As a business owner, the responsibility of growing and maintaining a successful business falls mostly on your shoulders. But nurturing its growth is no small task. You’re likely putting in a lot of time, and using a lot of energy, to make sure your business thrives. You’re passionate about your business, so you don’t mind the extra effort, but do you ever feel like there’s just not enough time in the day? When you get home from a long day, do you collapse into bed?
Putting your all into a job you love can be rewarding, but there comes a point where the balance between work and the rest of your life becomes strained. If you’re seeking a way to achieve a better work/life balance, consider these tips!
6 Ways to Improve Work Life Balance
Develop a plan for each day and strive to execute. Every morning, set a plan for day’s expected accomplishments. Be realistic about your daily plans; if you find you’re coming up short day after day, you’re overscheduling and may need to reevaluate how you can get help accomplishing all the tasks that are required of you. The daily plan doesn’t just apply to work. Write down the errands or chores that need to be done every day and look at your list as a whole. If you have a super busy day planned, can you run that errand another day? Or, perhaps your spouse can pick up some extra chores when you’re having a busy week, and then you can return the favor when things have quieted down.
Keep an eye on time. It can be easy to become so entrenched in your work that suddenly you’re already late for dinner. Keep an eye on time throughout the day to keep yourself grounded in the outside world. Halfway through the day, reevaluate your daily plan and make changes as needed, factoring in how much time you’ve spent so far and how much time you have left. If you need to, set an alarm on your phone to go off when it’s time to take a break or leave for the day.
Delegate responsibilities to others. Do you feel the need to control every aspect of your business? Is the obligation to make all the decisions eating up time you could spend better elsewhere? Consider giving up responsibilities that don’t require your specific expertise. If you’re still going out to every job site, hire managers to watch over crews. Routine office work can be handled by temporary workers. Hiring more staff will cost you, but it may be worth it to free up your time more.
Keep the business out of the home. When you’re home for the night, make an effort to really focus on having meaningful conversations and quality family time. You can share your day with your family, but don’t feel the need to detail all the little things that happened; keep it brief. Don’t answer phone calls on your work phone or check email, or you risk accidentally working all night. You can get back to the people contacting you in the morning, and studies actually show we are more productive if we set aside a block of time to respond to all messages at once instead of checking them as they come in.
Involve the family in your work life. If you’re not able to spend as much time with your family as you’d like, don’t be afraid to combine the two. Do you have to go out to job site on a Saturday? Consider bringing the kids with. An older child might be interested in seeing or learning more about what you do, while a younger child might be enthralled with the trucks and other machinery. If you’re stuck at the office until late at night, ask your spouse to bring the kids over for a “picnic” at your work. Finding small opportunities to involve your family helps break up the time spent working and gives them a better idea of what it is you do.
Schedule family time. Just as you schedule appointments or jobs, you should pencil in planned family time. It doesn’t have to be every day, or even every week, but you should make a point of having reliable, reserved family time on the calendar. Plan fun outings or special activities, especially if you have children who will really appreciate and look forward to family time. Hours fluctuate in the green industry, but your family will be more understanding of a particularly hectic time if they know that there’s already an afternoon planned just for them the next month.
Spring-Green Offers Operational Support
Running a green industry business is certainly not your typical 9-to-5 job. The hours can be challenging, especially during the summer. Finding a work/life balance in the green industry is not as simple as powering down at 5 o’clock. However, that doesn’t mean you should give up. Spring-Green franchise owner Kenny Gute understands how tough it can be, especially if your family is also involved in the business. “When you both work together and that’s all you live for is work … you’ve got to put it on the back burner sometimes, and that’s what we do,” Gute said. “It takes a lot of teamwork.” Let the experts at Spring-Green help you manage your growth with our 40 years of experience and our proven expertise in marketing and technology. Learn more about how Spring-Green can expand your lawn care services. Call 1-800-777-8608 or visit us at www.growmygreenindustrybusiness.com.