Editor's Letter

According to commercials for a certain brand of lemonade mix, summer’s sun-filled days bring fun, carefree activities, like afternoon naps, swimming at the local pond and impromptu picnics. While I’d like to believe someone somewhere is enjoying summer in these ways, I know it’s not the staff of the Recycling Today Media Group.

Despite our considerable perk of being able to leave the office at 1 p.m. on Fridays during the summer, for our staff, summer days mean preparing for the coming fiscal year. So, rather than turning the pages of the latest beach read, we’re pouring through proposed editorial calendars and media kit copy and considering budget line items.

But I know we’re not the only people taking the office home with them this summer. Many of SDB’s readers, being entrepreneurs, probably find it difficult to enjoy the so-called lazy days of summer as they prepare for their companies’ next fiscal year. With decisions to make regarding budgets, hiring, expansions, capital equipment purchases, etc., it’s not easy to let your mind wander to planning a family vacation or a weekend getaway.

Allowing yourself time to enjoy leisurely pursuits, however, is just as necessary as the time you devote to strategic business planning, as it helps you to avoid burnout and become a more effective business leader. It also enriches your relationships with family members and friends.

While entrepreneurs generally attain satisfaction from their business successes, they can also feel the stress associated with business challenges or demands from their personal lives. To help bring work and life into balance, many experts recommend defining what you want your priorities to be, delegating or dropping tasks you find unnecessary or dislike, guarding your personal time from work interferences by creating boundaries, seeking help from family and friends when you’re overwhelmed and planning fun and relaxing activities, whether they are trips to the park with your kids, photography lessons, a weekly dinner out with your spouse or movie night with a friend.

While delegating certain activities may cause you worry initially, as long as you play to your employees’ strengths, it’s bound to bring happiness in the long run. Not only will you gain time for other pursuits, be they professional or personal, you’ll also gain the satisfaction of seeing your employees blossom as a result of their newfound responsibilities.

Summer, with its supposedly slower pace and inviting sunshine, is a good time to put some of the suggestions above into practice. I’ll give them a try if you will.