Finding Balance

Your Time

Make Time, a Plan, and Make it Real

No one can immerse himself or herself in work nonstop and maintain a healthy sense of perspective. Finding the proper balance between your work and personal calendars just takes a little strategy and forethought. This summer is a great time to start.

Here’s how:

Make time for family. The summer is the perfect time to make a new commitment to spending time with your family. You don’t necessarily have to work less. All you need to do is integrate your family into your world. Maybe you can coordinate this year’s family vacation with one of your business trips, or while the kids are out of school, they could come to your business every now and then to interact and see how you run things. As a bonus, you’re teaching kids the importance of pursuing their passion in life.

Make a plan and stick to it. You know that work schedule you’ve been following to build a profitable company? Well, now is a great time to create a plan for your personal life. Grab a calendar for the summer months and get to work! If you’ve got kids who will be playing on sports teams this summer, go ahead and decide now on the number of games you think you will be able to attend. Figure out which games on their schedules work the best with yours, then mark these dates on the calendar. Doing so ensures you’ll give these family events the same weight you would a critical client meeting.

If you go on vacation, make it a real one. A real vacation doesn’t involve having a cell phone attached to your ear, a laptop that is constantly alerting you about new e-mail, or a BlackBerry that can be carried every place you go so that you don’t lose touch with the business for even a second.

To avoid these activities, leave detailed instructions about what constitutes an emergency with whomever will be looking after the business while you are gone, and tell them to contact you only if such an emergency happens.

Common sense is really the best barometer for balancing your life with your work, no matter what the season. Always ask yourself with each decision you make, “How will this affect my business?” and “Can I personally live with this decision?” There is a healthy balance for you, and you can find it.

 

Flying High

Linda Warren, Warren Air Video and Photography

Warren Air Video and Photography provides aerial and ground photography and videos throughout Southern California. Contractors use the aerial photos to document the progress of construction projects for their marketing materials, and realtors use them to promote property locations. To capture the scenic images, owner Linda Warren uses Robinson helicopters and Cessna airplanes for her business.

For more information about Warren Air Video and Photography, visit www.warrenair.com or call (818) 899–5974.