Tips on work-life balance

 

Work-Life Balance

Balancing between career and personal life poses a constant challenge to everyone, which involves juggling work with the daily pressure of family, friends and individual. Our everyday life and work performance will be impacted if the scale between career and personal life is not balanced.

When employees have control and ownership over their own lives, they tend to have better relationships with management and able to segregate work and home issues. Employees that achieved this balance tends to feel more motivated and less stressed at work, which will increase work productivity and reduce conflicts with co-workers and management, thus promoting this work-life balance is beneficial to the company and individuals.

Companies that are known for their work-life balance is becoming very attractive to workers and draw in a valuable pool of candidates for job openings. These companies also tend to have higher employee retention rates, which leads to spending less time and resources for onboarding new employees. Here are some tips that you can start implementing to attain a healthy work-life balance.

Your health is a priority: You should place more emphasis on your overall health, which consists of the physical, mental and emotional aspects of health. There are bound to be days where you will fall sick, so do not worry about calling in sick even on rough working days. Overworking yourself doesn’t bring any benefits to you, and it may cause you to take unnecessary days off in the future. Just remember that work can never be finished.

Accepting there is no such thing as a “perfect” work-life balance: Don’t strive for “the perfect schedule” but a realistic one instead. Life is unpredictable whereby there are days you are required to focus more on work while other days you can spend more time and energy to pursue your hobbies or with your loved ones. The key to finding balance is to allow yourself to remain open into redirecting, assessing your daily needs and drawing the line between work and personal life. 

Find a job that excites you: If you hate doing something, of course you will be unhappy. It is very unrealistic to love every aspect of your job, but it needs to be exciting enough that you won’t feel dreaded getting out of your bed and dragging your feet to work every morning. It may be due to a toxic environment, toxic person or doing a job that you genuinely do not like. So, figure out what is the root cause of your issue and if it the case of doing something that you genuinely do not like, then the recommended solution is to start searching for a job that you genuinely like or interest you. Make sure that you have obtained the skillset for the job.

 

Unplug from work: Try to form this mental switch to switch off your mind from work or by means necessary taking time off for a vacation to physically and mentally recharge yourself. With proper planning and management, you can take time away from work without worrying about burdening your colleagues or potentially face a massive workload after your trip. Avoid thinking about upcoming projects or answering non-emergency calls and emails when you left the office. One suggestion is having a separate computer and phone for work so you can shut it off when you are done for the day.

Set Your Boundaries: Set fair and realistic boundaries for yourself and your colleagues to avoid burnout from work. Develop a mental on-off switch between work and home, as it helps to establish a transitional activity between the two realms. The truth is there is no nobility in not taking well-deserved breaks away from work; the benefits of taking a day off far outweigh the downsides.

When working from home, it is critical to know when to draw the line between work and life, if not your working hours might be extended late at night, during vacations or even weekends. Communicate clearly with your colleagues and your superiors on your boundaries which you are not accessible due to personal activities and inform them that you will only entertain emergency emails or calls after working hours. This transparency helps to ensure your colleagues and superiors understand and respect your work limits and expectations.

 

Voice out your concerns: Don’t suffer in silence if you are feeling stress due to workload. Although work is an expected societal norm, your career should not be restraining. You can arrange a time and explain your situation to your boss or supervisor, which usually can be alleviated easily as it takes some assertiveness on your part as well. However, if you are still feeling stress despite talking to your superiors, try engaging to a professional such as a counsellor. Each individual must find their way of combining career, relationships and personal care into an integrated whole. Work-life balance means different things to different people due to different life commitment. Balance is a very personal thing and only you can decide the lifestyle that suit you best.

Taking ownership of your work-life balance: No doubt that the job is essential, but your life should not entirely focus on it. Despite how hectic your schedule might be, you are the one that has full control over your time and energy. You can start by marking dates on your calendar for romance, family bonding and hobbies and stick to them. Your perception on the importance of your job doesn't matter; the company will still move on even you are gone as everyone is replaceable.