In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to make sacrifices. And one of the most important sacrifices is time spent with your family.
It’s not easy for anyone to balance work and family life, but it’s even more difficult for entrepreneurs. Sam Kahn talks about this problem in his article “The Balance Between Work And Family”. He discusses the many ways that he and his wife have tried to balance their time between work and family life.
Samuel Nathan Kahn is a serial entrepreneur who owns and operates a regulated claims company.
For many people, balancing their work and home life can be stressful. With our society focusing on getting more done in more time, it is not uncommon for working adults to feel unable to meet the demands of their work while also fulfilling those of their families.
Many people find it hard to strike the balance between their career and family life and one of those things often gets prioritized over the other.
This behavior has been shown to lead to various negative effects. These include strained relationships, inefficiency in work, and poor physical and mental health.
For this reason, people need to learn how to balance family life with work responsibilities. This may sound like too much for anyone but if you take the time and put in the effort, it is possible.
Balancing work and family can be hard, but here are some steps to help you through it.
- Get Rid Of Stress
Having enough balance in everyday life is important and one way of achieving this is staying calm. After a long, stressful day of work, you need to de-stress and after that, your mind may be clogged with stress hormones. This can be solved by doing activities like yoga for example which reduce stress levels.
When you are feeling relieved, calm, and happy, you will feel refreshed & ready to work. You’re also more likely to want to spend time with your loved ones at home.
- Make Balance a Priority
We’re too often asking ourselves, is it worth it? Does it have time to work? Am I enough of an expert in more than one area at work? Your answer to these questions is yes.
If you don’t set out on a journey to achieve balance, you’ll stumble along the way. I’ve learned that it’s really important to give yourself the opportunity for balance in your life.
When looking for a job, think about what level of challenge you can handle and how big your family is. You should also consider all of the other important decisions that you need to make. By doing this, you’re more likely to attain balance in your life.
If you are already in a stable career and have a family, it’s never too late to make tweaks to your life. You can still live on your own terms, even if you’re busy with work & family commitments.
It could be as simple as switching up your schedule or asking for help to adjust. Maybe you can get ahead by delegating more at home or bringing in friends and family for some extra support.
- Strengthen Your Bond with Family
Building stronger communication with your family is essential for maintaining a good work-life balance. It strengthens trust, understanding, and support within the family which can only be beneficial for business success.
You might want to share your work life with your family and let them know about the struggles you’re going through. A good way to do this is by talking about specific frustrations because it’ll make it easier for them to understand you. When they know what you’re dealing with, they’ll be better at supporting you in difficult moments.
It’s often hard to understand how our children are feeling. When they feel listened to, when we make an effort to connect with them, they’ll feel more appreciative of us, whether it be during a long work day at home or during a rushed family dinner. A few words can go a long way in this situation.
- Allow Others to Help You
Even when we have a lot on our plate, it may seem absolutely impossible to balance it out at home as well. Maybe you are vying for a promotion at work or have so much work to do for your client that you don’t have time before the weekend. Once you’ve told your family about these challenges, it would be worth getting some help with the home.
Ask friends and family if they are able to do small tasks that require your time and attention like picking up your kids from sports practice or picking them up from school. You can trust that they’re grateful you asked and they will help you out because of it.
- Develop A Routine
It’s important to find your personal daily routine in order to balance work and family life. You can’t move from one task straight into the next but will have to stop and de-stress occasionally. For example, you may wish to have a short rest before coming home from work.
Establishing healthy habits that are tailored to your schedule will help keep you on track, and more consistent with your work, and give you the time to spend with your family. This is good for everyone
If you’re an early bird, why not get some house or work tasks done in the morning before the kids wake up.
It can be impossible to always create memories with your loved ones or make plans to meet up, but it’s important to try! Creating and sharing happy memories is a way of showing them how special they are.
- Establish Boundaries Between Work and Family
You should create boundaries between your job/work life and your home life to keep them separate. This means that you know which actions are acceptable and which are not. For example, it would be good to have some rules in place so that you can cut down on the potential for work to be distracted by the family, as well as for the family to be interrupted by work life.
With boundaries, it is easier to tell when your actions are not in favor of one aspect of your life.
One example of how you might apply self-care principles to the family is setting boundaries by not using your phone at the dinner table. By reducing disruptions and encouraging a more shared mealtime experience for everyone, you’re in a better position to enjoy each other’s company as a family.
Another way of setting boundaries between work and family is turning your work email notifications off. Giving yourself a minute to relax can really help with this balance. It’s not easy to do but the most important thing is setting boundaries so that you don’t get too overwhelmed when working on both aspects of your life.
Sam Kahn says “I like to take as many breaks as I need and visit my local synagogue. Even if it is for just an hour, I am able to pray and be mentally refreshed”
