For most of us work plays a massive part in our lives, sometimes we are at work more then we are home. Working is a necessity; it keeps the lights on, makes sure we have a roof over our heads and food in our tummies.
In today’s faced paced world it is seemingly harder to achieve that work-life balance, and with the increase of technology and social media, it is becoming more difficult to separate work from our personal lives. It is normal now for people to check emails after hours and to take laptops home to work over the weekend. Then since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing many more people work from home more often. How has this become acceptable?
Not only is a healthy work-life balance good for health and relationships, it is also important for your employees performance. If your staff do not view work as a chore, they will work harder, make fewer mistakes, and become great advocates for your company.
Here are our 5 tips for a better work-life balance:
Examine your situation. Think about what your most important values are and how you want to spend your time. Once you have established that, you can brainstorm small changes you can make that will have a big impact overall, such as forcing yourself to have a lunch break several times a week to exercise or chat with a friend.
Manage other people’s expectations. Set boundaries by telling colleagues and clients when you will and will not be working, so they do not expect you to be available 24/7. And be honest about your personal needs. Let your boss know which regular activities in your personal life are non-negotiable, whether it is putting your children to bed or doing yoga – whatever it is that really matters for you.
Take care of your health. Ensure you get enough sleep and exercise by including it in your routine, and make sure to reward yourself for your hard work by treating yourself every now and then. To do this you might need to delegate where you can, to free up your time for what is most important.
Learn to say no. If you need to work late constantly just to get by, let your boss know that your workload is unsustainable. And if you tend to put other’s needs before your own, learn to say no occasionally to new projects and extra commitments that will eat up your time and won’t contribute to achieving your work or personal objectives.
Plan fun activities for your personal time. Get organised with family and friends, to ensure your personal time is fulfilling. Connecting digitally is important to a lot of us right now but try to get some down time away from that as well. Turn off electronic devices for a certain time period every evening or weekend so that you can give your full attention to the people and activities that are most important to you.
Balance can feel tricky to achieve. But by trying these steps you can begin to find ways to make work feel less consuming and free up focus for the other parts of your life – even when times are challenging.
