[Update] Finding work/life balance 7

[milkshakelake]

thread731-500307

I had a post about some life-changing stuff earlier. In a nutshell, I was overwhelmed with work and life balance. I promised I'd update but the thread was closed automatically, so here's what changed:


1. I gave up some power and let my employees take charge of things. They have made plenty of mistakes along the way, but almost everything was able to be fixed somehow and I rely on them more. A lot of mental pressure has been lifted. This has been a life saver.

2. I'm not hesitating to hire help for things when I need it (like for cleaning my house or fixing something). I might even get a personal assistant at some point. It might not work in terms of pure ROI, but might ease the pure flood of stuff to deal with (investments, work, insurance, registrations, etc). At the same time, I'm trying to strike a balance of not hiring and expanding too quickly.

3. I stopped trying to do tangential but heavy tasks like programming things myself. I'm just one person and can't do amazing things. I'll hire a programmer if I need to, based on ROI rather than trying to accomplish cool things.

4. I let go of a huge part of my ego, which wasn't easy. I'm still sure some of it is there. But I don't have to control every little thing because "I'm the only one who can do it properly."

5. I'm spending more time with my kid before he grows up and I lose that time forever.


Stuff I need to do:

I'm still more of an engineer than a businessperson. But I've been making the transition to doing less engineering and just letting others handle it. I see business decisions as the only path forward to really reduce my live load and "automate" things.

 

[IRstuff]

Good on you for getting "it" sooner than later.

But I don't have to control every little thing because "I'm the only one who can do it properly."

This one is a REALLY tough thing to do; BTDT, but I still cringe thinking about the stuff I delegated to others who weren't up to the challenge.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[milkshakelake]

@IRstuff Yeah, it's a mental struggle of letting go of some control. I have definitely screwed up as well, but that's also part of the process of learning how to delegate.

 

[SWComposites]

#5 is very important; don't lose sight of it.

best wishes and good luck with your life adventure.

 

[milkshakelake]

@SWComposites Thank you! Yes, it's very rewarding and I will prioritize it.

 

[Aesur]

Thanks for the update, it's great to hear you are making progress with it! I'm slowly learning everything you mentioned as well, life has a way to showing you the things that are truly important, sometimes in bad ways. Keep at it and good luck!

 

[LittleInch]

I thought your user name was familiar, but couldn't remember why.

Thanks for letting us know how you've adapted and great to hear it sounds like its mainly going well.

As I get older I find some thing's just naturally fade away as the years pass so when you're looking at another 20+ years of working, things which are important or not important then change when you start looking at <10 years.

Called life I guess.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[milkshakelake]

@Aesur Good on you too, then! And good luck to you as well! We're all here to learn and grow.

@LittleInch Agreed, my priorities are much different than when I started the company, let alone when I was working for someone else or in college. I feel like a completely different person. Things just change, and we need to adapt or fall into despair. Thankfully, your advice and the others' were pretty meaningful and helped me adapt.