BizSugar.com › Self-Development › Balancing Work and Life: Me Time

When Amanda Raab started online jewelry business PurePearls.com in 2004, she was excited, motivated and energetic. Less than two years later, she was just plain exhausted.

Like many entrepreneurs, Raab learned the hard way that she needed to maintain a more healthy balance between the work she loved and the personal life she neglected. Many business owners say they get "consumed" by their work, to the point where their relationships, family life and even health are compromised. And ultimately, the business begins to suffer too, as enthusiasm is replaced with fatigue and creativity is deadened by a work ethic in overdrive.