“Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many of today’s successful businesses choose to house their employees in executive suites, because they have seen how the right space can unlock their company’s potential. Likewise, keeping your employees engaged in their work is the key to retaining them for the long term.

It is not coincidental that stock prices tend to rise more rapidly in “Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for” compared to other companies on average. Happy, engaged, balanced employees bring more energy, effort, and creativity to work and benefit your bottom line. There are endless articles and strategies about work-life balance but employers need to also remember that work and life can overlap and happiness in one effects happiness (and performance) in the other.

“Conflict is inevitable, combat is optional”- Max Lucado

Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur with global clients and partnership, an experimental start-up, or a solo freelancer, there are benefits to shifting at least some of your work into a coworking space. A Harvard Business Review study reports that people belonging to coworking spaces feel more energized, engaged in their work, and dedicated to its sustainability than employees in traditional office environments.

In the U.S., people work an average of 45 hours per week and consider 16 of those hours to be unproductive. Businesses and industries have distinct goals and derive from and build off of different resources (donations, profits, contracts, staff size, infrastructure, etc.). However, there is one resource common to and equal among all industries, projects, managers, and employees: time.

Whether an established leader or an aspiring entrepreneur, you have led something at some point in your life and can and will lead again. You may have led a friend who needed advice, facilitated a carpool for your neighborhood, arranged a retirement party for a relative, or facilitated a community volunteer event.

Verizon analyzed data on over 300 small cities in the U.S., and Alpharetta came in at 15, the only city in Georgia to make the list. Measures included income per capita, percentage of college-educated population over age 25, average total time driving to work, broadband access of at least 10 Mbps download time and 1 Mbps upload time, loans per capita, and tax scores. All these factors help set the stage to build a startup and draw in customers and partners.

Work environments have a substantial impact on mental health, just as mental wellness impacts productivity and teamwork. The Workplace Health Survey found that 80% of U.S. employees attribute workplace stress to affecting relationships and 35% miss 3 to 5 days of work per month due to stress.

‘Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort.’– Paul Meyer