Rev Up Your Work-Life Balance! Get Yourself & Your Business Ready for Summer.
For small businesses, the summer months can be the busiest and most profitable. As demand during the peak summer season increases, you probably find yourself struggling to find a good balance between managing your business and making time to enjoy summer nights with your friends and family. While being a small business owner often can entail working upwards of 50 hours a week, your dedication to your business warrants a few June weekends to yourself.
As the summer days get longer, it’s important to find ways to manage your workday so that your days don’t just get longer. Here are some ways to strike a healthy work-life balance during the summer:
Organization
One of the simplest ways to free up time to enjoy the summer is to be organized. While it may seem obvious, some business owners find themselves struggling to manage their workload as peak season demands increase. In order to maintain a smooth operation and maximize your time, it’s important to routinely update your calendar, schedule every meeting, and keep your paperwork orderly. Even if an unexpected meeting or inventory issue arises that demands your immediate attention, creating a detailed day-to-day can help you remain on track and get you out of the office on time; so you can enjoy the summer weather!
Time Management
Although organization is integral to time management, delegating responsibilities is also key to successfully managing a healthy work-life balance. Surprisingly, administrative tasks like answering calls and emails often takes up a large portion of a small business owner’s day. Because you wear multiple hats as a small business owner, it’s important to set aside time for these administrative duties in order for you to focus on other aspects of your business. Allot an hour for messages and emails in the afternoon rather than throughout the day and you will find yourself saving time that can be better allocated elsewhere. If you find that you need someone managing those communications throughout the day, hiring a seasonal employee can be another way to help your business get through the intensity of the peak summer season so that you can take a much needed break!
Planning & Preparation
Preparing in advance for the highs or lows of the summer months can help you strike a better work-life balance when the summer season finally approaches. By reviewing your business’s past performances, you can plan ahead and devise strategies for a smoother and more profitable season – and one that frees up some personal time for you! Forecasting your business’s expected performance and drafting a business plan that accounts for past trends can help your small business transition from the off-season to the peak season, or better prepare you for a summer lull. Accounting for possible contingencies like an especially slow season or an unexpected surge in business can ultimately help you strike a healthier work-life balance because you will be better prepared for whatever the summer season holds for your small business.
Clock-out
Clocking out, both physically and mentally, is important for not only enjoying the summer months but remaining positive, stress-free, and focused at work. As a small business owner, you’re probably inundated with new responsibilities daily. While managing a business guarantees a certain degree of stress, it’s important to take measures to alleviate this workplace stress so that you remain dedicated, passionate, and focused on your small business and its mission. Creating a space away from your business is important because reclaiming your weekends or giving yourself at least a portion of the day off allows you to recharge, reconnect with loved ones and friends, and remember why you work as hard as you do. If you need to check your email on a Saturday, do it once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at night. Following your passion to become a small business owner shouldn’t come at the cost of your personal life; instead, your experiences as an entrepreneur should add new color to your life and help you grow as an individual.
Sometimes being a small business owner does, however, demand personal sacrifices. A growing business necessitates your time and dedication but it is important to find ways to manage a healthier work-life balance in order to destress and remain motivated. As June welcomes longer and brighter summer days, see if any of these tips help you strike a better work-life balance!