Make Time for YOU – Part Two

It’s the beginning of the year and things are slow. You are hustling to get work and the work that comes your way you don’t feel you can turn down. By the time summer rolls around, you have been working your butt off and let things—like life outside of your office—go by the wayside.

Having a life outside of your job is incredibly important. Spending time with your family and friends, as well as making time for your hobbies keep you grounded, energized, and overall happy.

I really loved the ideas these entrepreneurs shared with Inc.com on how to get a life outside of your job. Here are more of my favorites:

Communicate Constantly With Your Spouse

Then you will know how to  best support each other. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, says the biggest decision you’ll make in your career is who you decide to marry. I think this has really been true for me. Having a spouse that you know is in your corner is a huge source of comfort and confidence. – Anishiya Taneja, founder and CEO of TravelDNA, a travel planning site.

I would not have the confidence to do what I do if I did not have the support of my  husband. He believes in me, which helps me believe in myself. We can both tell when the other has had a bad day, and we do little things for each other—like cook dinner, do laundry, shovel the snow off our deck—to help each other out.

We also make sure to tell each other when we need an extra hug or quiet time. We both have high stress jobs, so talking about them and being honest with our needs is important.

Be There For Your Family When It’s Most Important To Them

I have two-year-old twins. At this age, it is important for my kids to spend time with their dad each day. So I make sure I do so before their bed time. This will morph into attending their soccer games as they grow bigger. – Navin Bathija, founder and CEO of Silicon Valley start up Neo, which provides auto loans to America’s youth.

You do not want your life to end up like that Harry Chapin song, Cats in the Cradle, where the dad didn’t have enough time for his son when he was younger. The son grows up to be just like his dad—never having time for him as an adult. If you are not going to make time for your kids—don’t have them in the first place.

Schedule Time With Family And Friends And Stick To It

It creates a deadline that forces you to prioritize your work. – Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a visual voice-mail smartphone app.

When I was in college, my part-time jobs helped me prioritize my class work. If I knew I was working the night before a paper was due, I’d be sure to get it done beforehand. Now that I am out of school, other things help me prioritize. Backing out on plans I make with my friends and family members makes me feel like a schmuck. If you constantly break plans, you are going to stop being invited to do things.

My family takes a week-long vacation to the mountains every winter—and the past two years I have had to either not go or only go for a night or two. My family stopped asking me when would be the best time to schedule the vacation, because I never seemed to be able to make time to go anyway. It hurt my feelings, but after bailing on them two years in a row, I can’t say I blame them. It reminds me that if I want to be involved in fun activities, I need to commit my time—or miss out on all the fun.

Be As Organized As Possible

This is one of the many things that people forget when launching a business, but it leads to a much more efficient and productive day. For example, I manage over 30 different e-mail accounts, which you’d think would be a big draw on time. One tool I use is Thunderbird by Mozilla which is one of the easiest tools for managing more than one e-mail account.” – Rick Singer, founder and CEO of GreatApps.com, an online media platform that focuses on app marketing and consumer use of apps.

My iCal is my savior. I put every scheduled lunch meeting, interview, and deadline into it and check it frequently. It helps me from double booking myself—which is not only annoying, it’s embarrassing. Google Calendar is another great tool to use, especially if you use multiple devices. Plus, since it’s online you can check it from anywhere.

Being organized will also save you time—which will give you more time to do the things outside of the office that you really want to do. Time is money, people! And a freelancers time is very precious.

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