How to achieve work-life balance as a small business owner

If you’re a small business owner, it can be difficult juggling all the things on your plate. Striving to have a work-life balance is difficult in general, but especially if you’re running a business. Our goal with the Ripl app is to make your workload easier. Here are some tips on other ways to help achieve a better work-life balance.

Schedule your social posts in advance

The best way to maintain a healthy work-life balance is by keeping to a consistent schedule. Set your regular work hours. Write a list of all the tasks you need to get done, then block space in your schedule for each task. We recommend setting aside the most difficult tasks for your most productive hours. For example, I’m most productive in the morning, so I try to get all my difficult projects done before lunch time.

The best type of schedule plan will suit your lifestyle. If you have kids, then set aside time in your schedule to pick them up from school, see them for dinner, etc. If you’re an early riser, then you might start your schedule a bit earlier than normal work hours, so you can go to bed earlier. Be creative with your schedule so that it helps you to balance the needs of your small business with your personal life.

Writing a list is the first step!

Take lots of breaks

Be sure to include time for breaks in your schedule. Taking regular breaks can lower your stress level, and allow you to be more productive at work. There are all types of things you can do during your break. To de-stress, you can meditate or take a walk outdoors. If you want some social interaction, schedule a coffee break with a colleague. Allowing yourself to take a break is the first step towards maintaining a good work-life balance.

Depend on your team and ask for help

If your business is large enough to have multiple employees, delegate tasks to your team. A good team can help you with your workload. There’s no reason to do everything yourself!

If you’re the sole employee of your business, reach out to friends or family who are there for you. If you need help with a certain task, ask a friend or family member to pitch in and help you out. Even if you just need emotional support, there are people who are there to comfort you. To paraphrase the great poet John Donne, no man (or woman) is an island!

Use tools that make life easier

Finally, we’d recommend looking at tools that can make life easier and decrease your workload. By using Ripl, you’ve taken an important first step. Our app allows you to schedule social media posts ahead of time, while allowing you to cross post on multiple social media platforms all at the same time.

Ripl's calendar tool

Although Ripl makes your marketing easier, there are many tools that can assist with your day-to-day tasks. If you need help with keeping track of your customers, look into investing in a customer relationship management system, which is basically a database that helps you keep track of customer data. If you need help with record keeping, there are many apps that allow you to store documents and notes. Look into the right tool to suit your needs.

With these tips, we hope you’ll find yourself a little closer to having a good work-life balance. It takes time to find the right balance, so don’t worry if it doesn’t happen immediately. We hope our app makes your workload easier, and helps you have more time for the personal things in life.