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WHEN AMANDA RAAB started online jewelry business PurePearls.com in 2004, she was excited, motivated and energetic. Less than two years later, she was just plain exhausted.

"I was spending all my waking hours on this company," says Raab, who had just finished graduate school when she decided to parlay her passion for pearls into a thriving retail business. But as she gave up her weekends, vacations and sleep — and spent many hours practically tethered to her BlackBerry — she came to the conclusion "it's not fun anymore; I don't want to do it." Once so driven, she had reached the point where "you get so exhausted and so burned out, that you get uninspired and run out of ideas."

Like many entrepreneurs, Raab learned the hard way that she needed to maintain a more healthy balance between the work she loved and the personal life she neglected. Many business owners say they get "consumed" by their work, to the point where their relationships, family life and even health are compromised. And ultimately, the business begins to suffer too, as enthusiasm is replaced with fatigue and creativity is deadened by a work ethic in overdrive.

"We live in a 24/7 high-technology global work reality, where no one is going to shut it off except us," says Cali Yost, author of "Work+Life: Finding the Fit That's Right for You," and a consultant on work-life strategies in Madison, N.J. But the trouble is that many entrepreneurs aren't taught how to manage workloads while paying attention to personal needs — and don't appreciate the necessity to do so until overload happens, she says.

That was the case with Teri Hansen, who started Priority Marketing, a full-service advertising and public-relations firm, in 1992 out of her Fort Myers, Fla., home. As the business grew, it literally "took over my house," she says. By 2001, she had moved into office space and hired staff, but still hadn't taken a vacation and had nearly reached "the point of physical and emotional burnout." And then her health failed: A diagnosis of breast cancer, which she largely attributes to work-related stress, "made me completely re-evaluate my life," she says.

Now, Hansen has set numerous rules for herself. She starts each day with 30 minutes to an hour of "quiet time," where she reads, prays and gets "my heart and mind in focus." She refuses to miss out on her 15-year-old daughter's volleyball games or cheerleading competitions, even if they're in the middle of the day. And she makes sure to leave work early enough to unwind with regular ballroom-dancing sessions.

Hansen, who is now cancer-free, sees the near burnout "as a moment in my life where my perspective was put into the proper focus, and for that I am thankful." And she's found that distancing herself from work recharges her battery and ultimately helps the company's bottom line. Since she's incorporated the rules, the business has grown to 24 employees and about 50 clients.

James Zimbardi, an entrepreneur in Orlando, Fla., says he "did not know any better" when he started his first company, and worked "as hard as possible, for as long as possible" until he reached the burnout phase. "I was broken," he says. "The business took a big downturn, and my personal life took a big downturn." Five years later, he's at work on his second company, Allgen Financial Services, and this time, he's adhering to strict rules, such as not working on Sundays and making time for two new hobbies, sailing and salsa dancing.

"You're an extremist as an entrepreneur," he says. "You want to do this 24/7 — you want to eat and breathe it — because you are so passionate about it. But if you don't do these things, you see how these other plates start to fall."

Amanda Raab of PurePearls.com kicked long hours to the curb.

Zimbardi recommends that business owners take on partners, hire managers and assemble an advisory board to avoid "constantly feeling you're the only one who has all the responsibility and pressure." After burnout, he also attended a faith-based business program called "LifeWork Leadership," where he met other businesspeople with similar struggles. A support network, he says, can provide guidance through rough patches.

Social networks are an important — and overlooked — method for business owners to maintain a healthy balance, says Jeanne Hurlbert, a sociology professor at Louisiana State University who also runs OptinetResources.com, a Baton Rouge, La., firm that helps entrepreneurs build social-support systems.

While most business owners rely on professional networking to get sales leads or referrals, many neglect "social networking," or building close personal ties with people who can help them deal with stress, cope with illness or take care of family. "Networks don't just help us get ahead; they also help us get through," she says.

It's also important for entrepreneurs — especially those running start-ups — to keep evaluating their situations. Most business owners need to make "a large investment of time and energy" to get a business off the ground, and "that's OK, as long as you're consciously choosing this," says Yost, the work-life author. However, check in with yourself every few weeks or months, "and see if it's still working for you," she says. "If it's not, then you need to make some new rules."

That's what Raab of PurePearls did, after what she now calls "the big burnout." The new rules, which she believes has helped her company achieve revenue growth of 20% over last year, include a strict 9-to-5 schedule, work-free weekends, and vacations where staff must deal with any problems in her absence. Her BlackBerry is limited to emails (no Internet access) and her home computer is only for personal stuff, like online shopping. "It really does free up your mind a ton," she says.

("Work & Life," a weekly column written by Colleen DeBaise for smSmallBiz.com, advises entrepreneurs on how to better balance their lives. Write to her at cdebaise@smartmoney.com.)