If you’re tired of hearing about work-life balance constantly, take a deep breath and realize you need a little yourself. Work-life balance is hard for entrepreneurs. You are either the boss of an existing company ready for expansion or starting a new venture. Either way, you cannot work 24/7, and neither can your employees for that matter. You need a work-life balance for some very crucial reasons, and here are five of them to take into account.
1. It Protects Your Mental Health
It’s never a good idea to sweep mental health under the carpet. Your consistent moodiness or your assistant’s weepiness should never only be attributed to stress. Why would you want to be under constant stress anyway, much less place your employees under that kind of pressure all the time? Mental health has been in the headlines in America recently for all the wrong reasons, so before one of your employees goes “postal,” understand that work-life balance decreases instances of burnout and helps everyone, including you, maintain a healthy mental condition and outlook on life.
2. Physical Health
Maintaining your physical health is also crucial to the success of your ventures. If you go down, the ship might go down; after all, you’re the captain. You and your employees need time to keep your physical health in check, including time for daily exercise and annual checkups. One thing you could do is have workout facilities and locker rooms at your place of business. This enables you and your employees to enjoy some cardio and weightlifting during your lunch hours with a quick cleanup before it’s time to get back to work. Exercise also releases stress. Goodbye, irritating 10 a.m. conference call.
3. Boosts Productivity
Healthy mind plus a healthy body equals increased productivity. It’s a simple fact the happier and healthier you are the more inclined you are to get things done. One company that has high ratings for employee satisfaction is reverse mortgage experts American Advisors Group, and one reason why its employees give it such high reviews is its work-life balance policy. Studies show that employees who are happy in their jobs tend to be more productive than those who are miserable, but that isn’t the only thing to take into account. Those who are happy in their lives are even more productive.
4. Rounds You Out
Even though your goal is to be added to the Forbes billionaire list, you must have a well-rounded life. You cannot work all the time to get there or it will actually take you longer to achieve your goal. Outside interests are beneficial for all of the above-listed reasons but they’re also crucial for one other reason: They educate you. The more you do outside of work the more you learn that could help you with your work. When you have a life around the hours of nine to five, you meet other people who might help you with your business and gain crucial skills. This holds true for your employees, too.
5. You’re Not Coming Back
Finally, one thing that put AAG Reverse in business is its business model. The company offers reverse mortgages to seniors to give them the financial freedom they need to enjoy their Golden Years. You and your employees only have one life to live, and if you work yourself to death, you’ll not only rush your demise, you’ll also be miserable during your time on this earth. Enjoy your life alongside enjoying your work and success. You don’t want to head into your Golden Years and realize you missed out on nearly everything enjoyable along the way.
These are just five reasons why work-life balance is so crucial for you and your staff. Yes, running a successful business has countless rewards, but those rewards will be a fraction of what they could be if you don’t have a happy and healthy working environment that encourages life outside the office, too.
