Running a business is a lot of things – empowering, stressful, rewarding. One thing it shouldn’t be? Chaotic.
As an entrepreneur, of course your life is going to be busy. You have the final say in every aspect of running your business, so there will always be a lot of issues competing for your attention. Throw in any effort to have a life outside of work, and it’s easy to get snowed under.
A small-business owner might work even more than the 70 hours a week the average CEO puts in. That’s not counting all the hours you spend thinking about work while trying to enjoy downtime.
What’s really frustrating is that more work doesn’t necessarily grow your business. It’s doing the right work that will get you to where you want to be – and even leave you time to watch a few sunsets before you retire.
So how can you calm the chaos and approach work-life balance with a clear head? Pour yourself a coffee and let’s get started.
4 Keys to Work-Life Balance for Chaotic CEOs
1. GET ON TOP OF YOUR INBOX
Getting a late start on important work because you were busy responding to emails. Slipping away from your family to answer messages on the weekend. Clicking the message icon on your phone before you’ve even rolled out of bed in the morning.
Any of those sound painfully familiar?
If you don’t have a clear structure and process for handling messages, you’ll spend your days constantly reacting to other people. Responding to messages as they come in is a terribly unproductive way to spend your valuable time.
Not to mention, you can’t focus on life in the moment – whether that moment is at work or at home – if a part of your brain is always anticipating the next notification.
How to do it
Allocate specific blocks of time for reading and responding to messages. Be selective about who can call or text you, and silence your phone when you’re relaxing or doing focussed work. Better yet, put your phone in airplane or “do not disturb” mode so even if you’re tempted to check it, you won’t be tempted to answer.
Delegate email management to your executive assistant. They should review your inbox throughout the day, responding to simple inquiries and filing information-only emails so your time can be spent focussed on issues demanding your personal attention.
2. ORGANISE YOUR TO DO LIST
Plenty of CEOs invest in a day planner or project management tool, then keep their task list scribbled on scraps and Post-It notes around their desk. Some tasks don’t even make it that far. It’s common for entrepreneurs to start a task, stop to put out a fire somewhere else, and hope they remember to come back to it later.
Chaotic, ad-hoc task management leads to stress, burnout and brain clutter. You have no way to prioritise tasks by importance. No one can help you because only you know what needs to be done. It’s only a matter of time before something falls through the cracks.
How to do it
If you’re going to get everything done, make the best use of your time, and avoid that nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something, you need a simple task management system. At Zembr, we use Asana. Other popular options include ClickUp, Todoist and Trello. If you’re a diehard for a paper-based system, step away from the sticky notes. Get one comprehensive diary and keep all your notes, appointments, and to-dos in that.
Focus your attention on the most complex jobs; delegate simple things like scheduling reservations to your executive assistant. Your assistant should be in charge of organising tasks so things not only get done, but you have enough time to do them all well.
3. BE THE MASTER OF YOUR SCHEDULE
Do you manage your schedule or does it manage you? It’s a serious question. Many CEOs live reactively, basing their daily schedule around needs as they arise. Poor time management is the biggest reason your work leaks into your nights and weekends. If work-life balance is important to you, time management is key.
How to do it
Get some outside help with this one; CEOs tend to underestimate how much time they’ll need for specific tasks. Work with your executive assistant to create an online calendar with blocks for project work, meeting days and downtime.
Don’t stop at the 9 to 5; block time for exercise, dinner with friends or anything that’s important to you. When you can see that time reserved and see how everything else will still get done, you’ll find it easier to relax and less tempting to let work creep into your personal time.
Assign your assistant the role of gatekeeper – it’s their job to make sure the people who report to you know the rules and don’t try to contact you during deep focus or downtime.
4. SET A STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS
Let’s be real: a goal without a plan is just a wish. To achieve your sky-high dreams, you need a strategy.
How to do it
Work backward. What do you need to do to make your goal happen? How can you realistically fit those tasks into your schedule? Don’t be afraid to get creative. Henrik Kjellberg, president of travel company Hotwire, uses his 16-mile daily commute to train for ultramarathons, running or biking part of the way and taking public transportation the rest.
If you imagine your strategy as a ladder, your accountability partner is the person holding it steady. Enlist your executive assistant to help you schedule time for working toward big goals. As the keeper of your task list, they’re the perfect person to hold you accountable. They can follow up to make sure you’re doing what you said you’d do and remove any obstacles getting in your way.
The entrepreneur life doesn’t have to be chaotic
The most important thing to remember about work-life balance is that it’s all very personal. You’re not a washing machine; you can’t just flip your setting from “work” to “life” and back again. For most people, work-life balance is a continuum – sometimes more of your energy and attention will go to work, and sometimes it will go to your personal life.
Rather than aiming for balance, aim to quiet the chaos running through both work and life. The first step is enlisting the right help. Reach out to us to get matched with an executive assistant who can help you manage your time, energy and focus so you can get more joy out of both your work and personal life.
