There’s no such thing as a perfect life, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for what our perfect life looks like in the real world. You’re going to get sidetracked. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be. Even if you make a concrete hierarchy of what aspects of your life you hold above others, those rankings are going to shift every once in a while. You’re going to miss a ball game for a good reason, you’re going to get sick before a meeting because you can’t control the common cold, you’re going to eat too many sweets instead of going to the gym because you’re human. This is the human experience; we should learn to cope with it. The same goes for your employees.

The adage proves true to do to others as you’d want done to you. In the business world, this means showing compassion to those who make your job possible in the first place. You wouldn’t have arrived at this level of productivity without the hard work of the individuals who have proved their loyalty to your brand and mantra. Appreciation can take many forms, but it mostly manifests in how you allow your employees to deal with the stresses of their work lives and their home lives. In order to keep your workplace as stress-free as possible, it may be a good idea to look into putting a few options in place for when these two worlds inevitably collide.

Strategies like having more flexible work schedules, letting people work from home, implementing an adjustable PTO policy, or hosting events that allow work and family life to intermingle can allow for camaraderie and empathetic respect among staff members. Just think back to times you had to miss an event for work, and how it made you feel. Most employees go to work to work for something. Let them have enough time to enjoy that special something when they need it most.