Women in the Workplace Archives - Media Partners Worldwide

Tips for Balancing Work and Family Life

Media Partners Worldwide — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 16:00:53 +0000

Work-life balance seems to be a common struggle for entrepreneurs and business workers, alike. In fact, according to a Harvard Business School survey, “94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they worked more than 65 hours per week.” And according to Forbes.com,”nearly 20% of today’s workforce is a family caregiver during “off-work” hours.” Stress from an almost never-ending workday is damaging to your health, family, relationships, and overall happiness. And on top of that, it actually decreases your productivity.

Balancing work and your family life means something different to every individual, but there are ways to find the harmony between the two. Here are a few of our tips to help you harmonize both aspects of your life so that everyone is healthy and happy.

Scheduling

Kevin Kurse, Forbes.com contributor, wrote an article entitled, “Work-Life Balance: Tips From 24 Entrepreneurs Boiled Down To 1,” where he interviewed 24 leaders of start-ups and entrepreneurs, asking about their work and life balance. Out of all the tips and tricks, the most mentioned piece of advice was keeping a schedule. If you schedule time for work projects, shouldn’t you do that same for family and other areas of your life?

Kurse also says to schedule but don’t make a to-do list. Instead, put all your to-dos on your calendar. “If you want to have an amazing life, you have to be intentional about it. Your calendar is the plan for your time. And time equals life,” said Kurse.

Think about your top priorities and create block times on your calendar to accommodate them. Dinner with the family, going for a jog, date night with your significant other…treat all of these as you would a doctor appointment. You decide what means balance for you and create the life you want for yourself.

Unplug

Let’s face it. We are all glued to our phones. Whether for business or pleasure, your smartphone is as big of a distraction as it is a helpful tool. However, when it comes to working, it has also created expectations of constant accessibility. The workday never seems to end as co-workers and clients can have constant contact with you.

Instead, make quality time true quality time and turn your phone off. This act of self-control can actually make you a stronger person, as well as more present in your own life. According to Robert Brooks, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence and Personal Strength in Your Life, “Resilient people feel a greater sense of control over their lives,” says Brooks. Inturn, reactive people have less control and are more prone to stress. If you have scheduled a time to hang out with your family, then be with your family, wholeheartedly.

Slow Down

You are no use to your company or your family if you are burnt out. Not only will you be tired, but your creativity will be greatly stunted, affecting your job performance.

Slow down. Stop striving for perfectionism and start aim for excellence instead.

Healthy Self-care

Self-care is the kind of activity that yields big positive benefits from just a few simple acts. A bit of self-care each day boosts your physical and mental health, and your work performance, as well.

Make sure you are getting your basic needs:

At least seven hours of sleep a night
Eat healthy food and avoid junk food and excessive eating or drinking.
Exercise.

Among these basics, schedule in time to meditate. Short, meditative exercises like deep breathing or grounding your senses in your present surroundings, are great places to start. “The more you do these, the more you activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which calms everything down, (and) not just in the moment,” says Psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, author of the book Chained to the Desk.

Although self-care isn’t complex, it can be difficult to practice. It may feel selfish at times, but you won’t be able to help those around you if you don’t care for yourself first. Whatever you do to care for yourself will maintain your positive energy and capacity to juggle work and family caregiving.

Comment below and let us know how you stay balanced!

The post Tips for Balancing Work and Family Life appeared first on Media Partners Worldwide.

Q&A with MPW CEO Natalie Hale

Media Partners Worldwide — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 00:40:38 +0000

Media Partners Worldwide, a women-owned business, was founded in 1997, by Natalie Hale and a small team of radio veterans working out of a garage. In honor of the 20th anniversary of Media Partners Worldwide, we asked Natalie to answer a few questions about entrepreneurship and starting a successful business on her own.

1. What three pieces of advice would you give to those who want to become entrepreneurs?

Don’t give up on having a family or put it aside too long. You can still have children and run a company. It just takes coordination with your partner. Sacrifices will be made, but it is worth having the fulfillment of a family and having your own business. One of my biggest regrets is putting a family on hold and thinking that it was selfish or impossible to do both. Through the years, I have met many successful female entrepreneurs that manage to do both and make it work! Don’t think that you have to have a lot of capital to get started. I started with some money in the bank, however, I really didn’t need it and was, fortunately, able to have immediate cash flow. You just have to think smaller at first and know that if you don’t have capital you can still have your own business. Although it will grow more slowly and not have all the bells and whistles at first, you can still succeed. Get a support group to help you. Without my ex-husband who was a mentor to me in business, I would not have been brave enough to move forward. After being in business for a few years, I got involved with some different CEO groups that helped me with different ideas and problems. These groups were invaluable and helped me so much with all the different decisions. From employee legal decisions, motivating and keeping employees, balancing and figuring out my profit and loss, to dealing with the everyday emotional struggles that can come up day to day, I learned so much from my CEO groups. I recommend that all entrepreneurs try to join a good group asap. It will help you make fewer mistakes, feel more confident and grow your business quicker with this invaluable support group.

2. What inspired you to start a new business venture? How did the idea for your business come about?

After working for CBS for almost 10 years, I was getting burnt out with the corporate stress and changes. I decided to take a break and do my own thing temporarily, while I figured out what I wanted to do. A client asked me to develop and place a NATIONAL radio campaign with 20k per week budget. Luckily, it successfully took off and that was the beginning of my business. I never worried about looking for a job again. I remember I agonized about the name of the company. I wanted it to sound bigger than life!

3. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?

I sacrificed not having a child of my own for a long time. I was terrified that if I had a baby, everything would fall apart and that I would not be able to manage my business. It was when I was 40, that I finally accepted that with the help of my partner, I could really do both.

4. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?

Probably would have done more traveling when I was younger, and more networking in college. Many of my old college associates became entrepreneurs and I wish I would have kept better in touch with them, as there might have been more synergy and support to work together, Also, I do wish I would have gone to school and earned my MBA right after earning my BA. Running my company for 20 years, I feel like I have been through a rigorous MBA program now, but it would have been helpful and given me more confidence to grow the business bigger and more quickly if I had that structured information sooner.]]>