When you have a busy working lifestyle, it’s no secret that priorities shift and balance becomes key to ensuring everything gets the attention it deserves – relationships included. That is, according to Gilles Baudet.
Gilles Baudet is a serial entrepreneur based in Glasgow, UK, and as his role suggests, he owns and successfully runs multiple businesses. Alongside being an entrepreneur and business owner, he is a property investor, VC and business coach. All of this combined means that once the working day is over (if it ever really is) – there is little time left for, well, pretty much anything else.
Gilles Baudet has been happily married for years, and is a proud father to his two children, but how has he managed to build a national business empire and maintain a healthy and happy relationship?
I spoke with Gilles Baudet to find out more about the secret behind successfully balancing work and relationships, and he offered the following advice to anyone currently working more than the 9-5.
Plan Quality Time In Your Schedule
Spending quality time with your partner is just as important as attending a client meeting, or a business deal, or a staff event, and should be made a rock in your diary with the same priority level as anything else. Without making proper plans, it quickly becomes ‘shall we go for dinner tomorrow instead?’ and then all of a sudden, tomorrow becomes next week, next week becomes next month, and it goes on. Plan your date nights and days out and set them in stone, and commit to making time for one another.
Switch Off, Literally
It’s so easy when you’re building a business to remain in ‘office mode’ when you return home after a long day. Avoid this wherever possible, or at least set some boundaries in place. For instance, if you return home at 6pm, give yourself until 7pm or 8pm to consolidate any conversations or deals from the day and when the clock strikes, the phone or laptop goes to one side and your undivided attention then goes to your partner. This way, you can have meaningful conversations, be present, listen, have stability and just ‘be’ with each other. This kind of quality time makes a huge difference in so many ways; to your mutual happiness and to your mental health.
Create Excitement, Always
With such a busy lifestyle, it’s easy to make ‘easy choices’ when it comes to spending time with your partner. So if you’ve had a long day but you had dinner plans, it’s easy to say ‘shall we get a takeaway instead?’ and it’s a dangerous trap to fall into. Things can quickly become ordinary and mundane and lacking excitement, and when your time together is arguably limited, this is the last thing you want to happen. When you make plans or decide to do something – stick to it – but think outside the box. Rather than go to the same restaurant you always go to, try somewhere new. If you’re going away for the weekend, go all out. If you’re off for the day, get a sitter and make it something new for just the two of you. Keep things different to keep things exciting!
