Do You Have Any Tips for Maintaining Work-Life Balance?
Question: Do You Have Any Tips for Maintaining Work-Life Balance?
I’m an entrepreneur with young children, struggling to find time for everything. How can I balance my commitments?
Meet our Entrepreneur: Esteban Kadamani, Co-founder and Managing Director, Infinite Windows
Esteban Kadamani is the managing director and co-founder of Infinite Windows LLC, a glass and glazing contracting firm located in Miami. Esteban is from Cartagena-Colombia.
Answer: Communicate, Share, Delegate, Meditate, Condense
Every entrepreneur struggles at some point to keep a balance between family, work, friends and hobbies, but there are stages in our life when one of those four requires more time than the others. This sends our routine out the window, and for most entrepreneurs, keeping a routine is sacred. It maintains stability, productivity, and efficiency and allows us to spend more time thinking and creating than focusing on the activities that keep us going.
Four months ago, my son Nicolas was born — it was one of the happiest days in my life, matched only by the day my daughter Victoria was born.
After the euphoria of the moment went away, I had to think about the tasks I would face for at least the first year: being a very devoted father of two kids involves sleeping struggles, leaving work early or arriving late at times, and much much more. It would definitely screw up my routine. I was very anxious when I couldn’t answer the phone or respond to my emails within minutes as my clients are used to.
The worst fear I had was of making wrong decisions due to lack of sleep and increased stress that the piling up of work would create. This was not the time to make wrong decisions; after all, I was becoming a father of two, so my family and responsibilities were growing.
I sat down one day with my 200 daily emails piling up, missed calls and employees knocking at my door, and I decided I needed to do something about it.
This is what I did:
- Communicate. I let my most important clients be aware that my son was just born and that I needed a few weeks to adjust. Most were very happy for me, and the communication made our business relationship closer and stronger.
- Share. I discussed my situation with my very supportive wife to come up with a plan together.
- Delegate. I held a meeting with all my employees to tell them I was going to need more help from them in the coming months due to the circumstances, and they stepped up to the plate.
- Meditate. It’s incredible how powerful this technique is to release stress and clear up your mind.
- Condense. Reduce time spent on any one activity. Instead of exercising for an hour, I would do it for 30 minutes. It kept my mind going strong.
By using these techniques, I was able to get my life back into a routine. My anxiety and stress levels reduced, and my business and family grew stronger.
