Having a healthy 'work-life balance' is an extremely important facet in modern day world. This blog contains eight tips to help you balance out the usual mundane lifestyle of just work and no play or vice versa.Please read on to find out more on ‘work- life balance’.
Creating a ‘work-life balance’ starts with us.
Work can take precedence over everything else in our lives. The desire to succeed professionally may leave us forgetting about our own well-being.
Hence, it becomes necessary to create a healthy 'work-life balance’. A healthy 'work- life balance' improves our well being altogether, it allows us to lead a life of positive-physical, emotional, mental health; and thereby we manage our career better.
Maintaining a healthy 'work-life balance’, enhances the positive effects of one’s health, thereby minimizing the negative effects such as stress, burnout and, hence promoting well-being.
Organisations which foster and encourage a healthy ‘work-life balance’, experience fewer cases of absenteeism. They save on costs and have a more loyal and productive workforce.
Before you set up a regime to create a 'work-life balance' that works for you,take time to assess some of your own needs.
What might work for one person might not necessarily work for you.
Work- life balance is about balancing your schedule for the day, while setting time for business and pleasure. It also means we cannot compensate work time for pleasure.
Managing our schedule in this manner, says that we have created a way to find time during the day or week for leisure.
Aspiring individuals, seeking to create a healthy 'work- life balance', may find it fit to put in conscious effort to complete work loads during business hours.
Here are eight ways to create a better 'work-life balance'.
1. Excellence in ‘work-life balance’
Most employees get entangled in ‘perfectionist’ habits cultivated in the early years of their schooling, university, and early employment years.
While it was great to be a 'perfectionist' then, it may become hard to maintain the life of a 'perfectionist', in the future. When a person climbs the ladder and as the family grows, perfectionism can lead to burn out.
The key to avoid burning out, is letting go of perfectionism. As life expands, work towards excellence.
2. Detach to create, a healthy 'work-life balance'
Technology has made our lives easier. However, it has its disadvantages too. While some of us may get hooked to certain apps and telecommuting, it would be wise to stop and reconsider, what kind of effect it may have on our well-being.
Social sites can be addictive, and it takes away the time from rest. Stress levels may increase because of constant notifications. In the last few years, several other psychological patterns have been noticed, caused due to constant overuse of telecommuting and social sites, apps etc.
So, the best way to detach, is to simply start by shutting those phones during rest hours. Maintain a disciplined time frame, to access those sites.
3. Exercise and meditate for a healthy 'work-life balance'
‘Exercise and meditate’ to gain overall well-being. Exercise is an effective stress reducer. Regular workouts, at least 4 times a week, releases feel good endorphins. This lifts our mood and can also make us flexible and efficient for self-defense.
Health wise, the benefits of exercise are numerous, as this promotes good health, making us more efficient at work.
Some exercises such as slow and deep breathing to the count of 10 or more can be very effective. You can try this while travelling by train or tram on your way to work. It may come in handy, if you are pressed against time. Yoga, walking, jogging and stretch exercise are other exercises which may be added to your workout routine.
It’s always great to start slow and seek medical advice if you are a beginner.
4. Invest in life skills for a healthy ' work-life balance'
Most of us move through life, attempting to manage a ‘work-life balance’. This can be daunting, especially when we don’t know where and how to start. Usually, this happens when we have a hard time looking at the blind spots in our own lives.
This is where expert assistance from a life skills coach or attending training sessions on ‘life skills’ make things a whole lot easier.
‘Coaching or training sessions’ will assist us in the way we look at our own lives. It will help by contributing to the way we perceive ourselves, and the outside world. When we have a clear view of ourselves, it becomes a whole lot easier to create and frame techniques for a better ‘work -life balance’. It also helps us in sticking to the parameters chosen, thus.
5. Limit time-wasting activities and people for a healthy 'work-life balance'
When we have a heightened sense and perception of ourselves, it becomes possible to analyse ourselves and the outside world. So!! how does this come in handy here?
There are times when activities and people start to become a handful. It becomes then a dire necessity to do away with those activities and people that are ‘time wasters.
Examples of time-wasting activities and people maybe social sites, apps, colleagues, friends-who get into unnecessary gossip, etc.
A better understanding of who and what makes our lives better is crucial to help us manage and prioritize our ‘work- life balance’ much more successfully.
6. Break to rejuvenate
For most people, who desire to lead a luxurious lifestyle, or even an above average lifestyle. Taking long offs, travel plans may sometimes become difficult.
A great way to break free from the mundane routine of everyday life would be to start by taking short breaks during the day.
Exercise by standing up and stretching every 15 mins. This should make us more productive. Hence, we get more work done. This, further means we are in sync with our ‘work -life balance’.
By being productive in our work, those travel plans or long offs may not be too far off either.
7. Structure your life for a healthy 'work- life balance'
In a busy and unstructured lifestyle, most people battle through life creating a path towards a perfect ‘work-life balance’. Understanding our priorities in life, such as, who comes first, who comes next, what needs to be done first, next, will help us to create a structured ‘work-life balance’.
For example, we might be spending too much time running errands or doing housework for others, when we should be sharing the workload equally.
So, what can be done here?
Start by jotting down goals, short term and long term. Prioritize where you want to be in life. Make a list of any tasks that may be overworking you. See if those tasks can be shared.
Analyse details and ask questions, such as, am I looking after myself. This may help us to recognize certain habits and or patterns, which need adjustments.
8. Take small steps before you leap, finish big
Take small steps before you leap, finish big: We all like to keep in shape, get those perfect abs, but somehow don’t find the time or motivation to work out. When it comes to work, most like to finish first but find it hard to stay motivated. This might be a concern, when we wish to create a perfect ‘work-life balance’.
When we take ‘small steps’ and gradually work our way up, we learn to appreciate our capacity for hard and smart work, which enlighten us on our strengths and weaknesses.
Hence, when we take small steps and gradually work our way up, we are more in tune with our ‘work-life balance’. Where we need to make improvements become clear. By participating in this manner, we have a clear understanding of ourselves and our capacity to take on workloads and leisure time, hence creating what we call a well-managed ‘work-life balance’.
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