Warnock: Creating a More Harmonious Work-Life Balance 

Long before my first daughter, Lola, came along, I already had a newborn I was raising—my business. Although I’ve said before that building a business is a lot like raising a child, I only realized after having my daughter that raising a child and simultaneously growing a business presents a whole new world of challenges. And if your spouse also works, it can be especially difficult to find time to spend together or have a few moments alone.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from taking on dual roles, but I would encourage others to consider these tips on how to find a better work-life balance:

Establish shared roles and responsibilities.

To create as close to a well-oiled machine as possible—with a few squeaks here and there—it takes the work of a small army. In this case, my wife, Desiree, and I formed that army and agree on how to divide and conquer the tasks that it takes to run our household using a scheduling and task app to help us keep track. We realized just telling each other and nodding in agreement didn’t work because five minutes later, I’ve already forgotten who was going to be handling errands and who was on top of the laundry, so we developed this system instead. Since my head is primarily in my business, the app helps me remember where I promised to help.

You can also try to alternate roles and responsibilities so neither of you feels weighed down. However, there may be some responsibilities one or both of you prefer to keep full-time. For example, I take on the cooking, and Desiree’s got the laundry covered. We share the role of raising our kids because it gives us both bonding time and moments to step away and handle our businesses.

Remember—home is a partnership, not “she is responsible for this,” or “he is responsible for that.”

Accept that it’s OK to multitask sometimes.

While I’m typically against multitasking when it comes to work, I’ve learned it does fit when you have a child and a business. Here, you can—and actually have to—do many things at once. Indeed, I am that person who made bottles and went on stroller walks while conference calls.

Don’t feel guilty about multitasking in this sense. I find that because it’s two separate areas of my life, my focus remains laser sharp. However, when I try to do this in business, I find myself being less productive. It works differently depending on the person, so you may have to experiment to see which activities fit together before you find your sweet spot.

Allow yourself to delegate responsibilities.

When I just had my business, it was easy to be somewhat of a control freak about it. I wanted to handle as much as I could myself to conserve resources and didn’t think anyone would care about it as much as I did. Remember that delegating is part of the growth process in business. And although no one will care as much as you do, that is ok!

Delegating is ideal when you find the right talented individual who you can trust and who wants to feel like an owner in how they deliver on their projects. Since delegating more work to my expanding team, I’ve been able to actually find some personal and quality time to spend with the family. These are priceless moments I would not have enjoyed without being able to delegate and offload certain tasks.

Squeeze more time out of each day by resetting your internal clock.  

Work while others sleep. This is a BIG one for me.

I keep even less traditional work hours than I ever did because I’ve learned I can get an incredible amount of work done when the rest of the house is asleep. Plus, I don’t find myself feeling guilty working and not giving my loved ones any attention. This also leaves me time during the day and early evening where I can enjoy my family. It takes time to adjust your body clock, but it helps you to feel like you are remaining productive while being available for your child or children.

It is also an ideal strategy for anyone who finds themselves not being able to maintain a regimen because their company or life is throwing them too many unexpected curveballs. When my day has gone off track, I know that I can make up the time while others sleep, and that helps bring the stress level back down.

Remember that perfection does not exist.  

Don’t fixate on perfectionism. This doesn’t mean to throw quality to the wind. It just means you should stop fixating on things. You can always put something out there and tweak it later. Not everything is going to be ideal, or your day may not go as planned, but that’s OK.
For me, instead of striving for perfection, it has become more about enjoying what I am able to accomplish and watching the results of my efforts.

Choose to live the dream.

Watching my daughters and son grow and develop reminds me to focus on the very miracle of life and those moments that we should stop and savor. On the other hand, when I’m able to participate in a creative experience at work, it ends up being an amazing experience. Raising children and building a business reminds me that I’m fortunate enough to be involved in shaping more than one miracle at a time.

When stress hits, I remind myself to be grateful for Desiree, our three blessings, and the business. It can be done. We can raise great kids and have a great business—with the right mindset.