1385: [Part 2] How I Achieve Work Life Balance Despite Working Full Time, Running 3 Businesses And Caring For 2 Kids by Steve Chou

[00:00:00] In the lecture or the meeting did not pay attention and lost the thread? No problem! With the new foldable Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 with Galaxy AI. With Galaxy AI you can change language recording easily in text

[00:00:14] and you can let it together with the Notizen Assistant in few points of view or let it slide. Super practical if you want to shine over-sense notes later. Galaxy AI is here. Experience more about the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 on Samsung.de This is Optimal Work Daily, Episode 1385.

[00:00:33] How I Achieve Work Life Balance Despite Working Full Time, Running 3 Businesses And Caring For 2 Kids, Part 2 by Steve Chou of mywifequitterjob.com And I am Dan, welcome back and today's episode is actually a continuation from yesterday.

[00:00:48] So if you are new here or you're skipping around I would recommend listening to that episode first. That's the Monday Show, Episode 1384. But if you are all caught up we can get right to Part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:01:01] How I Achieve Work Life Balance Despite Working Full Time, Running 3 Businesses And Caring For 2 Kids, Part 2 by Steve Chou of mywifequitterjob.com 2. Periodically Re-evaluate Your Goals Once you have your priorities straight it's time to revisit them from time to time.

[00:01:23] Several years back there was a time when my wife and I got so caught up in trying to grow our businesses quickly that we started neglecting other more important areas of our lives.

[00:01:32] We started changing up our schedules to grow our company as opposed to the other way around and we found ourselves getting burned out. In fact at one point things got so bad that we were fighting constantly and took a break from our businesses to talk about it.

[00:01:45] And you know what? We quickly realized that we were already making more money than we could spend and that we needed to revisit our priorities. Let's be realistic here. My wife and I are inherently frugal people. We're not showy, we don't buy expensive things

[00:01:58] and we both spend way less than we make. So why are we busting our butts trying to eke out every last dollar from our business? What's the point of sacrificing our livelihood to grow something that will cause us to work more instead of less

[00:02:11] for something that we don't really need with our current lifestyle? Every time things get out of hand we now make a conscious effort to remember what we need out of life. By now we have a pretty good idea of what makes us happy and we work towards it.

[00:02:25] 3. Block off time for your family and friends As I mentioned before, weekends are reserved for family and friends and there are very few exceptions to this rule. Right now weekends are the only days where I get to spend large chunks of time with the kiddos

[00:02:38] and I don't want to be one of those parents that rarely hangs out with their children. Aside from hanging out together as a family it's also very important for me to spend one-on-one time with my wife.

[00:02:48] In fact this is one of the many reasons that I decided to go down to four days a week at my day job this year. Ever since we had our first child, everything has been about the kids. Did you feed them? Did you bathe them?

[00:02:59] Did you make sure they did their homework? Did you schedule their dentist appointment? Did you remember to sign them up for piano? Up until last year having kids was all about self-sacrifice and it was starting to take its toll on our psyche.

[00:03:10] So every Friday my wife and I have a private lunch at a nice restaurant and then spend the afternoon together and let me tell you these Friday afternoon dates were just what our relationship needed. Number four, say no to everything that detracts from your goals.

[00:03:25] I'm not very good at many things but one thing I am good at is prioritizing my day and dropping unnecessary tasks on the floor. In fact this one aspect of my personality tends to annoy my wife to no end. Here's what our conversations are sometimes like.

[00:03:38] Wife, can you throw away your old clothes? I swear you've had some of this stuff since college. Me. I've had them since high school actually and I'm waiting for everything to come back in style again. Wife. Well, the closet is overflowing right now. Please clean it up today.

[00:03:54] Me. What? No. Why would I do that today? Wife. Because this is on my task list and I want to check it off the list. Me. What is the relative priority of this task compared to

[00:04:06] and this is where I read off a long list of things on my plate. Did you not want me to work on math homework with my daughter? Did you not want me to attend my son's performance? Wife. Ah!

[00:04:17] Now I'm not saying that you should say no to your wife because that could have negative consequences in your life but you need to be able to put off anything that detracts from your more important objectives.

[00:04:27] Honey, if you're hearing this, cleaning out the closet is very important to me but just not right this moment. Be laser focused towards designing the lifestyle that you want because as soon as you start committing yourself to random activities it becomes a slippery slope.

[00:04:41] And five, define your time and stop wasting it. Achieving work-life balance is also about personal perception so if you can be more efficient with your time then you will have more of it. One thing that helps my productivity is planning out

[00:04:55] and setting aside blocks of time for certain tasks. When I don't do this, I tend to waste time watching YouTube or browsing Facebook. By providing a little more structure to my activities I find myself completing my tasks at a much faster rate

[00:05:08] and can fully relax during the unslotted blocks of time on my calendar. Conclusion I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my lifestyle and how I handle all of the various activities on my plate but I do have one confession to make. Ever since I've had my kids

[00:05:23] I still have not figured out the concept of kid-life balance. If you look at my schedule, all day Saturday and most of Sundays fully devoted to kids' activities and even during the week they sometimes have activities or homework to do which require my attention.

[00:05:41] You just listened to part two of the post titled How I Achieve Work-Life Balance Despite Working Full-Time Running Three Businesses and Caring for Two Kids by Steve Chu of mywifequitterjob.com This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Do you ever find yourself getting caught up in comparison

[00:05:58] seeing the successes of others and wishing your life looked the same? If so, then you know how difficult it can be to manage these feelings. Therapy can help you focus on what you want instead of what others have so you can start living your best life

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[00:06:29] It's entirely online designed to be convenient, flexible and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists any time for no additional charge. Stop comparing and start focusing with BetterHelp Visit BetterHelp.com slash workdaily today

[00:06:47] to get 10% off your first month That's BetterHelp H-E-L-P.com slash workdaily Through a series of personal interviews Steve uncovers the exact strategies that led to their success. Again, that's called the My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast with Steve Chiu

[00:07:22] and you can find it wherever you get your audio. And with that we have reached the end of our episode and today's show I thank you as always for being here and for clicking subscribe or follow in your podcast app We really appreciate that

[00:07:34] and I'll see you right back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.