How to achieve the perfect work-life balance

Many successful entrepreneurs are de-prioritizing achieving a work-life balance in today's work culture of high pressure and competitiveness. According to a recent study of the 1.7 million respondents who agreed they suffer from excessive work hours and job stress, a whopping 64% admitted it was 'self-inflicted' and was taking a toll on their lives. 81% of the respondents said work was adversely affecting their health while 46% felt it was affecting their interpersonal relationships.

There is no rule as such for what a proper work-life balance is. Your personal circumstances, whether you are in your late thirties, married with children and living with in-laws or a swinging single, fresh out of university, determine your priorities. The bottom line is simply to invest some quality time for yourself, to allow yourself the chance to stop and smell the roses rather than letting work and strain overcome you only then you will be able to manage a successful business.

Identify, identify:

A good way to start is, to keep track of everything you do in a week towards meeting your goals. Identify avoidable activities by figuring out how to by-pass them. Next for important chores, try to improve your efficiency. Jotting down daily 'to-do lists' is a great way of managing your day-to-day affairs, rather than leaving things for the fag end, when your productivity level is at its ebb.

Grab some sleep:

Another simple way of improving effectiveness is to get enough sleep. You may feel guilty for sleeping that extra hour, but it may be worse if you don't. Sleep deprivation may result in more mistakes at work and therefore, force you to spend an additional two hours rectifying them.

How to make your people respond

As a business entrepreneur, you cannot do everything yourself, you have you get the full support of those who work with you. And sometimes it is important to look for that something that will change your focus, albeit for a while.

Does this sound like double Dotch to you? If it does then remember that it is the simple and innovative things in management that count in the end. Things like conversation. How often have you had a conversation-no, not work related-with your team members? Try it and see what a difference it can make.

As an entrepreneur you do have a lot at stake as far as deliverables go. But equally it is the people with whom you work that can give you those deliverables. So it would be in your interest not to only focus on the things you have to do, but set your sights on the people you have around you. Get to know them personally. Find out who has what strengths and hone in on them.

Sometimes a little tweak is all it takes to make that magical difference. For example, ask yourself how often you have had a conversation with your colleagues- not work related, but just fun related. Try it and see what a difference it will make to you and your team. Remember, you can not do everything yourself, you have to get the full suupport of those who work for you or with you. So, it makes sense to get to know your team.

When you show an interest in your team as real people you will find that you will get their support and have a whole load of willing, capable and enthusiastic people around you.

Acknowledge the efforts of your team | Make them feel important

In a successful business organization, people need to feel that they are important to the job they hold. This is the first lesson that you need to learn if you are a manager leading a team. Money is not everything and in these bleak financial times when nobody is giving increments and people are being given pink slips, you need to reach out to the members in your team and let them know that you care for them.

Here are some ways by which you can tell people how important they are!!

First ensure that you create goals that are shared and that show the tie-in of individual work with the organizational goals. This way the person who has performed will be truly rewarded. What makes people feel important is the high expectations that they have nursed during their performance. These have to be acknowledged. This is one of the important business characteristics.

You could also settle for nothing less than the best. When you come to selecting someone for a job, be sure that you are not playing favorites. This is something your team members will be looking out for. Go with the right person for the job regardless of the how tempted you may be to give the job to someone you secretly favor. This way you will get a reputation of a good business entrepreneur for being impartial and fair. Also, the person who gets the job will feel truly good about himself.

When it comes to appraisal time, be sure that everyone gets his or her just dues. You may not be able to raise the salaries of your team at this point in time but you could think innovative sops like extra leave, food coupons, gas coupons and so on.

You should also know that you as a leader are in a position of both respect and trust-respect you command and trust you earn. It is imperative that you are trusted. Therefore, in your role as a leader, make sure that your actions reflect a fundamental respect for others.
And last but not the least, respect people’s time. You may enjoy sitting late in office but others may want to get home. So finish all the work that involves the team first of all so that they can leave you busy at work.