How do you balance work and life as an entrepreneur?

Here's your superhero secret weapons when setting boundaries: 1️⃣ Have a dedicated "Batcave." Your home office should be your fortress of solitude, free from distractions. 2️⃣ Set your "Operating Hours." Like a superhero, be ready to save the day, but remember Clark Kent needs to catch a break too. 3️⃣ Power down. Even Iron Man had time to tango with Pepper Potts. Disconnect and enjoy your life outside of work. So entrepreneurs, it's time to unmask your "non-work" selves. Life's not all about fighting corporate crimes. Sometimes, it's about enjoying that ice cream on a sunny day. 🍦🌞 Remember, you can't save the world (or your business) if you can't save yourself. Be a balanced superhero!"

I don't think this bot has ever been an entrepreneur :) Entrepreneurs wake up thinking about their business and go to sleep thinking about their business. Bringing new ideas to life is difficult and requires a lot of time and effort, much more so than most other professions. Aspiring entrepreneurs should be passionate about the underlying problem they are solving. When you have a deeper connection to your work beyond financial gain, you are more willing to let the line between your work and personal life blur.

Focus on 20% of things that solve 80% of the problems is a great tip, but I suggest you organize yourself well. Determine which activities bring in revenue and can be done only by you. Keep them. Every activity that costs you less per hour to outsource than do it yourself, outsource. You need leisure time to create. Don't get yourself to the breaking point with no need. I have done it, and that is why I learned how to do better. Good luck!

There's a reason why the phrase "Quality over Quantity" has stood the test of time. I've made the mistake of taking on too many clients at the same time because I thought I could handle it (and I wanted the extra cash!), but all I ended up doing was spreading myself too thin and doing a mediocre job across the board. As soon as I started being more selective, I produced better quality work, got more referrals and actually felt a lot less stressed. I apply this to every aspect of my life now. I don't try to do too many social commitments either and instead pick a few that I can attend and be fully present. Quality time with loved ones is much better than trying to hang out while having one eye on your phone.

Recognize the signs of burnout, before you get there and rest accordingly. Hustle culture (i.e. working 24/7) is not a badge of honor, and once you recognize this it will shift your perception. Work will ALWAYS be there. You will never run out of to-do's. Manage your stress by continuing to pour into yourself before any task.

Stress may be inevitable for entrepreneurs, but there are ways of minimising it. I think that entrepreneurs expect stress, so they allow stressful situations to occur so regularly that they experience burnout regularly. It doesn't have to be like this... and it shouldn't! I actually created myself a "stress diary". Every time I felt a bit of stress, I noted down what caused the stress. I then went back and evaluated all of those circumstances and found solutions to stop them happening again. It's all well and good looking up solutions for dealing with stress, but I think it's better to go to the source and eliminate the underlying cause.

Learning to say no is probably the most powerful thing I've ever done. I always want to help everyone, so I agree to do so many things, including a lot of voluntary work. I also get FOMO and so I used to say yes to every social activity. As a result, my time would be completely depleted and I would be spread so thin. Now, I turn down more opportunities than I accept and I feel so much better for it. It goes back to the quality statement - I now do fewer things, but I do them even better, because I can concentrate more and put more effort into them. I'd write out your main goals for the year and anything that doesn't align with these, just say no to!

You should say more "No" than "Yes" as an entrepreneur. This adds to the focus you need to make the venture successful. You time is something that will never come back so be protective of it and use it wisely on things that matter. As an example, remember, when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, they had over 40 products and through strict focus, they picked and killed 90% of the products and see how the company was able to refocus and ultimately become the first Trillion dollar valued company in the world!

Build buffer space into your schedules or timelines, because life is gonna life. Things will happen (or not happen), and you must be prepared to pivot as necessary.

The biggest challenge with entrepreneurship is the bouts of self doubt that will come from time to time..especially when the going gets tough and you are not making desired progress with building the product or the business. Flexibility, adaptability and "pivoting" quickly is the key to remaining in the race. Remember, entrepreneurship is not a sprint..its a marathon!

If you don't love what you do, then you won't produce the results you want to. I believe that passion is the fuel to success. Plus, entrepreneurship is so hard! If you're putting all that effort into everything, you need to really enjoy what you do. Of course, there will be days when it doesn't seem that fun, but those are just the troughs in the entrepreneurial rollercoaster. You need to ride these out and you will get to the peaks. When work is tough, just ensure you do surround yourself with fun things outside of work to help boost your morale and keep your mindset positive for when you do come back to tackle those problems.

Key to having fun in entrepreneurship is Celebrate every milestone ..little or big. Employees need to be celebrated as much as the client wins...their performance as well as their life milestones need to be celebrated. Above all keep the environment light by staying happy and making coworkers happy!

My experience—as someone who has founded multiple companies—a couple on the Inc 500/5000 list—and as a divorced father with five daughters from 12-35–is that the most important thing is deciding what you won’t do. Every time I get rid of a job or get out of a business or stop serving on a board that I don’t enjoy, five new opportunities come my way to do things I do enjoy. I always try to keep my weekends and evenings as free from work. I never miss a holiday or birthday. I keep a once a week date night date with my wife—always. There are just certain times you have to keep available for non-work, family activities. A lot of what people consider “necessary” for work isn’t.

There is so much advice available on the importance of attaining a work/life balance that the whole concept is actually creating stress as individuals worry if their life is or is not in "balance". Please remember finding a balance in your life is not a competition. What works for me, likely won't work for you. What is important is to be living the life that's right for you and your family. One that brings enjoyment, and love but also a certain stress which is not necessarily a bad thing. The way to find your balance in my experience is to carve out time every day, sit quietly and ask the question, am I happy? If the answer is yes then I reckon your balance is fine. Even if like me you are writing Linkedin comments at 11pm :)