A 'hybrid life' marks a revision of the thinking behind 'work-life balance'. We used to look at ways to separate our time at work from our time at home, in search of balance.
The concept of a 'hybrid life' explores ways in which you’re able to balance the links between all the different roles that make up your life.
Ask yourself: “How do I combine the 'private me’, the ‘family me,' the 'me' when I'm with my partner, the 'me' when I'm doing what I love, with the professional 'me' and the ‘me’ who runs a business?”
Achieving a ‘hybrid life’ is discovering ways to be authentic across all the different roles in your life, and to be comfortable about bringing your fundamental nature and personality into those different roles.
For people running a business, finding balance and achieving a hybrid life can be especially challenging.
As with any big challenge, it helps to break it down into its components and make a plan to address each of these.
Body, Mind, Spirit
A truly hybrid life balances the needs of your body, your mind and your spirit. In order to achieve a hybrid life, it's important to start by having a conversation with yourself about the fundamentals.
Every business owner depends on their body: that's what gets you to work, takes you to meetings and powers your brain. Your body is like a car. If you don't put the right fuel in it, and you don't service it properly with exercise and sleep, eventually it won't perform as well as it could and allow you to excel and enjoy life to the fullest.
There are so many good reasons to make time to exercise. From the earliest days as co-founders of a fast-growing recruitment company, both Geoff Morgan and I have always taken time out for regular exercise, irrespective of how busy we were.
That could mean riding a pushbike to work in the morning or taking an hour at lunch time for a run or playing sport on the weekends. I know this can be a challenge for busy entrepreneurs with growing businesses because I have been there, however I also believe that it is critically important.
Along with regular exercise, your body and mind need fuel; regular meals and sufficient rest. You make better decisions and you're more effective when you get enough sleep.
Taking holidays is also important – long weekends might suit better if your business is growing fast, but time away from your business will likely help you find a new perspective on issues you may be facing.
Carving out regular moments on the weekend, where you don't attend to your phone and emails, can be another way to find that space we all need to think.