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How This Founder Radically Reshaped His Workweek -- And Balanced His Life By meticulously compartmentalizing his workweek, an entrepreneur is able to be more present at work and home.

By Sonny Caberwal

This story appears in the July 2017 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

Jagroop Bal

A few years ago, I began laying out my week on a spreadsheet -- all 168 hours of it -- to see how I allocate my time. It's an eye-opening exercise. About 30 percent is sleep, and 30 percent is work. Then family and friends get 25 percent, and the rest is learning and general maintenance. I also realized I wasn't always making the most of those hours; I was squandering time, which is the one thing I can't get more of. For example, I have three young children -- but getting home to put them to bed at 8 p.m. wasn't quality time. I'd rather be around from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. And sometimes I was so busy working on my own projects that I had no time to relax.

Related: How to Manage Time With 10 Tips That Work

So I came up with an experiment. I'd compartmentalize my time to make sure I spent quality hours on the things that mattered. The big one: Rather than work a normal workweek, I'd divide it up -- the first four days at work in New York, and then Friday through Sunday at home in North Carolina. I'd front-load the week with work, then dwindle down to spend more time with family and friends: 18 work hours on Monday, 14 on Tuesday, 10 on Wednesday, 6 on Thursday and 4 on Friday. When you add it up, that means more family time than if I just went home for dinner every night. It also means more-focused work time.