If you’re an entrepreneur you’ve probably read or heard about Randi Zuckerberg’s work, sleep, friends, family or fitness, pick three. The point is it’s not easy, responsibilities fall through the cracks. I struggle with work-life balance. There’s no denying that!

With both Gary and I building our own projects, we live by erratic schedules. There is no ‘norm’ for us.

While we certainly don’t have it figured out, we spend each day striving for better balance; and lucky for us and many other entrepreneurs, technology is making it easier. Smart products help us to maintain (to the best of our ability!) the five aspects of the of the entrepreneur conundrum.

Friends: iPhone7 Plus

With both Gary and I owning our own businesses, we often have late nights and early mornings. On especially busy weeks, it can take away from quality catch up time. One thing that gets us through the chaotic weeks are a few minutes of FaceTime each day. Being able to see each other as we carry on our day really helps. Whether it’s in the back of a cab, at the airport or a quick ‘good luck’ before a big meeting feeling the support and seeing his face makes our relationship that much stronger. I recently upgraded to the iPhone7 Plus and even though the size is taking a bit of getting use to, I can certainly appreciate seeing my guy’s smile on the big screen!

Sleep: Nest Thermostat

Gary and I first introduced our Nest Thermostat’s into our homes a few months ago and not only do I feel good about the energy efficient, cost savings aspect but when I’m coming home after catching a red eye in the middle of winter, a warm house was the best ‘welcome’ I could ask for! Likewise, when we’ve had a long day of meetings and all we want to do is get home and hit the hay, our Nest Thermostat lowers the bedroom temp so we can fall asleep more easily and stay asleep longer!

Family: Nest Protect

Yes, our old alarm worked just fine but we recently replaced our traditional smoke alarm and carbon monoxide monitor with the Nest Protect, and the upgrade was worth every penny!

1. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Philosophy aside, Yes. Home or not, the alarm will go off in the event of an emergency. Will we know about it if we’re not there to hear it? Nope. Will it change the fact that we may be coming home to a disaster zone? Not really, but with the Nest Protect we can be better prepared.
2. While in the event of an actual emergency this alarm will be my saving grace; in the everyday event of cooking dinner, I don’t need to be waving oven mitts frantically clearing whatever ounce of smoke has set my alarm on high alert. The Nest Protect lets me silence the alarm by the simple tap of my smartphone. Music, read: not ringing, to my ears.
3. It just works! The perks of the Nest Protect are fantastic, and really worth upgrading for, but ultimately I love this device because it keeps me and my household safe— while we sleep, while we work and even when we’re not at home.

Fitness: Fitbit Alta 

As many things as the Fitbit Alta can do— step counter, guided meditation, activity tracker… my favorite feature is the reminder to move! All entrepreneurs can attest to working away into the wee hours of the morning not realizing they’ve been sitting for endless hours! The reminders to move each hour are often times the only thing that can snap me out of a focused day of writing!

Work: Apple iPad Pro 

I went back and forth on whether an iPad would be useful for me or not. I’m almost always on my laptop or my phone so really, what would the difference be? The answer is everything! The iPad Pro works seamlessly with all of my Apple devices and let’s me work more easily on the go. Work more effectively when you are working and give yourself time to enjoy what you’re working for!

Like most people I thought TELUS was a place to buy phones and set up your cable/wifi service. While they certainly know their way around the latest and greatest smartphones, TELUS has a broader dedication to making lives better with technology. Their newly refreshed Digital Life and new concept Connected Experience stores offer hundreds of curated products to help enhance Canadians’ increasingly connected lives. If you’re interested in learning how you can incorporate a new technology into your home, their In-house Learning Centre Experts can answer any questions and even offer one-on-one tutorials on how to use them too.

Life is all about balance and being an entrepreneur makes it that much harder to achieve. Relying on your support team, making the most of the tools available and most importantly, taking stock of all you do have can bring you that much closer to ‘having it all’!

We want to give you the chance to WIN one of the NEST products from today’s post. Tell me why you could use one of the NEST items in your home in the comments below for your chance to WIN!

**Update** Contest is now close. Winner has been announced. Congrats Chantel!!! 

Photography by M and Him Photography

Thank you to Telus for sponsoring this post. All comments and opinions are my own.