“You want to know my occupation? I get paid to rock the nation!” — Kool Moe Dee (I Go To Work)
Me: Sorry I’m running a bit late. Today’s my son’s birthday.
Investor X: Oh really? That’s great! How old is he?
Me: *Checks watch* 7 hours.
I love when people ask me about work/life balance. Especially when they know that I have a multitude of children. There really is no such thing as a work-life balance. Only work addictions and life sacrifices.
As an entrepreneur, we’re addicted to our startups. As a human, you are probably addicted to other things. One of my other main addictions is my family.
A lot of us probably started as entrepreneurs thinking that “being our own bosses” would make for more “me time” and more “family time”. Now that I’m passionately building MeterFeeder, I’ve realized that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’s important to know you don’t work for yourself. For example:
- You work for your shareholders. They gave you money. Show appreciation for the faith they had in you.
- You work for your customers. Keep giving them the products that they rely on you for.
- You work for your employees. It’s your job to help foster their growth.
- You work for your employees families. You had better make sure there’s enough money in the bank to cut them a check every two weeks.
- You work for your family. They need you to be strong and set an example.
To maintain these addictions, I use every non-narcotic life hack in the book to retain something that resembles sanity. I use these methods to increase my work capacity, to set myself up for success. I do this every day, except Sunday.
Wake-up early.
I wake up at 4AM every day to leave enough time for myself to get everything done.
Write emails.
Getting through my inbox before anyone is awake helps get the day get off on the right foot. Turn on some white noise and muscle through it!
Read or listen to someone smarter than me.
Whether it’s news, a podcast, or my social feed. I find a way to stay informed on relevant information.
Work Out.
Some people work out for hours. I do not. Jump rope, heavy bag, body-weight exercises. The end. I get a few of my kids involved if I’m in the mood to have fun.
Make breakfast for your family.
I’m currently maintaining an intermittent fasting schedule, so I only eat from noon to 7PM every day. This is one of the most important parts of my day. Since I’m usually awake before everyone else, I’ll make sure breakfast is ready. This gets everyone around the table bright and early, and we can talk and have fun together. It’s a lot more meaningful than everyone pouring themselves a bowl of cereal and going to watch TV by themselves.
Clean!
I made the mess. The least thing I could do is clean the dishes from the previous 24 hours.
Go to work!
This one you probably saw coming… You have to keep your employees accountable. If you show up to work, so will they.
Eat lunch on time.
Everyone knows not to ask me a question at 11:45am. I’m much nicer by 12:15pm.
Go home on time.
It’s important not to overwork yourself every day. Are there going to be days where you need to be working 18 hours straight? Absolutely. But it better be a rare occurrence. The usual 8 hour work day probably isn’t doing you any favors anyway.
Play!
I have to wear the kids out, so they get to bed on time. Of course, it’s a good way to get a second workout in.
Dinner
Another opportunity to see some smiling faces. We finish up by cleaning the table, and loading the dishwasher for the next day.
Go to bed on time.
Kids are in bed by 8. Lights go off in the house. My evening usually winds down with some chores and chromecasting content that starts with the intensity of Alec Steele’s blacksmithing and works its way down to glass blowing and Bob Ross videos. My playlist always ends with more white noise.
You’ll have to find a routine that works for you, but the point I’m trying to make is that no matter what, you don’t have an easy job. You’re not going to be able to accommodate the entrepreneurial lifestyle without making sacrifices.
You either sacrifice time with your family, or you can sacrifice the quality of your work. Or you can follow the steps that I’ve taken and try your best to avoid both.
It’s not easy, but you probably wouldn’t have become an entrepreneur if you were looking for an easy life.
Trust me, I don’t want to wake up at 4am. Yes, it’s torture — but I’m addicted to the grind. I’m addicted to helping people avoid parking tickets. I’m addicted to increasing municipal parking revenue. I’m addicted to empowering my employees and appeasing my investors. I’m addicted to my little boys’ giggles, and I’m addicted to having a happy wife. I’m addicted, and I’m never going to quit.
