By Erin Daniels, The KNOW Women
As high-achieving and ambitious businesswomen, the desire to consistently achieve more is always on the forefront of our minds. From scaling and expansion to brand new business ventures, there is consistently a goal we are trying to reach. This determination is what leads us to be highly successful. Nonetheless, this willpower also often leads to the struggle to achieve work-life balance and maintain a healthy relationship with our career. Taking time for yourself and your health is vital to living a successful life as well as running a successful business.
When people think of self-care, images of manicures, facemasks, and mimosas often pop into their heads. While these activities can definitely be a part of it, true self-care is carried out on a much deeper and more consistent level. Are you staying up too late working and not allowing yourself proper sleep? Are you interacting with friends and family, or canceling plans to focus on work? Do you allow yourself time to engage in your hobbies? Answering these questions honestly can help you start evaluating where in your life you could use more balance. We often hear the excuse “I don’t have time,” but there are plenty of ways to weave daily self-care into your routine that will help you consistently be the best version of yourself.
We asked our high-achieving KNOW women different ways they work toward work-life balance. Follow along on our four-part mini-series to learn about implementing self-care through intentional morning routines, journaling and meditation, and various applications and tools.
What tools are you using to create more balance in your life? (apps, programs, checklists, trackers)
Sometimes I can meditate successfully without the assistance of an app, but Headspace helps me meditate more often because it gives me direction when I have trouble focusing. It’s a great app for beginners who are new to meditation and don’t know what to do. Another tool I use to create balance is iPhone’s ability to implement time limits on apps. This way, I can check in on Instagram or other social media apps on my phone, but I have it set to “lock” after my desired time in the app. This keeps me accountable for how much time might be wasted when I get caught up in the feeds. It also has a weekly report each week that I check often, so I can decide if certain app limits need to be adjusted.
-Jennifer Testamarck, MakeJoy Studio
I have done the apps, the checklists, and the trackers…. I love to write, so a list is always the best for me. If it’s to keep track of appointments, my outlook calendar is essential. If it’s things I need to get done, I use The Happy Planner! I love it!! it has inserts for things that I need such as projects and timelines and it makes me happy. I have found the best thing to help create more balance in my life is to make time to check in with myself and make sure I am being present. It’s so easy to get lost in the day-to-day.
-Juanice Oldham, ForefrontI keep a running to-do list. Every morning when I get to work I will write down the 3 most critical tasks I want to accomplish that day first and then the minor things second. For this, I use an old-fashioned pen and paper. It gives me a huge sense of accomplishment to be able to scratch off a task.
–Camilla Tulloch, Inceptus Cybersecurity
I use the free app HabitShare to track daily activities that are important for me. My habits that are tracked there include: Workout, Read, Pray, & Meditate. I also block time in my calendar on Fridays for personal time.
–Alison Stine, Stine Wealth Management
I use Headspace for meditation. For my morning yoga, I have been practicing Kundalini. Also, I use Planmore for my calendar because it has checklists and reminders all in one.
–Carrie Juliao, Douglas Elliman
I personally like to keep things simple. If we try to incorporate too many checklists, etc. it defeats the purpose of creating a self-care routine that works. I personally use a paper planner and Google Calendar when it comes to basic planning. When scheduling calls with clients, I use Keap to stay organized and Trello to manage client accounts. The important thing to remember is that we are all different and our needs vary, so we should choose the tools that work well for the lifestyle we desire to live.
–Genesis Hey Krick, Dream Ignite Build Inc.
To create balance in my life, I find that I need to have a schedule for each day. I use Basecamp to map out my professional tasks for the day, but then I use a handwritten daily calendar for my personal tasks. This helps me keep the two separate, and by visualizing it, I can make sure I don’t overcommit to any one day and can balance out the week. Other apps that I use frequently are Peloton to track workouts, Weight Watchers to track food and water intake, and Calm for meditations.
-Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
