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The Importance Of Work-Life Balance And How Leaders Can Make It Happen

Lisa Caprelli is an author of 17 books, including Skip a Step: Imparting Wisdom for Young Entrepreneur Minds and the Unicorn Jazz series.

“How are you?” “I’m busy!” This is a conversation that almost every business leader can understand since we all get the same 24 hours in a day. Many of us are juggling work and other parts of our lives. In a world filled with technology at our fingertips, with our cell phones, computers, digital devices used to communicate faster than ever before, it is not any wonder we can feel spent and exhausted. 

In order to have work-life balance, it is important to understand how we share our time in different areas of our life. "The Five Hats" is a philosophy I coined after decades of observing what makes for happiness and purpose among great business leaders. 

These are The Five Hats that business leaders juggle:

• Hat 1: Spend time with family.

• Hat 2: Establish meaningful friendships.

• Hat 3: Create a fulfilling business path. 

• Hat 4: Build connections

• Hat 5: Establish hobbies, interests and adventures.

After interviewing more than 150 CEOs about what makes for happiness and meaning combined with their business life, I was shocked by their truth and reality. Many people who are "not happy" spend their time in one hat or are unaware of the relationship to time and what balance means in different areas of their lives. Beyond your business hat, it is important to make time for other important areas of your life like family, friends, connections and developing your own hobbies and interests. 

Here are seven tips to achieve work-life balance:

1. Shut off e-mails after work hours. They will be there tomorrow.

2. Put your phone away to be present with your family and at events. Apps and social media are designed for gamification and to keep us "hooked" into re-looking at a new text, like or message. Give your family members or friends your phone for a period of 30 minutes to an hour, or at the dinner table, have a rule where everyone's phones go into a shoebox.

3. Make task lists on your phone that are important for today and those that can wait until tomorrow. Your business to-do list will always be full, so organize it in a way that allows time for other things. 

4. Make a list of your top five friends, and make time to do virtual or in-person get-togethers with them to let them know they are important.

5. Let your family and children know you are "calendaring" time to do something together weekly.

6. Discover what makes for fun in your life. Is it taking singing lessons? Should you get back into hiking, rock climbing, painting or helping others with a talent you have?

7. Ask your family or friends to hold you accountable if balance is a struggle for you.

We are all trying to balance life as best as we can. Once you understand how you relate to time, it will also help you understand what balance feels like for you. Time is promised to no one. As a business leader especially, balancing all areas of your life to achieve happiness is important and can be rewarding!


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