The response to a post like this is balance; however, the main problem is people do not know what is "balance". The easiest thing to do is to create time boundaries
Corporate culture (including some startups I know) value face time over outcomes (input vs. output valuation). If something goes wrong, managers tend to point to face time rather than the host of other factors, so people work even when there is no need. Face time = working hard. It is a vicious cycle and creates a huge inefficiency.
The solution is to create firm... let me repeat FIRM boundaries on things you value, whether family time or time at the gym. While this creates a constraint and seems bold, it improves efficiency because most of the time we spend in the office does not create value. It is pointless meetings, calls that go to long, and mindless Facebook scrolling. If your employees or your manager knows that you will leave at X time, it is remarkable to see how efficient your colleagues become.
I just want to add that balance is what I do now but in a different way. I have read a lot of articles about how to go to sleep early and how to go to gym regularly etc. That worked... sometimes. When someone recommended "balance", I always understood that I need a fixed schedule and to stick to it. But I really can't do that (I want to go to sleep early but I'm not that tired. I will not sleep even if I go.).
What really works is what Marissa Mayer recommended: find your rhythm. So if I want to stay late and work for hours I will do just that. I also realize that maybe the next day I will not be able to work that much or at all. So I just do something relaxing the next day. Sometimes I can work a few days in a row like that. But I always know that there will be one day in which I will not even start the computer. So I think of something to do outside the house. Changing environments helps a lot. That's the rhythm.
Corporate culture (including some startups I know) value face time over outcomes (input vs. output valuation). If something goes wrong, managers tend to point to face time rather than the host of other factors, so people work even when there is no need. Face time = working hard. It is a vicious cycle and creates a huge inefficiency.
The solution is to create firm... let me repeat FIRM boundaries on things you value, whether family time or time at the gym. While this creates a constraint and seems bold, it improves efficiency because most of the time we spend in the office does not create value. It is pointless meetings, calls that go to long, and mindless Facebook scrolling. If your employees or your manager knows that you will leave at X time, it is remarkable to see how efficient your colleagues become.
Here is GOOD's post on sleep for entrepreneurs http://www.good.is/post/don-t-fall-asleep-at-the-wheel-succe...