New Delhi: Needless to say, being an entrepreneur is immensely fulfilling because of the complete freedom you get from pursuing what you truly believe in. But that also comes with long, erratic, and vigorous hours that can be taxing because you are the one making all the decisions.
Lines between personal and professional lives start becoming blurry, and before you know it, non-existent, and the drive and motivation with which you first began, can sometimes start to fade somewhere along the way owing to never-ending work.
This is why it becomes very important to be able to differentiate life from work, successfully, because success means nothing without self-satisfaction and happiness.
To me, the family has always been a source of my happiness and spending time with them always takes my stress away! Even when I started my own company, my family were my biggest cheerleaders and that continues to date, but I always ensure the right amount of balance between quality time with them and work.
My mom has always and will be my inspiration in life. Just growing up with her has made me look at the world with such a sanguine perspective, and I've tried imbibing all of her traits to the highest potential, though I'm sure I cannot achieve the level of perfection with which she has led her life. She has absolutely never let her work come in the way in which she has always supported her family and I think when you grow up with such an ideal role model, you start to easily see right from wrong.
Now that I'm a mother myself, I realise the effort that goes into maintaining that balance can be quite tricky and can lead to slip-ups ever-so-often if you're not extremely mindful. So, I too, am continuously trying to be the same mother to my kids, albeit not as nonchalantly! In my personal life, I practise a few lessons to maintain this balance. Like, when I'm on a trip with my family I ensure that I don't let work-related stress or even work calls for that matter take me away from being present in that moment, additionally, I try to not check emails post 8 pm unless absolutely essential. I manage my time effectively and get the most done during work hours so I can just as effectively spend quality time with my husband and kids at home.
Entrepreneurship comes with its own set of challenges. For example, as is the case when you're starting anything from an idea's incubation, building it up further requires a lot of your time. This means weekends usually look lonely, the hours in the day feel insufficient compared to the quantum of work, the inspiration tends to start running low when you're not seeing adequate results in the short-term and this can lead to frustration to a point of sometimes even giving up. Having sailed in the same boat, I can vouch that a family's encouragement and presence on a bad day make all the difference. If there is one thing I endorse, it is not losing yourself in the process of building something new because it would've been all for naught.
A few tips to ensure striking the optimum balance would be to structure and plan the day better with the goal to achieve maximum output in between work hours so you can utilise the rest the way you'd like. Another would be to remove a mandate on 'me-time' during the day. For me, it would be my morning runs and workout time. Lastly, spend as much time with your loved ones as you possibly can. Nobody will have your back as they do!
(Vineeta Singh is the Co-founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics)