we take time to relax and rest our bodies. Too much vigorous exercise can stress the body and yield the opposite result you’re looking for. Make sure to include plenty of rest in your daily routine and rest your body when it needs to!
- Tyler Hayden Read, Founder and Senior Editor PT Pioneer
Quality Over Quantity
In the tech industry, work life balance is almost nonexistent. Coders are expected to work long hours in front of a screen with little time for anything outside of that. At Hightouch, we feel it’s important to understand the limits of your team and employees because ultimately, the tech world cultivates a toxic attitude around workplace culture. We need to try and value quality over quantity whenever possible and pay attention to the limits your team shows you.
- Kashish Gupta, Founder and CEO Hightouch
Be Honest With Yourself About Your Free Time
Be honest about what you can commit to outside of work. We often think that having a life outside of work means tons of active socializing, but this can be exhausting too. Be real with yourself about what you have time for. Saying no means you have a clear idea of what you can commit to right now. Saying yes when you’re unsure means you won’t be bringing the energy you want to your friends and family.
- Eric Lefkofsky, CEO Tempus
Leisure is Important!
Work-life balance plays directly into our focus here at RexMD: mens health! All the issues we treat such as ED, hair loss and acne have a number of underlying causes and one of those is excess stress. Many men tend to overwork themselves causing early onset of some of these issues. We encourage our patients and employees to include leisure activities in your daily routine to help with stress and overall health.
- Anthony Puopolo, CMO RexMD
Treat Your Body Right
Work life balance is important to keep our mental health thriving as we age. At Avacare Medical, it’s an important topic for us. If our employees are not thriving in their own lives, they will not be able to bring to the table their best and most focused selves. The more we can maintain practices of meditation, good diet, regular exercise and relationships, the more fulfilled we will feel now and for years to come.
- Steven Zeldes, Founder and CEO AvaCare Medical
Seek Help!
If you’re finding that the stress of life is overwhelming, seek help! It’s always ok to reach out, ask for an ear to listen to or reach out to a mental health professional to deal with problems that feel too big to handle. We all have our limits, and when we reach them it’s important to understand that it’s ok to ask for outside help.
- Tim Barry, CEO Village MD
Keep Your Hobbies Alive
Hobbies are extremely important for work life balance, even for those (and maybe especially) with families! Keeping a few activities that are just for you will go miles for keeping your identity intact throughout your busy work days. It’s easy to get wrapped up in life and forget about your favorite activities. Whether that’s reading, watching great movies, trying new makeup or going on walks, make sure you not only include it in your life but prioritize it.
- Courtney Buhler, CEO & Founder LashPro Academy
There you have it, some top entrepreneurs on how they manage their lives and perfect their work-life balance.
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