Running to maintain a work-life balance
PHOTO/COURTESY
Ryan Leary is the co-founder of Running Start Coworking in Worcester.
Full disclosure, I'm writing this while on vacation.
Given the title that you've just read, you may be wondering how I could possibly be qualified to talk about the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. While I may not appear to be setting the best example here, I promise you that I am practicing what I preach.
Let me explain
Since I launched Running Start Coworking, I've spent the majority of my waking hours focused on building the business. It's my passion, and I truly enjoy creating work environments for collaborators, innovators and talented people of all types. Like many, that passion for my work drives me, unfortunately it also has the ability to run me into the ground physically and mentally. That all-encompassing fatigue is not uncommon, but it can be detrimental to your health, career, and personal life.
On a day-to-day level, I try to maintain a few simple practices to fend off exhaustion.
Number 1 – I exercise whenever possible. While I was in grad school, I discovered the Ironman Triathlon. It didn't take long for me to crave the physical and mental fitness that came along with endurance sport. The Ironman is a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile run. Given the distance of these races, training takes up a lot of time.
However, I've managed to incorporate it into my days, riding and/or running to and from work whenever I can. The fresh air and alone time are great for the mind and body.
Number 2 – I try my hardest to get eight hours of sleep every night. I may not always succeed but I put in a serious effort to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
Number 3 – I keep phones, tablets, laptops and TVs out of my bedroom. While it can be very hard to disconnect from these devices, whether they are for work or personal use, removing them from your sleeping area goes a long way.
Not only can the audible alerts of calls, emails and other notifications disrupt your sleep, the light emitted by the screen can prevent your body from realizing it's time to sleep. This is a tough habit to break, but I've managed to do so by replacing my phone with a book.
On the macro level, I haven't had the best track record of maintaining a healthy balance.
Over the last few months particularly, I noticed that the usual day-to-day approaches weren't having the same effect.
Even though I knew that some time off was what I needed, I tried for a while to convince myself otherwise.
Afterall, building a business takes time and focus, so how could I justify just walking away?
Inevitably, I realized that the only way to continue being productive and enjoying my work was to take a vacation.
We all need time away from our normal routine in order to refresh and live life. However, a relaxing vacation doesn't have to be traveling to a far-away destination.
It means doing something outside of the ordinary, something you enjoy, or something new to you.
Not only are you enjoying an experience that you value, but your mind is able to declutter itself.
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