Being a business woman can be hard, particularly running your own business. Unfortunately, many business avenues are still male-dominated. Fortunately, we women are very good at proving people wrong. Succeeding in business depends on the time and hard work you put into it, not on your gender. But that can mean sacrificing parts of your personal life to achieve this – here are some ways to keep you you while growing your business.
Work/life balance
We can agree that work creeps into our private time – interrupts our weekends and much-needed family time. And where we can all agree that a business owner needs to be accessible at all times for emergencies, it doesn’t mean that you have to be actively working.
Set yourself some time limits – after six your cell; (or business cell) goes on to do-not disturb. You don’t work weekends, and you are as entitled to a holiday as anyone else. If you have a work cell, then give whoever needs it your personal cell number for emergencies out of hours.
It may seem hard letting go of the reigns a little, but over time you’ll find that the work-free time allows you to rest and enjoy time by yourself or with family and friends, and will allow you to work with a much clearer mind when you’re at work.
Stress busters
Running your own business can be one of the most stressful things you’ll ever do. The work itself, finances and the sheer number of things you have to stay on top of. Yes, you have to keep doing all that, but it doesn’t have to be so stressful.
Start delegating some of your work – financial management, hiring, content management and web management are just a few thing you don’t have to in charge of. By all means, have the last say – but you don’t have to carry every task on your shoulders.
Start introducing exercise into your daily routine; a high-performance exercise like running or boxing can help work off that excess frustration. Or try something like yoga to help calm the mind and channel that energy into good things. Either way, those endorphins will do nothing but make you feel better. If you don’t want the extra pressure of putting yourself through your paces, then enlist the help of a personal trainer – that way you just have to show up and do as you’re told, and not have to focus on anything else.
Help
No one has to do anything alone. And sometimes the strength of a person is shown when they know they need some help. You may need help outside of work, with childcare or with home finances. Or at work and this can come in the form of delegating, taking some time off work or looking into a corporate psychologist. The pressures of running a business can get on top of anyone, and one the best ways to relieve some of that pressure is to talk about it.
