7 #WorkHacks to Achieve a Successful Work-Life Balance

Are you tired of losing track of time at the office and missing important family dinners? Is your personal life suffering because you work too much and can’t find time to spare for your friends and loved ones?

It may be time to consider these 7 #workhacks that can help you have a successful work-life balance.  

How to Achieve an Effective Work Life Balance 

1. Develop Business Goals and Strategies 

Day to day business can be extremely overwhelming if you don’t devote time to listing out your company’s priorities and engineering a broad plan to reach those goals. When you don’t know what your next step should be, you spend a lot more time in the office trying to prepare last minute solutions.      

Stay ahead of the game, take the time to sit down and write out your business’s overall goals and strategies. Creating a solid roadmap allows you to keep your focus on priority tasks and reduce any unnecessary steps to meet your goals. This plan will also lower your stress levels and increase your team’s overall productivity. 

Goal setting is so important to organizations because it’s proven to:

• • Provide Focus
• • Increase Motivation
• • Improve Group Cohesion
• • Increase Employee Worth
• • Offer Measurability

2. It’s All About Delegation

Entrepreneurs often have trouble when it comes to delegating work to others. In fact, “57% of small business owners say they work six or more days each week.” You can’t expect to have a personal life when your work schedule is monopolizing your time. 

Globally successful companies all have one thing in common, they all know the importance of delegating specific tasks to save time and money. In our recent article, 5 Jobs a Small Business Owner Should Outsource, we detail the following positions that can easily be outsourced to a team of experts:

• • Receptionist and/or 24 Hour Answering Service
• • Accountant and Human Resources Department
• • Marketing and Advertising Professionals
• • Attorneys and Contract Writers
• • Customer Service Agent and/or Customer Hotline

When you start delegating tasks you’ll provide instant relief to your long list of duties; allowing you to wrap up your days earlier.

3. Focus on Working Smarter

Are you benefiting from the many solutions that help you to work smarter, not harder? Instead of focusing on busywork each day, make a plan to attack your tasks and duties with savvy problem-solving skills.

With apps, software solutions and tricks of the trade, you can reduce your workweek from 60 hours to 40 hours. Here are just three ways you can increase productivity while decreasing the time needed to accomplish a task:  

• • Utilizing Technology

Start using automation software to manage your social media profiles; invest in an on-site server to speed up your eCommerce site; or, look into helpful apps that track your sales team’s numbers. Focus on finding modern technological solutions to automate your business’s practices.  

• • Organize Your Office

You’d be surprised how much time is eaten up from trying to locate a specific document; tracking down a phone number; or, looking up a customer’s order. Follow LifeHack’s 21 tips to organize your office to maximize production.

• • Make a Phone Call

Business professionals receive about 300 emails per week and spend just over 2.5 hours a day reading and responding to all of those emails. Opt for making a quick phone call rather than relying on emails that are easily misinterpreted or time consuming.

With these basic time savings tips, you’ll be able to create more hours in a day (making “home” work less likely).   

4. Stick to a Strict Schedule 

Mismanaging your daily schedule can increase the likelihood that you’ll have to stay later at work. Successful professionals admit to following a very strict schedule that accounts for nearly every minute of their day. 

Read our article, Innovative Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners, to learn: 

• • To define why (exactly) you waste time;
• • Why multitasking is no longer considered effective;
• • More about popular apps that help you manage your time; and,
• • And how long it takes to learn a new habit.

5. Work Out and Gain Strength

Studies show that exercising improves your work productivity in a variety of ways. Qualities like stamina, alertness and attention can all be improved by sticking to a regular workout routine.

An online self-improvement community, Self-Growth, shares that fit employees: 

• • Are less likely to get sick.
• • Have more energy.
• • Inspire and exude confidence.
• • Are less stressed.
• • Have better attitudes and morale.

All of these positive qualities will maximize your productivity and make room for more personal time. So when you’re researching for ways to improve your work-life balance, really consider making time to exercise.       

6. Build a Healthy Diet

Just like exercising, paying attention to what you eat can affect the way your body performs at work and at home. There are certain foods that can bring your productivity and drive to a halt. Eating sugary snacks, fatty foods and highly processed meals can leave you feeling sluggish and tired. This forces you to work at a slower pace; requiring you to stay longer at the office.

There are also certain foods that boost endorphins (the chemicals in our brains that release feelings of happiness). Try stocking your fridge at home and work with one or more of these happy foods:

• • Chocolate
• • Strawberries
• • Ice Cream
• • Pasta
• • French Bread
• • Grapes
• • Nuts
• • Oranges
• • Sesame Seeds

7. Closely Guard Personal Time

Create a successful balance between your time at work and your time at home by guarding your personal time. Treat your nights and weekends like mini vacations by allowing yourself to unplug from work.

Hire an after-hours answering service to handle after hour and weekend calls so you can take a break from being tied to your work phone. Don’t be afraid to say no to new projects when you’re overwhelmed with other deadlines. Treat only emergencies with immediate attention and set up procedures for other issues that arise.  

Consider making these promises to yourself to remind you not to mix business and personal time: 

• • I will not answer my phone during dinner time.
• • I will leave the office by 5:30 pm at least two times this week.
• • I will not check my work email past 7 pm on a weekday.
• • I will make a special date with my friends at least 5 times a month.
• • I will not check my personal email during my normal working hours.
• • I will stay off of social media while at work.

Let us help you achieve your perfect work life balance. You can still be available even when you’re not!

A successful business model will allow your business to run in your absence. That’s how we help our clients. Our virtual receptionists allow your company to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. So while you’re enjoying your personal time, someone is answering your lines and assisting your customers through the night and over the weekend.  

Give us a call today at 1-800-785-6161 to speak with an account specialist about how our award winning virtual receptionists can help you develop a healthy work-life balance.