Most of us that work online love what we do. Which is great, because passion for your work will rock your career. However, because of that, it’s easy to end up with no work-life balance. The tendency to work most of the day, 7 days a week becomes uncontrollable. It’s easy to get consumed by anything if you love doing it. I’ll admit — I’m a bit of a workaholic, and because of that I’ve burnt myself out many times.
Having an undefined work schedule is actually counter-productive. It fosters neglect. It will eventually put a serious strain on your relationships with family and friends, as well as other areas of your life: your health, mental state, and finances.
Get Your Priorities in Line
When it comes down to it, work shouldn’t be at the top of your “priorities in life” list. Work should always take a backseat to family, friends and fun.
After all, laughter is incredibly good for your health:
- A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
- Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
- The body’s natural feel-good chemicals are triggered by laughter. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
- Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
Happiness: 5,497,525 People Are Doing it Right
Denmark is consistently rated the happiest country on Earth, and yet they work 354 fewer hours per year than the U.S, in particular. They are not consumed by work, and they are much happier.
“All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy”
The sentiment expressed by that proverb was first recorded thousands of years ago by the Egyptian sage Ptahhotep, circa 2400 B.C.
Write it Down, Or Print it Out
I chose a working schedule, and I do my darnedest to stick to that schedule. Occasionally bigger projects require me to work on evenings and some weekends, but these occasions are kept to a bare minimum. I do some work-related strategic thinking/planning outside of work hours, but I do it on paper, as opposed to on the computer, else I get distracted and sucked into working.
I basically work 9-5:30, Monday through Friday, with small 15 breaks throughout (thanks to my egg timer), and a 30-minute lunch break.
My workday always starts the same:
- Check to-do list
- Check calendar
- Check the uptime of my sites
- Check my analytics
- Check sales/conversions
All of that takes twenty minutes — max.
The online business model that I have finally settled into provides very little surprises, so I have been able to develop a daily routine that leaves me knowing almost exactly what to expect on a daily basis. I thrive on routine — in my workplace, and especially at home. I have three kids, and we all would go insane if not for our daily routines and schedules.
If you work for yourself and you find that there is no defined beginning or end to each workday, I highly suggest you try a fixed work schedule, at least for a couple of weeks. If you’re like me, you’ll probably find that a lot of what you do during the work day isn’t really critical, and that wasted time ends up killing any chance you have for having actual leisure time.
So fix your schedule, and get your life balanced.
Comments are always welcome. What do you think?