I often joke and say, “I quit my 9-5 to work 5-9” and while that’s true for some days, when I find myself feeling that way more often than not, I take a step back and think about something that’s always in the back of my mind: work/life balance.

Yes, there will always be more emails to answer, phone calls to make & client work to do, but I didn’t start a business so I could spend less time with the people I love & more time working.

As I was sitting at the pool this weekend with my friends on a mini vacation, I thought about how great it was to take a few days to recollect and reconnect with myself. When your head is constantly buried in your work, it’s hard to see outside of the tunnel vision and you leave yourself feeling frustrated and exhausted.

Whether you’re a business owner or climbing the corporate ladder, taking time to balance your schedule is so important for not only your relationships outside of work, but for your career as well.

Today i’m sharing 5 tips for better work/life balance so you can spend more time doing what you love with the people you love and not feel guilty about not working.

Before I get started, here are a few relatable blog posts:

The Disease of Busyness & How to Avoid it

Hobby vs. Work: How to Be & Feel Productive as a Creative Business Owner

How to Separate Work from Home

5 Methods to Stay on Track with your Daily Tasks

Build down time into your schedule

I don’t know about you, but I write every single thing I have to do in my planner. Finish client website, mail rent, send invoices, go grocery shopping, yoga at 7:30. If I don’t write it down, I won’t do it; it’s that simple. Although this might sound a little kooky, it has helped me so much in making sure that I don’t work all night long.

Some ideas to build down time into your schedule:

• Give yourself working hours
• Have a space where you work (don’t take your laptop into your room or living room)
• Plan your weeks ahead of time including your workout schedule

Say no

Do you find yourself spread so thin and agreeing to things you don’t want to do? If so, you need to say no more often. This one is a hard one for me, but with some discipline it helps a lot with not feeling like you’re trying to do too many things at once.

By saying no to things you don’t have time or are not fully committed to, it might give you an extra hour or two to wind down or work on something you’ve been trying to get to.

Ways to turn down an invitation:

• “I’m sorry, I can’t make it”
• “That day doesn’t work for me, but these days do…”
• “I’m tired and I don’t want to because i’d rather binge watch friends & drink wine”.

Workout in the morning

When you wake up in the morning and get straight to answering emails, your body goes straight into reactive mode and it doesn’t get out for the rest of the day. Getting moving right in the morning and spending just a few minutes on yourself, clears your mind and gets you focused no matter what happens to you that day.

I know for me, if I say i’ll work out at the end of the day, I won’t do it or I don’t feel as fulfilled. I truly feel a difference in my mind and body when I do yoga or go for a run right when I wake up!

Here I wrote a blog post on morning routine ideas and the importance of them!

Have a social life

Having friends that you can talk to not about work is so important and you have to make sure you make time to meet with them! Whether it’s a happy hour or a netflix and wine night, having a social life takes your mind off of work and remind you what life is really all about.

I also have a deep appreciation for my circle of friends that are business owners as well. There’s nothing like getting together over cocktails and chatting about different ideas and ambitions we have for our businesses.

Some photos from this weekend with friends

Get together ideas:

• Happy hour 1/month no if and or buts
• Wine night at someone’s hour
• Monthly networking events

Unplug

With being constantly connected to our phones, it’s easy to work around the clock. Every day pick an hour or two to completely unplug and get your mind off of work. For example, when you’re sitting on the couch after the day, put your phone in your room. Completely unplugging puts you in the present moment to hang out with your partner or roommates and ask them about their day or just hang out.

How to unplug:

• No phone in the bedroom
• No work email on your phone
• When you leave your work space, no more work
• Read books: 20 books to read this summer

Work/life balance is so important and although it can be challenging (because we love our jobs!), it doesn’t have to be difficult. If you struggle with work/life balance, I suggest reading The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. It really puts life into perspective and reminds you to not take life so seriously!

I truly believe that your work should be fun and not all consuming! I also these tips help you to create better work/life balance in your daily life.