How Business Owners Can Balance Family Life And Work

The modern entrepreneur is expected to wear multiple hats, from managing employees and finances to staying up-to-date with industry trends. However, balancing work and family life can be strenuous and often overlooked as business owners prioritize their work responsibilities. In this article, Dennis Bonnen will discuss eight recommendations for business owners to juggle their work and family life effectively.

1. Establish A Routine

Creating a work schedule and routine can help a business owner set clear boundaries between work and family life. Establishing a program reduces the likelihood of overworking or bringing work home, ensuring that personal time is not disrupted. Additionally, a routine promotes time management, allowing a business owner to allocate the necessary time and resources for work and family throughout the day.

2. Delegate Responsibility

As a business owner, delegating tasks can alleviate a sizable workload. Delegating tasks to employees with the necessary skills and qualifications can free up time for personal commitments. An increased volume of work can lead to burnout and may deteriorate mental well-being; it is essential to know when to delegate.

3. Prioritize Time Management 

Effective time management is vital to balancing work and personal life. Creating an action plan or to-do list for the day or week can help a business owner identify critical tasks and ensure they are completed. Time-management tools such as calendar apps can organize their schedule, preventing overlaps and scheduling conflicts.

4. Take Advantage Of Technology 

Technology tools can increase efficiency and productivity, allowing business owners to complete tasks quickly. Advanced software can automate processes, such as scheduling posts on social media platforms, freeing up time for other activities. Technology tools like video conferencing can save time, reduce travel costs, and enable work-life balance.

5. Communicate With Family 

Business owners need to communicate with families to ensure their understanding of the owner's responsibilities and time constraints. Communication with family members about work commitments beforehand is essential to avoid last-minute changes that may clash with personal obligations. Be straightforward about how workdays may be long, certain work obligations may unavoidably extend into private hours, and how the family should adjust to accommodate these occurrences.

6. Schedule Family Time 

As much as a business owner prioritizes work commitments, a business owner should also dedicate time to family activities. Quality family time can provide a much-needed break from work and increase happiness. Delivering family promises can be challenging for the business owner, but it's essential to prioritize leisure time without getting preoccupied with work responsibilities.

7. Take Time For Self-Care 

Business owners must ensure good mental and physical health and allocate time for self-care activities. Exercise, meditation, or a massage session can help reduce stress and increase energy levels. Creating a balance between work and personal life will likely positively affect your mental well-being and physical health, which should thus be deemed necessary.

8. Seek Support 

Some business owners find that staying connected with the community and seeking support is essential for a healthy work-life balance. Joining or forming a support group of like-minded entrepreneurs can help business owners improve their experiences and provide professional and personal growth opportunities. Additionally, seeking professional help from qualified therapists and coaches can provide business owners with the necessary guidance and support to maintain a work-life balance.

Conclusion

Balancing work and family life can be challenging, especially for business owners. As someone who has been working in the business industry, Dennis Bonnen knows full well how it's essential to maintain this balance as it ensures positive mental well-being and improved physical health. Creating a routine, delegating less urgent tasks, prioritizing time management, utilizing technology tools, communicating with family, self-care activities, and seeking support are all effective ways to juggle work and personal life. Business owners should try to employ these methods and find what works best for their specific situation to maintain balance.

Get Food Delivery With Bootler

Today's post is sponsored and as always, all opinions are mine

Aren't you happy that we live in the information age? If you want to know something, you simply grab your phone or computer and look it up. What happens when you're at home and dinner time is coming up and you don't feel like cooking? You would normally consider eating out, but there are those times you don't want to leave the house. You can order out, but depending on the time day, you aren't guaranteed to get your food delivered when you want it.

There's a new site to help make the process of ordering take-out a little easier. Introducing, Bootler. Bootler is an online search engine for delivery food.  With Bootler, they work with over 6 different delivery services that allow users to choose a restaurant and compare prices, availability, and delivery time. This saves user's time and money. They are not the actual delivery company, but they bring together other delivery companies and then redirect you to their website. You can compare it to a hotel or car rental search site that you can compare different hotel/car chains at one time.

