How Busy Founders Manage Their Time & Stay Positive
Many business owners find themselves working harder than ever before trying to manage through a global recession while scaling their business. While many focus on the challenges, these ‘Founders’ have found a way to work hard, stay positive and still take care of their families. So, how do they do it? Here is what they had to say!
Kevin Wheeler
Founder of Simplified COO
How do you prioritize family while still meeting the needs of your clients?
I have found it to be helpful to be disciplined with my approach to scheduling both work time and family time. I merge my calendars so that I purposely observe important family events while scheduling the needs of my clients. I always remain focused on serving my clients needs to be able to financially take care of my family. However, not at the cost of enjoying special time with my children. I often discuss with my clients that if I'm not hugging my children then they need to compensate me for that. It may sound sappy, but it is true. It often is helpful if I set up expectations with my clients early on. I send them a bio that describes my experience and also contains family profile information so they can see that my family is engaged in my life. I show the same respect to my clients and their family time. I do not send any communications (call/text/email) over the weekend unless it is detrimental to their business.
How do you manage work related stress?
I think it is necessary to compartmentalize urgent matters with weekly or daily tasks. The important thing is to realize what is a true urgent matter. Does it stop business from happening today? Does it interrupt the business flow efficiency? Will it stop the business from making its yearly, weekly or daily goals. Creating effective protocols, policies and strategies are always ongoing. It will create a healthier work environment if you stay focused on execution of your position and not let yourself chase fires. Little work fires alway pop up, but unless they are going to stop business today, you need to stick to your schedule. Finally, realize your impact on the business goals and don't overstretch yourself past your capacity. Just because you know how to do something doesn't mean you can teach it. Just because you can teach it doesn't mean you're an expert. You will be doing it for all the right reasons, but when you don't execute you will only have yourself to blame.
How do you keep a positive attitude?
I must state upfront that I am a true optimist. That being said, I look for ways to engage people to spread a positive impact on their lives. Going outside your own personal space can be magical when you see the positive ripple that is created from sharing joy. When I run after what I think I want my days can swing towards stress and anxiety. However, If I sit in a place of gratitude and patience, what I need flows to me without incident. I truly believe that if you stay in a place of gratitude and appreciation you can not fall too deeply into negativity.
What advice do you have for those struggling to balance work, family and recreation?
Whether it's work, family or community relationships, people need to know where your focus lies. People will trust and understand your expertise and goals when they know you've shared in their type of challenges AND when you understand how to relate to them from a place of encouragement. When this transparency is achieved the people in your life will start to accept your need for a work life balance. Now you can move to executing a balanced approach to how you handle things. We all know work provides for ways to serve our family and community. So, strengthening your workflow will help. Do not chase daily fires. It will only fatigue you with very low results. This fatigue can spill into other areas of your life. Build a team to support you at work. Confidants, constituents and comrades. All types of team members and/or colleagues are necessary. I'll explain the difference in a future article. The point is to have a team to support you. Always hire or train your potential replacement. That means that they can perform at a high level and ease some of your tasks. Prioritize your weekly and daily activities. Now that you have your work life operating more efficiently you just need to schedule your family and recreation with the same discipline. You must feed your mind, heart, body and soul if you are to be successful in any area of business. Stay disciplined to keep your work life separate from your family life. You have to create that habit to be effective. Take vacations and holidays. Skipping these special days to focus on work will not reap the benefits to your business. Unless you are in an industry that flourishes on those days. Then calendar your own vacations and holidays on different days. Calendar workouts, calendar family time, calendar community time and calendar work events. Stick to your schedules. Create habits to love everything you do.
Carol Natasha Diviney
Founder of Universe Poems
How do you prioritize family while still meeting the needs of your clients?
Time management is imperative and paramount. Also finding flexible ways to work that promote holistic well-being e.g. working from home.
How do you manage work related stress?
I make time for my mind, body and soul in terms of rejuvenation and relaxation.
How do you keep a positive attitude?
I believe if a person is enjoying what they do and they are passionate about their work, then naturally you will have a positive attitude.
