See Why Work-Life Balance is the Unicorn of the Working World
Work-life balance is one of those phrases that people with way too much time on their hands talk about. Usually they have their own yoga studios, grow all their own food, and can afford really swell vacations on Martha’s Vineyard. And that’s not even a generalization!
When Is There Ever Balance?
When Is There Ever Balance?
Never, that’s when! This is the week of Easter and tax returns. Many people with businesses are filing at the last minute instead of being involved in an Easter egg hunt. Unless, of course, you call looking for business deductions in a huge pile of receipts an Easter egg hunt. Then, yes, there’s an Easter egg hunt.
We Strive for Balance
We dream of balance during those nights when we don’t sleep enough because we were up late worrying about whether everything for that upcoming conference got finished. Was there one last person to call, or a piece of paper that didn’t make it to the right place?
Finding Time
By the way, if you need to find a little more time, here’s my article on Social Media: Time Management for Busy Entrepreneurs that you might like. Finding a bit of time here and there in your day can be cause for celebration!
Photo by todd.vision 
Vacations Are for Sissies
If you’re involved in a startup, do you ever really go on vacation? Or is your idea of time off working a couple of hours less on the days you’re strolling on the beach? And speaking of strolling on the beach, here’s a brilliant idea from Forbes: Want a Brilliant Idea for a Startup? Go on Vacation!
“…ideas emerge when someone frees their mind up to wander – this often doesn’t happen in day to day life,”
~ Jessica Livingston, founding partner Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s best known incubator
You Can Sleep When You’re Dead
Who among us has not heard this pithy bumpersticker-sized statement? Startups have a reputation for fueling sleep deprivation. Startups have also begun to fuel new ideas about sleep, as outlined in this nifty article: How Tech Startups Are Waking Up the Sleep Industry. In fact, new startup Cereve has a Sleep System to cool the forehead and soothe “a racing mind.” Something many in the startup world suffer from.
Is Balance Possible?
How have you created balance? While I’d love to believe in unicorns, maybe we are better off believing they don’t exist. Or are we all resigned to being comfortable being uncomfortable? Tell me in the comments! And thank you.
There is no such thing as work-life balance if you are in business on your own. The idea of working from a beach is just that, a change of scenery.
I often travel to Baja, from LA, to spend time with mum’s cats and dogs and, sometimes, mum and Francisco, her husband. However nice it might sound, I still work everyday when I am there.
I also get bored with too much free time.
Am I a workaholic?
Hi Peter,
Wow. I know what you mean about not having work-life balance. And it doesn’t seem fair that we have to work at getting balance, does it?
Yes, I work, too, when I go “on vacation.” There’s no completely unplugging any more. Turning off the laptop or phone happens occasionally when there’s a power outage or at night.
Maybe there’s a 12-step group for us–but only if we get to run it ourselves and do ALL the work, right? Hahaha!
Thanks for stopping by,
Carol
For the first time in…well forever. I took ten days off in May and left work at the office. I trained a person to take over social media, albeit it less than I normally post, but enough. I scheduled blog eight posts, and turned off notifications. It can be done.
Wow, Randy! Ten days off seems like forever. Good thing you’re such a prolific writer!
Good job!
Carol
Hi Carol,
How timely that I’m reading this particular post while on a short camping vaca. I have things scheduled but check-in every now and then to read, leave comments and share. I’m not obsessing about business but like you, the one woman show is all about us and “the show must go on”.
Cheers!
Hi Patricia,
So fun that you stopped in. Yes! The show must go on. Maybe at some point we’ll have the resources to hire someone to look after things so we can go unicorn hunting!
Thank you for always being so supportive. We must meet some day!
Carol