MySalary.com contributing writer Dawn Dugan posted an interesting article reminding small-business owners, like tanning salon owners, how to balance the high demands of work while enjoying a satisfying personal life. Her article, “14 Steps to Achieving Work-Life Balance,” focuses on the importance of prioritizing responsibilities on both fronts to restore the balance and harmony at work and at home.

Her 14 tips:

1. Set priorities. Dugan advises you to figure out what you want your work and life priorities to be — not what they should be.
2. Keep track of your time. Take a week, she says, to chart how much time you spend on your work and personal priorities. Is one side winning? If so, adjust.
3. Take things one step at a time. When you’re working, Dugan says, work. When you’re living life, live it. Don’t try to do both at the same time.
4. Look forward to one thing every day to live life the way you desire. Leave work out of it, she says, and set some time aside to do something you want to do, like read a book, play a round of golf or get a massage.
5. Remember your private time. Spend some time alone for you, Dugan writes.
6. Analyze your personal habits and general lifestyle. Are you getting enough sleep? Do you eat lunch at your computer? Do you work an hour longer or use that hour to exercise? Evaluate what you’re doing and adjust things to help balance your work and personal life.
7. Take a vacay. Plan and then enjoy your vacations away from work each year, Dugan advises, and leave the laptop and smart phone at home.
8. Lean on someone. Everyone needs a support system. Dugan advises you to share your new work and life goals and ask for your support group to respect your new plan.
9. You might want to hire a pro. Personal coaches can help you assess your work-life balance, she says, and can chart a course for you if you need a higher level of help.
10. Exercise. Relieve your stresses, clear your mind and you’ll be more productive, Dugan advises. Get up out of your office chair and get active to help you along your journey to balance work and life.
11. Set up some walls. Don’t let your smartphone distract you from your son’s baseball game or dinnertime with the family. When work’s over, work’s over, she advises.
12. Look up to someone. Find a mentor and follow their advice to helping you create a better work-life balance.
13. Say no when you have to. Sometimes you have to turn down requests if they don’t fit into your new balanced schedule. Don’t be afraid to say no. Overwhelming youself by taking on more, Dugan says, can destroy your new plan.
14. Periodically evaluate how you’re doing. What works? What hasn’t? Devote some time at least once a month to reflect, adjust and possibly overhaul your plan to balance work and personal life, Dugan advises.

Here’s the link to Dugan’s full article on MySalary.com.