What advice do you have for those struggling to balance work, family and recreation?
Take a person-centered approach and incorporate holism in formulating balance. Flexibility is a key component.
Dr. Ariel King
Founder of Dr. Ariel King Solutions
How do you prioritize family while still meeting the needs of your clients?
Family life has always been a part of my professional and work life from the time I was pregnant with my oldest daughter until now raising my youngest daughter, both now teens.Being a mother has always been my number one priority as only two people in the world call me and rely on me as their mom. Yet my daughters know that my work with clients to fulfill their goals is a life passion for me. Over the last 15+ years at various times they have traveled with me to various countries, participated in multinational and bi-lateral meetings and have even helped me to win professional friends with their diplomacy, energy and smiles.
How do you manage work related stress?
I thrive under stress in work situations when the unexpected happens. Positivity, energy, and preparation makes any unexpected stresses easier to manage. To release negative or overwhelming stress I use walking, when possible, especially in nature, and listening to classical or gospel music that leaves me relaxed and inspired.
How do you keep a positive attitude?
I am positive by nature. I see good in everyone and most situations. It takes a lot of very negative energy to bring me down. It does happen, for short periods of time. Then I remember that my life is a miracle, my daughter’s lives are a miracle and I still have so much love, kindness and acceptance to give to children and youth of the world. Being alive is POSITIVE!
What advice do you have for those struggling to balance work, family and recreation?
Many years ago, as a new mother, I tried to “balance” work, family, recreation, and community service. I was not successful in balancing. I continually failed to bring balance to my daily life. I decided that I was not happy with failing to balance and concluded that I needed to “integrate” the various priorities in my life. Especially integrating being a mother with work, community service and when possible, recreation. The key for my life today is integration. Now I feel more successful about my various roles, responsibilities, and my dreams. It’s a continuing work in progress. Yet “integration” is my best friend that makes me feel good about myself and my life!
Alana Frost
Founder & CEO of Alana's Organizing
How do you prioritize family while still meeting the needs of your clients?
This is always a challenge, but not an impossible one. For me, it means being flexible at all times. Family always comes first, sometimes they require a little of my attention, and other times it’s a lot. Flexibility has provided me the opportunity to weave work around my family needs. In the tech world that we live in, it provides the ability to communicate with clients through text and email, while taking care of family responsibilities. Having a flexible mindset prepares me to do anything at any given time, and being ok with how my day flows, regardless of the plans that I’ve set out. Habits go a long way as well. Getting in the habit of making your family a priority will become easier as time goes on. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t in terms of your schedule, energy output and areas where you may need help. Delegating unnecessary work to other team members really makes a big difference in freeing up time for more of life's necessities. If you set realistic boundaries on your availability, your clients will know what to expect and it lessens the opportunity for mishaps.
How do you manage work related stress?
A lot of it comes down to mindset. In business there’s a lot of unknowns, but exercising self control with my thoughts, and keeping a positive attitude really go a long way. Creating boundaries is critical as well, having a schedule for work, and leaving my thoughts at the door really helps. Also having other interests outside of work allows me to focus my mind elsewhere, becoming more balanced with areas of my life that are equally important, if not more. My spirituality, coupled with a healthy lifestyle and good people in my life provides a stabilizing foundation, reducing stress.
How do you keep a positive attitude?
I always strive to see the possibilities and the potential for good things to happen, despite what's going on around me. We live in a chaotic world, so keeping my mind focused on positive things allows me the energy and space to feel good and keep moving forward. Most of the time my fears do not manifest in the way that I think they will, so it makes no sense to overly focus on the negative things or feelings that I have at times.
What advice do you have for those struggling to balance work, family and recreation?
Know what your priorities are, make a schedule that supports them, and stick to it. There will always be times when your life becomes unmanageable, but having your priorities in line will help you focus on what’s most important. Having a schedule will bring you back to your routine when things get off course. It’s impossible to meet all your needs if you don’t have a system to manage everything. I also can't stress enough how important it is to use your time wisely. Life is very fast paced these days, so making sure that your time is well spent will ensure that you are doing what matters most.
