Do you feel like work is all you do? It’s not just you. According to statistics, more than 60% of American workers believe that their work-life balance is unbalanced.
Keeping track of all you need to accomplish as a grownup is difficult since it is so private. It’s not unusual these days, regardless of the business you work in, to find yourself working longer than expected or responding to emails at odd hours.
We realize you’ve got a lot on your plate, from giving your all at work to caring for yourself (and, if you have them, your kids) to attempting to visit friends and maintain your sanity.
And while it may not be possible to “have it all,” you should be able to balance what you have in order to have a happy, fulfilled life.
The following advice will help you achieve your objectives even if the path to a good work-life balance may be winding and difficult.
What Does Work-Life Balance Mean?
It’s not difficult to describe what “balance” means conceptually, but what does it imply in practice? Is it more than just attending a yoga class once a week? Most importantly, how do you decide what works in a world when the lines between work and home are becoming increasingly blurred?
The term “work-life balance” describes how people balance their personal and professional responsibilities. It’s more important to have a lifestyle where you’re not overworking than it is to divide your time equally.
A healthy work-life balance will provide you the time and energy to prioritize your personal life, including finding time to see friends, relax alone, pursue interests, and other priorities.
Your work-life balance may be impacted by a variety of things. For instance, your employer’ requirements, your responsibilities at home and at work, and your family commitments. Some of them are simpler to regulate than others, and some of them may be brought on by factors outside of your control.
Why Work-Life Balance is Important
People need diversity in their time management in order to be healthy and energized over the long term, much like in our meals.
We frequently make the mistake of thinking that we can work continuously or that an eight-hour workday translates into an equivalent amount of productivity. That is absolutely untrue, though. According to studies, after a certain amount of hours, employees really stop producing more, but the effect on their health rapidly worsens.
Married to Your Work? Consider the Cost
Lack of a healthy work-life balance may have far more of an effect than simply skipping the gym. Your job and home lives could suffer if you spend the majority of your time working. Think about the effects of a bad work-life balance:
Work-life balance affects all facets of your life by definition. However, it frequently manifests differently for many individuals. Here are 8 traits that indicate improper balance:
1. Even when you are not at work, you can’t stop thinking about it. Burnout is more likely to occur in those who struggle to set boundaries between their personal and professional lives.
2. Your interpersonal connections, both at work and outside of it, are starting to suffer. You could be aloof from loved ones and easily angered by coworkers.
3. You feel strange. You have unexplainable pains and aches. You might not have much energy or have trouble focusing at work.
4. Everything looks insignificant or boring when you aren’t working. Simply put, you don’t want to do anything until you really must. You distance yourself from your pals even more by declining invites frequently.
5. You spend a lot of money hiring outside help for private duties. In anticipation of the day when you “have time,” your clothes, dishes, and mail build up.
6. When you’re ill, psychologically exhausted, or you need to take care of personal matters, it might be difficult to take time off. You don’t recall taking a vacation recently, and you don’t have any intentions to do so.
7. You can’t picture spending the rest of your life doing what you do. It is difficult to conceive living life as it is for very long, even if you work in a sector or for a firm you previously adored.
8. No matter what you’re doing, you always feel like you should be doing something else. This absence of direction and presence over time frequently results in an existential crisis.
15 Tips for a Better Work-Life Balance
Here are top 15 tips for achieving and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
1. Have set work hours – and stick to them.
Make every effort to adhere to the work hours that you set for yourself.
Choose the times that you wish to begin and end each day. Be sure to account for your lunch break and other obligations, such as feeding your family or walking your dog. This will result in a more practical timetable, enabling you to effectively keep your work hours.
If not, you’ll soon find yourself staying at the office beyond midnight every night.
2. Make post-work plans.
Even with a rigid schedule, it’s all too easy to get caught up in your job and end up putting in additional hours. It’s not always simple to know when to let go and move on tomorrow.
Making arrangements for your evening shift might be an excellent way to handle this. Making a schedule for a set time might help you transition from work mode to you mode, unless there is anything that must be done immediately.
Focusing on personal time, whether you want to meet up with friends, go to a yoga class, or try out a new baking trend, may also be important for your general wellbeing and contribute to a healthy work-life balance.
3. Take proper breaks.
Your ability to combine work and personal obligations depends on how often you allow yourself to leave your desk. Removing oneself from your responsibilities can also be a helpful strategy for reducing workplace stress. You’ll get the break you need to recharge and approach your responsibilities with new perspective.
Additionally, you could discover that taking breaks will increase your productivity.
If you can, schedule a specific time for your lunch break and try your best to unplug during this period. Every hour or so, you can also take a little break to stretch, go for a short stroll, or if you find it helpful, complete some personal duties.
4. Plot some personal time.
It might be tempting to lose yourself in your job when personal problems occur. Not doing it You won’t have a business to return to if you don’t schedule time for your personal life, sometimes known as “me” time, which includes your family and health.
Spend at least 30 uninterrupted “you time” moments. Your wellbeing, as well as your relationships and work, will all improve as a result.
Establish a spiritual connection. Belief in God or a higher force may be a rich source of motivation, wisdom, and fortitude. Additionally, designating a weekly rest day might be beneficial.
