Balance and the most important 'job' in my life

In my life, and it's likely that it's similar in your life, I've got a number of different roles and responsibilities.....Business Owner, Financial Planner, School Governor and Husband.  Whilst I take all the responsibilities with these roles incredibly seriously, there's one which stands out.  It's the one I learn the most from and receive both the most enjoyment and satisfaction, and if you either know me (or even if you've met me once!) the one I talk about the most.  It also stands head and shoulders above all others as being the most important role in my life, and that's being a dad.  However, I sometimes find that trying to get the balance right between the time I spend building a business, looking after my clients and ensuring I'm living up to my out of work responsibilities means that I'm usually pretty busy....and sometimes the most important 'job' in my life gets far less attention than it deserves.

However, life is a lot better now than it once was. Running a business provides one benefit which I underestimated when entering into it, and that's more control of my own time.  Since I started my business I've found that if I need to take an afternoon off to go to a school assembly, sports day or nativity I'm normally able to.  Whilst the 'day job' still needs to be done, I find that I have far more flexibility to do this than I was able to in my days working within a more corporate environment.  When Charlotte was younger circumstances meant that I had to be in the office consistently, often working long days and having to bring work home with me to complete.  While Charlotte is a lovely little girl and hasn't suffered from not seeing me as much when she was younger, I still feel slightly guilty about not being around as much during her formative years.  As Sophie now grows up I'm going to try not to make the same mistakes. 

Am I going to ever get the right balance, probably not....but I find that as I understand what I missed with Charlotte (and not wanting to make the same errors as Sophie grows up) I tend to 'waste' less time on issues that don't matter as much so I can spend more meaningful time with my girls.  So...I'm interested to hear your thoughts.  How do you make sure you're spending enough time with the family?  How do you get the right mix between work and life?  What are your 'top tips' to ensure your work / life balance is right?