Greater minds than I have warned of the importance of striking a healthy work-life balanceemphasizing physical, psychological and social benefit. But taking time off, going to the gym three times a week, and practicing meditation can feel like a tall order for a busy entrepreneur.

So you find what works. Maybe it's not getting up at 5am and doing cardio every day, but a weekly Pilates class to keep you going. Or maybe you're better fueled by time with friends than a meditation session.

Here are my tips to improve your routine as an entrepreneur and achieve a balance between rest and business success.

Related: Is it possible to balance a career and personal well-being? 26 Entrepreneurs share their advice

Plan breaks throughout the day

They say that sitting is the silent killer — Our sedentary lifestyles bring many risk factors and implications for our health. While regular exercise is the goal, taking intermittent breaks throughout the day to stand and stretch will help mitigate these risks, at a minimum.

Health professionals recommend taking a rest for 5-10 minutes for every hour spent at your workstation. Stand up, walk around, change position, etc. It also helps engage the back, neck, hips and hand LIES in your routine as well.

Another common ailment experienced by us computer warriors is eye strain. REHEARSE The 20-20-20 rule to relieve eye stress. Use it blue light filter glasses to reduce eye strain, improve mental health and support a healthy sleep pattern.

These small but powerful improvements ensure you get the most out of your short breaks during the day, improving your physical and mental health and preventing future postural, muscular and eye problems.

Don't cheat your days out of the office

are you fully”disjoint“When do you take time off? When it comes to days away from the office, it's important to give your mind (and laptop) a break. That means not checking Slack messages, not attending to emails, and not answering calls of panicked customers (unless absolutely necessary).

Have I always signed in on my vacation days? Not guilty as charged. But as I've come to understand the importance of family time (for my sake and theirs), I see this “off the radar” approach as essential. Today, that's a huge privilege, given the support of my team, but even when I was a solopreneur, I found ways to sign on, even for a day or so.

Don't cheat yourself out of free time. If your business structure and capacity allow, hold yourself accountable for getting one real holidaysturning off your notifications and postponing work for another day. Most likely, everything will be fine once you get back.

Related: 9 things you should do to have a vacation without work (Infographic)

Get to know the “must-haves” vs. “nice-to-haves”

Most entrepreneurs are creative thinkers. We are the “big ideas” people of the world. This makes us prone to distract ourselves from the other shiny objectdirecting our attention away from our most important priorities and goals.

The result of pursuing these “nice to have” ideas is overwhelm, wasted investment, and burnout. When we pursue new ideas without clarity and goals, our priorities become confused and we have less space in our days for planning and rest.

I'm particularly guilty of this – that's why I have mine “no” person (my COO). It keeps my ideas in check, helping me decide “must haves” versus “my goodies.” This not only helps keep my company on track, but also ensures that I spend my productive time on critical tasks, leaving enough time for rest.

Find activities that fuel you

Many guides on how to achieve a work-life balance just don't resonate with my unique interests and goals. For example, I am not a chill, morning meditator or yoga person. But I find that spending time with my family nourishes me more than anything. I appreciate traveling, meeting new people and going out to delicious restaurants.

The key to balancing your routine it's finding what feeds you. For you, that might be morning walks, playing with your dog, hitting the pickleball court, or hitting up friends for Happy Hour. Identify the activities that best support your physical, social and emotional health and make time for them.

Traditional advice would have you believe that you should structure your day in a certain way – eg, waking up early in the morning, exercise routine, time blocking, etc. In reality, everyone acts differently. Find the things that fuel you, structure your day in a way that makes you feel productive yet rejuvenated, and time schedule for the things that feed your soul.

Related: I am very busy – yet I still have a lot of free time. Here are 10 tricks I use to enjoy my life

Know the early signs of burnout

Like a thief in the night, burning sneaks up on you when you least expect it. It might seem like one month, you're at the top of your game, then suddenly, you're a couch potato with enough willpower to reach for the fridge for a soda. The objective is not to allow it to reach this point, but this requires the ability to detect burn marks early.

This may look different for different people, but in general, signs of burnout include constant fatigue (that doesn't improve with rest), a struggle to stay focused and motivated, feeling more nervous and overwhelmed than usual, withdrawal from social and inexplicable interactions. health issues. Basically, if you're feeling “weird” and you're not sure why, burnout could be just around the corner.

The good news is that if you catch these signs early, you'll be better able to mitigate the damage. You may need to reduce your schedule more vacations on your day, vent with a friend or book a vacation. Resist the lust for power through; the mental and physical implications of burnout are no fun!