Does Work/Life Balance Exist for Entrepreneurs?
Posted by Nick O'Neill on April 7th, 2008 2:17 PMThis past week a news article in the New York Times circulated the blogosphere. The article, titled “In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop,” discusses how technology blogging is ultimately bad for your health. My initial reaction was that I completely agree. To some of my friends, I’ve become a work-a-holic. To others, I’m simply living the life of an entrepreneur. I think Danah Boyd, says it right, “those who are passionate about what they do do it to extremes.”
I couldn’t agree more with Danah. I do on the other hand think that there is a point which is crossed which is when the thing you are most passionate about becomes an addiction. I think that workaholism has become embedded in our culture and while I see successful entrepreneurs build businesses while working 90 hours a week, I’ve seen others that launch businesses through partnerships and spend less time focusing on the day-to-day routine of things.
Honestly, I think it is different for each business and ultimately the life of an entrepreneur will always be challenging. For me, I always appear to be one step away from having a life free from the bondage of work but there is always another step ahead. I know this isn’t a good thing but sometimes it’s difficult not to be working on something that you want to grow. Then again if you feed a plant too much water it will drown, sometimes you may just have to watch it grow (and possibly hit the gym).
What do you do to handle work/life balance? Is there balance in your life? What techniques do you find useful for adding more balance?
April 7th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
I’ve found some balance by automating as much as I can - namely the technical infrastructure that my business relies on (mediatemple dv server). When I didn’t automate or outsource anything a couple of years ago I would spend hours fixing things that were not the focus of my business, but now I can focus more time producing widgets that help my clients automate parts of their businesses. Unfortunately, I haven’t automated my exercising routine but I’m hoping that writing “do 100 pushups a day” on my whiteboard will help out with that.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:43 am
- when the business is in the back yard, it is difficult to stay away. I wait until the family is asleep - then work - I’ve been tired for a decade.
Balance comes from a spouse who understands but who demands as much of my time as the project - which is great - otherwise I suspect I’d forget why I was working so hard - I equate this to: “Stop every now and then and smell the roses.”
Finally - there’s the “Are you having any fun” rule - sure not every day’s gonna be fine and Jim Dandy - but if on balance, life sucks - you gotta be prepared to make radical change.
that’s what I use
April 8th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Since I started my own busines (savvyauntie.com), my social life has never been better. I think people connect with my positive energy. So while I thought being an “Auntrepreneur” would dampen my social schedule, it has actually improved it.
Of course, on a start-up’s budget, I don’t spend time shopping, going to concerts or traveling. I do find time for concentrated times with friends, dating and of course, spending time with my nephew and nieces.
Of course, when you work day begins early AM and ends early AM, you fit the important things in.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I am one of those people wasting away in front of my computer trying to make it as a young entrepreneur. But I have never been happier. Before I was working 100 hours a week as an investment banker building someone else’s assets. Talk about taking years off your life. At least I’m dying doing something I truly care about.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
“Auntrepreneur”
haha
April 9th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Excellent point about passion becoming an addiction. I try to make sure that all the time I spend with family is “quality” time. This means giving them my uninterrupted time and attention. This, I have found,works well even if the amount of time spent is not very substantial.