For majority of adults all over the world, finding the balance between career and personal life is an ongoing challenge. Companies all over the world are laying off employees who are not adding value to the general productivity and performance. The pressure put on survivors to deliver is building as the days’ pass.
Achieving work-life balance may seem like an elusive dream especially for people who do their best at work. It’s becoming very difficult for employees to have time with their families due to the increased competition levels in different industries.
According to a work-life balance is unique and different for every person. Also, your environment at home can change the meaning of work-life balance entirely. A single person and a married person with children cannot have the same work-life balance. Performing at school and at home well requires balance and priority.
If you want to find the balance between your work and life, you have to analyze the professional and personal aspects of your life. You have to look at the things that take up your time and decide what to continue doing and what to stop. If you are active in three nonprofit organizations, you should select the one that means most to you and reduce your engagement with the others. Scattering your attention will lead to stress and frustration.
Pay attention to the things that you value most and avoid indulging in irrelevant activities. Very few people have the discipline to perform this process. If your organization allows you to work remotely, you can consider working from home for a couple of days every week. You can discuss this issue with your manager or supervisor. Explain how flexibility will improve your productivity and performance.
As reports, your approach and attitude towards work-life balance is important. If you’ve been performing well at work, your boss will be ready to give you this opportunity to further boost your performance. Every organization values its top employees and the bosses will do everything in their power to retain them. This means helping them have the right balance between work and life.
The rapid advancement of technology has made most aspects in our lives easier like never before. You should use technology to help us obtain work-life balance. You should not allow technology to govern your life. Phones and computers exist to help you.
When you are not using them at home, you should keep them away. Putting your phone and other devices away will help you pay attention to your friends and loved ones. You’ll also be a role model to some of your colleague and friends.
To live happily, you have to be flexible. Achieving the right work-life balance may seem like an unattainable goal. However, you will greatly benefit when you find your balance. Here are eight tips to help you juggle these two balls without breaking them.
- Eliminate energy draining activities
Most employees spend most of their time doing things that are not related to work completely. They spend hours surfing the internet, reading newspapers, drinking coffee with friends and going out for shopping in the middle of the day. An average of 10% of the work gets done every day. When the deadlines near, they start working frantically and they end up performing poorly.
Work-life balance is a priority. You have to manage your schedule for you to attain work-life balance. This means creating a to-do list in order of priority and doing the right thing at the right time. Learn to say no to distracting activities and people early enough to avoid losing your balance and getting fired.
2. Analyze how you complete your chores
What are some of the chores you hate doing? Can you outsource them? Managing your career and personal life can be quite intimidating at times. Especially if a list of boring chores awaits you. Life is too short to get stressed over small issues.
If you hate cleaning your house, hire a cleaning service to do the scrubbing for you. If you don’t have time to walk your dog, hire a dog walker right away.
3. Exercise regularly
Exercising regularly will improve your physical and mental health. Research shows that people who exercise regularly are less likely to get stressed and depressed compared to those who don’t exercise.
You should engage in cardiovascular and strength training exercises at least three times a week for you to improve your health and productivity levels. If you can’t hit the gym, you can take a walk around your neighborhood for at least 30 minutes or jog. Exercising will boost your energy and improve your work-life balance.
4. Take a break
There will never be a time when you’ll be completely free of work. There will always be the next client to call, the next email to reply, the next set of paperwork to work on. It’s important for you to know when it’s time to step away.
You need not work out every single problem that clients bring to you. Let your colleagues handle them. Taking a break will help you recover your lost energies so that you can be productive the next day. Sleep deprivation will have a negative impact on your health and peace of mind.
A research conducted recently found out that majority of American are not sleeping enough because they have a lot of work. The last thing you should do at any one time is deprive yourself sleep. Sleep deprivation leads to stress, irritability, depression, body weakness and even death.
5. Allocate time for yourself
What would you choose to do if you had a whole free day? Would you watch Netflix all day long? Would you go out for a hike? Would you read a novel? Even if you won’t have a free day anytime soon, it’s important to allocate some time for yourself.
Putting other people’s needs before your own will drain you and make it more difficult for you to have balance. You should allocate at least 30 minutes every day to do something that really matters to you. Having some me-time is crucial for success.
6. Communicate clearly
A report shows that you should not assume that other people know your concerns. It’s always important to analyze and adjust your schedule accordingly for you to know and balance your needs.
If you want permission to go and hit the gym or attend a yoga class, you should go and ask for it in a straight forward way. If you can’t deliver something, say it in a straight forward way. Communicating your needs will save you a lot of time and energy.
7. Pace yourself
New habits require some time to build and gain momentum. If you find yourself tripping every time, don’t worry. Just start doing things all over again in the right way. For instance, if you said you won’t go to bed with your phone and the urge becomes so strong that it takes over, don’t be too harsh on yourself.
Just remember to leave your phone behind tomorrow. The key to success in anything is taking baby steps. Nothing happens overnight. You should always know your boundaries so that you can discover what works for you or not. Prioritizing what truly matters to you will not only make you successful but it will also make you happy.
8. Manage your time
Majority of employees spend a lot of time doing things that are not related to work during working hours. The pile up of work leads to stress and frustration in the end. Working every time, you work will improve your productivity and promote peace of mind. Plus, you won’t be fearful about being laid off because every organization wants to retain the most productive and best performing employees.
Conclusion
Work-life balance is crucial for your success and peace of mind. You can only achieve the right balance by understanding what works best for you and what doesn’t. This means you should take your time to analyze your daily schedules and prioritize the most important activities. Effective time management is the foundation of work-life balance.
Also, taking some time to be alone and do the activity you most enjoy will improve your life and boost your performance at work. Saying yes when you should be saying no is the biggest trap that you can fall into day. Learn to be honest and straight-forward. Once people around you notice that, they will respect your decisions.
Don’t forget to exercise at least three times a week. The best types of exercises are cardiovascular and strength training. Exercising regularly promotes your physical and mental health.
Lastly, every habit takes time to build and gain momentum. The small daily inconsequential steps add up to big results. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Take things slowly. Everything will eventually work out and you’ll achieve the balance you seek.
