May 27, 2010

Get a life.  Seriously. There is a Latin phrase I refer to often, Mens sana in corpore sano, which means "a healthy mind in a healthy body".  Too many CEOs and entrepreneurs are completely out of balance.  Not only is it affecting their health, it’s also affecting their business and employees too.

Just today, a would-be entrepreneur told me he was working constantly and struggled to read books for fun. I threw down the gauntlet and told him he’d never be a successful entrepreneur until he figured out how to get a life.  I told him to read the book Endurance, the true-life account of Ernest Shackleton’s fateful voyage to the Antarctic.  And I told him not to contact me until he’d finished it. 

I'm a big believer that focus on the "life" part provides a virtuous circle in which improving your quality of life will also improve you professionally.  That is to say, the best way to become a more productive worker is to focus more on the things outside of work that invigorate and recharge you.  This will positively impact the time you are spending at work.

I’m not an expert in work/life balance, but I’ve crashed twice, and hard.  Harder than I’d wish anyone else will.  Now I’ve learned how to get and keep a healthy business/life balance.  Here are my favorite tips:

1. Work hard, play hard. Sure, we’ve all heard this saying, but rarely do we live it.  Nowadays, people do a lot of hard work, but when it comes time to fulfilling the other end of the obligation, we give up, bringing our laptops, cell phones, and other “work” items into our “play time”. And from what I recall as a kid, playing hard didn’t include toting along our homework or in the modern world, our iPhone or BlackBerry. We just played – played until we dropped from laughing so hard. It’s time for us to return to that kind of play, not just for our individual sanity, but for the sake of those who care for you.

2. Build a support network. I’m not sure why it’s so common, but entrepreneurs tend to overwhelm themselves with guilt for not working around the clock.  Often our non-business owner friends’ wonder why we work so hard, or why we can’t ever “disconnect.”  Start spending time with them.  And disconnect when you’re with them too.

3. Don’t say it, do it.  Stop saying you want to do things.  Stop saying you want to learn things.  Stop saying you want to try things.  Stop talking about your “bucket list” and start crossing things off of it.  I talked today via email with a friend in Boston, David Hauser. He’d just come back from a one-hour bike ride in the dead of winter with a fellow entrepreneur, Kris Kaplan.  David and Kris aren’t talking about it.  They’re doing it. Make a commitment to stop saying you’re going to do something and go ahead and do it.

4. Schedule family time. Put family time in your calendar first and schedule everything else around it.  I’ve always wanted to walk my kids to school.  So, I do.  Every day I have a standing appointment from 8:45am – 9:15am, when I can walk them to school.  I book breakfasts, meetings and calls around that time.  Sometimes, I need to use that spot. But, I’ll bet I walk my kids to school more often than you do.  And I’ll remember it more than the meeting I could have had.

5. Force people to go home. One of my favorite lines at the office used to be, “great day – take the rest of it off.’  I used to tease people with that and say it at 6 p.m. – I’d also say it to people at 10:30 a.m. and blow them away. Tell people to go home and relax once in a while.  We all know that as entrepreneurs we duck out of the office for our little stress breaks.  Let your team take some once in a while, too.

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Join the conversation ( 6 )

• Jill Fehrenbacher 1 year 12 months and 1 days ago

  

  Great article Cameron - I need to try some of your tips. It is very hard to maintain live/work balance when you are driven and love what you do!

• Jake Carey-Rand 1 year 12 months and 3 days ago

  

  So very true, Cameron. Since getting back to the gym about 10 months ago, my business has taken off to look more and more like my dreams. There is a tipping point I shoot for every time I work out: A million thoughts of emails to respond to, marketing campaign ideas, new customer solutions, etc. stream through my head during the first section of my workout. But I always reach a point where I have to focus and put in that extra effort to succeed. This is my catalyst for putting those random, jumbled thoughts to the back of my mind and instead focusing clearly on one task at a time.For all of us ADD's, pushing yourself to the max outside of work (for me it is the physical release) allows us to "get away with" focusing on just one thing. Incredibly important stuff. Thanks!

• Cameron Herold, CEO/Franchise Coach & Speaker 2 years 0 months and 1 days ago

  

  Hey Julie - Great point about the book Endurance. You're right - Shackleton was way off on his balance. I NEVER recommend people read it as a business/leadership lessons book. I know many people talk about the leadership lessons in it. I just think it's an AWESOME read, about a fantastic adventure. And reading it allows people to escape from the stress of running their companies.

• Julie Rains 2 years 0 months and 2 days ago

  

  Taking time away (and disconnected) seems excruciatingly difficult at times but is critical not just for personal life but also for a fruitful professional life. But, I am intrigued by the book selection (the story is one of my favorites btw): on the one hand, Sir Ernest Shackleton pursued his dreams (rather than real work so to speak) in the most rugged outdoors; on the other hand, he lacked work/life balance as I might imagine it, forsaking family for work as an explorer. I would love to learn more about what the book should teach entrepreneurs.

• Pat Clifford 2 years 0 months and 2 days ago

  

  Let technology be your friend and helper! Work time and play time are affected by the smallest of things or time consuming tasks. Think personal productivity and focus on the big stuff.

• DWAIN DEVILLE 2 years 0 months and 3 days ago

  

  Cameron, excellent article and I could not agree more. The only point I'd add is to understand your finish lines. Meaning that if you must put in 80 hours on a project, re-calibrate your work schedule once he project is done. Do not allow inertia to dictate your schedule. Again, good stuff and thanks.