You can choose different types of cuisine like Chinese, Pizza, Mexican and more. You can even order alcohol and it gets delivered through a service called Saucey. Booltler is currently only Chicago based but expanding to NY by the end of the year, and eventually to more major cities soon after. Check out Coal Fire Pizza Delivery.

Get the Bootler Mobile App in the App Store. Be sure to connect with Bootler on Facebook and Twitter for updates and hopefully to see when they will be available in your city!

Plan your next birthday party with SUBWAY Catering ($50 GC Giveaway) #SUBWAYcatering

**CLOSED** The winner is Sheena Tatum-- Congratulations! 

This post is sponsored by SUBWAY, but opinions are all my own.

Planning birthday parties can be a stressful task. There's the guest list, invitations, decorations, tableware, food and so much more. If your schedule is as busy as mine, time is precious. I love to offer my guests nice food and drinks and feel like that part of party planning is the most time consuming. Sometimes just coming up with a menu will make me crazy. I have been introduced to a great way to take the stress out of party menu planning and get back the countless hours I would lose. SUBWAY Catering is here to save your sanity. The website is very user friendly and you can order your entrees, sides, dessert and drink all with a few clicks of your mouse! I did it for myself and believe me, it was life-changing! I have been party menu planning the wrong way all my life. Let me break it down for you...

The first step is to go to the SUBWAY Catering website and find a location you would like you use. Some stores even offer delivery service for more added convenience. Next, you can view the menu items which range from platters & trays, giant subs, to-go boxed meals, dessert, sides and drinks. The offerings vary by store. Here is an example of what it looks like:

You can select what types of entrees you want. I went with the Classic Combo Platter and was able to pick which variety of bread I want, cheese or no cheese and all of the toppings and sauces. 

I went with the option of having a variety of breads and I am so glad I did! If your guests might be picky about toppings, you can opt for a toppings platter so they can pick and choose as they please. Once you finish with your order, choose your pick-up date/time, you then pay for it online. You can even use a SUBWAY gift card like I did. It's a very quick process and you will receive an email with your order number. I suggest signing up for an account because YOU WILL need it for future orders. The entire ordering process took me about 20 minutes. Imagine not having to make a shopping list, go to the grocery store, shop around for ingredients or stand in line to pay for it all. Oh and you are bound to forget something along the way! SUBWAY Catering really made this task so easy. 

I threw a mini belated birthday/you-are-doing-a-super-job in school party for my son William. We purchased some Power Rangers themed decorations, plates, napkins and cups from Party City. They had everything we needed and it was easy to get in and out of the store. I called ahead to my local SUBWAY store that I placed my order to make sure it would be ready for my 11:30 AM requested pick-up time. It turned out that my order was ready ahead of schedule. I made the quick five -minute drive and my order was handed to me right away. I had such a great experience with the staff and they even offered additional plates and napkins for my party. Everything was put together so nicely.

Here are some photos from our intimate little party..

Don't these sandwiches look delicious?!

It was so nice having a variety of subs that everyone found something (or several things) they liked. The cookies were very fresh and chewy the way my family likes. 

My son is my picky eater and he enjoyed his sub. I had to take the toppings off of his. The bread was so fresh and soft, so I think that encouraged him to eat it all. Our family enjoyed everything! This was truly the easiest party I have ever planned. I was discussing future events and already know that the menu portion is taken care of. I may never cook for a party again! SUBWAY Catering platters and subs are a great choice for birthdays, graduations, office functions, class parties, field trips, sporting events and more. I had a great experience and highly recommend you give them a try!