5. Know your peaks and troughs.
Do you like the mornings?
If so, schedule challenging, attention-demanding chores for the mornings. Don’t put off difficult work till later in the day or vice versa.
6. Make your workspace work for you.
Whether you work from home or in an office, most jobs include long hours and little relaxation. Invest in tools that can help you.
Investing in comfortable furniture such as a chair, a keyboard that is ergonomic, a laptop stand, etc. It is completely worthwhile to get your workstation evaluated for ergonomics.
Working from home isn’t always as glamorous as it can appear for independent contractors.
Generally speaking, it’s best to steer clear of working in an area that strongly connotes relaxing, like your sofa or bedroom. Do your best to construct a workstation that seems comfortable to you, even though you might not have a dedicated spare room.
7. Make exercise a must-do, not a should-do.
It’s simple to postpone going to the gym, going for an evening run, or attending yoga when a client needs something done yesterday.
Instead, make sure that your clients and earning money are given equal attention to exercising. You will perform better and finish tasks faster if your body and mind are in good condition.
8. Establish boundaries.
Set reasonable and realistic boundaries for what you will and won’t do at home and at work.
These limits should be made known to your partner, family, coworkers, and boss.
You may, for instance, resolve to avoid working late on particular days unless a crisis arises. Additionally, schedule a period at home when you won’t check or reply to any voicemails or emails from the office.
9. Take care of your health.
Your top focus should always be your health. Your work and personal lives will suffer if you are not in good physical, mental, and emotional health.
Eat well, especially for breakfast, exercise at least three times each week, and get at least seven hours of sleep each night to take care of yourself.
Even though you might not believe you have time to fit in more sleep or exercise with your already full schedule, these habits can reduce stress, enhance energy, stamina, improve mental clarity, strengthen the immune system, and generally make you happier, more engaged, and more productive.
Avoid using large amounts of alcohol, smoke, or medications to relax as well. These chemicals merely serve to keep the body under stress and exacerbate existing issues.
10. Leave work at work.
Make a mental switch to turn on and off between work and home. Establishing a transitional activity between the two spheres is helpful.
This can involve working out at the gym, running errands, or maintaining personal appointments. It could also involve listening to music or audiobooks when you drive home in the evening.
By scheduling such gatherings just after your regular working hours, you may avoid staying an extra 20 minutes at work, which could wind up taking several hours.
11. Let go of perfectionism.
Many young overachievers who have just school, hobbies, and perhaps an after-school job to occupy their time grow to be perfectionists.
As a child, it’s simpler to keep up that meticulous tendency, but as you get older, life becomes more challenging.
Your duties increase as you advance professionally and as your family expands. When perfectionism becomes unattainable, it may turn toxic if the practice is not checked.
Letting up of perfectionism is essential to preventing burnout. It becomes increasingly difficult, neurologically and mentally, to maintain the habit of perfection as life expands. The healthiest course of action is to aim for excellence rather than perfection.
12. Unplug.
Technology has improved our lives in numerous ways, from telecommuting to tools that make our jobs simpler. The expectation of continual accessibility has been raised, nevertheless.
It seems like the workday never ends. Sometimes it’s best to put your phone away and focus on the present.
Your free time is interrupted by phone alerts, which also cause tension in the background. Don’t send business emails when you’re spending time with family or text while your child is playing soccer.
Make your downtime truly quality. You will strengthen your resilience habit by choosing not to respond to work updates.
13. Limit time-wasting activities and people.
Use time management tools like Freedom, LeechBlock, or RescueTime if you find yourself idly browsing Facebook or cat blogs when you should be working. And if you discover that less productive people are consuming all of your time, figure out how to gently reduce these relationships.
Every morning being cornered by the workplace chatterbox? Please move aside politely. Drinks with the office crew the evening before a hectic, crucial day? Say goodbye and have a restful night. Concentrate on the people and things that bring you the most joy.
This could appear egotistical to some people. But it’s not self-centered; it’s the entire metaphor of the flight.
If you are a parent, you should put your own oxygen mask on before that of your child. The better you are as a person, the better you will be in all other areas as well, whether it be being a wonderful friend, partner, parent, or employee.
14. Just say no.
With all due respect, if your boss expects you to be accessible around-the-clock and you find yourself overwhelmed as a result, consider learning to use the power of saying no.
When you are asked to do anything extra, stall if you have a tendency to say yes without thinking. Do not respond right away. Use the time between saying you’ll get back to them and then to carefully consider whether to answer yes or no. It’s okay if you say yes. But if you want to refuse, decline and decline again.
Make no explanations or justifications for your behavior. It’s not necessary to be harsh or unpleasant.
15. Make ’em wait.
Making it obvious to your coworkers that you will respond to emails within 24 or 48 hours is one method to avoid being constantly available.
It’s amazing how little this bothers people, as long as you’re dependable about responding in the end. True, but texting operates under different rules; when you send a text, you should anticipate receiving a prompt, if not instantaneous, response. But fear not; simply say no. Recall the prior point.
You must be clear that you are not always accessible for work-related questions after hours. That is undoubtedly simpler said than done.