What would you do with a better work-life balance?
Published: 22 April 2016
Business owner Sara Tye on work life balance
On 26 June this year, Sara Tye will compete in the IRONMAN Wimbleball 70.3.
The event will be the culmination of many months of training 14 hours a week at unsociable hours for the award-winning entrepreneur, top 500 international PR and business development expert.
Sara’s motivation for all this exertion is her quest for the much vaunted work-life balance, the journey and experience by
extending each day with quality training.
Many business owners struggle to achieve this balance. Last summer, a survey found that a quarter of small business owners have fallen ill due to stress and overwork.
And the effects can extend beyond physical illness according to mental health charity Mind. One in four people experience a mental illness every year – and business owners are not exempt.
With this in mind, Sara Tye, founder and managing director of redheadPR and CEO of Etape Suisse, urges her fellow business owners and employees to get active.
She says: “After working flat out for over 30 years, something had to change. I tried many things but exercise has really opened my mind. It’s reduced my stress levels massively and added a new dynamic to my life; I have extended my day and it’s helped me on the next phase of growing my business. As well as being fitter than I’ve ever been before, I’m enjoying the benefits of a more sane work life balance. Exercise also focuses my mind on wider health issues and, as a result of this, I’m focused on my nutrition and am wheat free.
I encourage and include all the people at redheadPR in my fitness quest...which I’m sure they secretly love”
Mental wellbeing means feeling good about yourself and about the world around you. It means being able to live life on your terms. And there’s compelling evidence within the NHS that mental wellbeing is linked to a physically active lifestyle.
Scientists believe exercise can help people with mild depression and that it helps protect people against anxiety. This is because physical activity is thought to cause chemical changes in the brain, which can improve our mood. This enhanced wellbeing brings about greater self-esteem, better self-control and the motivation to rise to a challenge.
The NHS suggests that adults aged 19 and over should do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity – such as fast walking or cycling – per week.