SUBWAY Catering has teamed up with Party City for an exciting new promotion! With any SUBWAY Catering purchase, from now until May 30th, you’ll receive a special link giving SUBWAY customers $10 off a $50 order at Party City. Be sure to connect with SUBWAY on Twitter and like them on Facebook for product promotions and updates.

To help you save time on the next birthday party you plan, SUBWAY has generously offered a $50 SUBWAY gift card for one very lucky Mom Files' reader to win! Enter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on May 21, 2014. Please follow giveaway rules in Rafflecopter widget. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email. Mom Files is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Good luck!

Try Matlaw's Stuffed Clams for your Super Bowl party

I received samples for an honest review. All opinions are completely my own. 

It is football and basketball season and we have been tuning into the games as often as possible. We traditionally have friends over to watch the Super Bowl game and I have been putting together my menu of goodies to serve my guests. I was so lucky to receive some Matlaw's Stuffed Clams to review. These stuffed clams come frozen and are made from quality ingredients. 

I just love that the stuffing for these appetizers are filled into real clam shells. I used the oven bake method of cooking them. You can also grill or microwave them. I lined a baking sheet with foil and placed my clams on it. 

They went into a 450 degree oven 30 minutes and came out a gorgeous golden brown color. My kids were lured into the kitchen because of the wonderful smell that lingered in the house. 

We all tried them with a couple splashes of hot sauce for an extra kick. Oh boy, they were good! My husband really enjoyed them and my sometimes finicky teens loved them too. The stuffed clams were packed with flavor and had a light texture at the same time. The clam pieces were not rubbery at all. Overall, it was a perfect balance of savory flavors. 

I can already picture these stuffed clams on a platter lined with some fresh greens and lemon wedges for presentation at my Super Bowl party. I also love the idea of having them as a side dish when we do a crab boil. You can't beat the convenience of simply popping them in the oven or on the grill for a quick satisfying snack or appetizer. If you haven't tried Matlaw's Stuffed Clams before, I suggest you look for them. They are awesome! Right now until January 31, they are on sale for only $3.99 per tray at Food Lion stores in North & South Carolina. 

New Post-It Mobile keeps you organized, on-the-go!

Being a homemaking, mother of 3 keeps me on-the-go at all times. Now that I think about it, my entire family is always scattered all over the place... school, work, college, activities, travel and more. We try our best to stay as organized as possible. When the school year started, I purchased planners for all of us. I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to scheduling, labeling and sorting things. I was thrilled when I received the entire line of Post-It Mobile products to review. Post-It really came up with some neat ideas for busy people like myself. I was really impressed with the selection and the versatility behind this line.

Post-it Mobile products are designed be attached to items you carry like notebooks, binders, laptops, book bags, cases and more. I love that I can attach tabs to my planner so that I can keep track of the most important tasks by color. 

All you do it peel off the backing from the sticky surface. I added these cute tabs on the back of my planner so I always have them on hand when I take it to-go in my purse. 

My husband loves the convenience of having Post-It notes and tabs that are attach to his book bag for when he goes to his night college class. He gets a lot of use out of them with those enormous books he studies from!

One of my favorites is the assorted tabs and notes that fit into binders. I have this one in my family bill binder and if I need to take the binder in the carpool line to do some quick updates, I have my Post-It Mobile items already in there! Oh and even better for the carpool line, they have a clip-on portable Post-It note holder that attaches to your visor. Oh man, I just had a nerd moment!

Check out this neat highlighter with tabs and pen in one! It clips onto most anything and would be especially good at the office. It is even great for students since it can easily be attached to a lanyard.

Post-It even has attach & go pockets that fit on your laptop or the back of your tablet or planner to hold important things like business cards, documents and more. The whole family fought over picked out what they needed the most and I can see them being a great benefit for our busy lives. It's also a great way for me to use the color-coded tabs for my blog post scheduling and giveaways.

You can find out more about Post-It Mobile and Post-It products on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. I really love their Pinterest page for all the great ideas on organization. You have to check them out!

I received free products samples in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own as always.