Never stayed in office past 5 pm on Tuesdays: Netflix co-founder shares his secret of work-life balance

It is important to strike a work-life balance even when you are the boss. Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph has revealed how he managed to strike a balance between his professional and his personal life in his career spanning over thirty years. Like they say, work is only a part of your life, it is not your whole life. Obsessively working 24*7 can not only take a toll on your mental health, it may also adversely affect your personal life.

Randolph, in a long Linkedin post, revealed how he left the office every Tuesday at 5 pm to spend time with his wife. He added that he did not let meetings and conferences come in the way of his Tuesday schedule, "I've worked hard, for my entire career, to keep my life balanced with my job. In my book, I write about my Tuesday date nights with my wife. For over thirty years, I had a hard cut-off on Tuesdays. Rain or shine, I left at exactly 5 pm and spent the evening with my best friend. We would go to a movie, have dinner, or just go window-shopping downtown together," he wrote.

He further added that he let no professional commitments get into the way of his date with his wife. Randoph said, "Nothing got in the way of that. No meeting, no conference call, no last-minute question or request. If you had something to say to me on Tuesday afternoon at 4:55, you had better say it on the way to the parking lot. If there was a crisis, we are going to wrap it up by 5:00." The Tuesday date nights with his wife put his work in perspective.

Randolph added that he never wanted to be like entrepreneurs on their 7th startup and 7th wife. He wanted to remain committed to his companies and wife at the same time. In fact, Randolph says that he is most proud of the fact that he could start his companies while staying married to the same woman.

"I resolved a long time ago to not be one of those entrepreneurs on their 7th startup and their 7th wife. In fact, the thing I'm most proud of in my life is not the companies I started, it's the fact that I was able to start them while staying married to the same woman; having my kids grow up knowing me and (best as I can tell) liking me, and being able to spend time pursuing the other passions in my life," he added.