It can be a bit difficult to maintain equilibrium between your life and your work. If you’re the owner of your own small business, or a workaholic who strives to ensure the success of the company in which you work in, it gets harder. A large number of employees and CEOs don’t understand the fact that one of the keys to living a mentally and physically healthy lifestyle is to maintain a work/life balance.
Working hard is a desirable and good quality in a worker. However, the line between working hard and working excessively is blurred for some workers. When this happens and you become addicted to work all the time, you’d likely develop physical and mental health issues. To prevent these problems from occurring, here are some steps you can take to achieving a seamless work-life balance.
- Develop Time Management Skills
The skill of time management is very essential in making sure you maintain your work-life stability. Time management has a positive quality; it can be utilized in the same way during your work or leisure period. It entails the organization and creation of a scale of preference of the tasks you have to carry out in relation to the tasks you could carry out, depending on time.
Once you can learn the skill of time management, you’ll definitely be able to toggle between your leisure and work periods with ease. Making use of a to-do list goes a long way when you aim to develop time management skills. Ideally, you should have two separate to-do lists: one for the tasks you’ll handle at home, and another for the tasks at work.
The most essential tasks should be at the top of your list, with the least significant ones at the bottom. Once you complete a task, all you’d need to do is fix a tick beside it to indicate it’s been completed.
- Work in an Office in Close Proximity to After-Work Areas
If you work remotely, or have control over your company’s location, choose an office that is close to after-work areas such as cafeterias, bars or facilities like banks. For example, if you’re self-employed, you can choose an office in Nottingham that’s near to several amenities. This is because your office being close to a facility like a day nursery where you could pick and drop off your children everyday would save you a lot of time and stress.
Another instance is your office being close to a cafeteria. This way, you could make the best use of your office lunch time to trek to a cafeteria, eat, and be back in due time for the rest of the day’s work.
- Create a Line Between Work and Leisure
Technology has changed the world as we know it. Social media, calls, and chat applications make it easy for your relatives and colleagues to contact you at all times. However, while the benefits of the ease of communication are numerous, it also comes with certain cons. Your children could try to contact you when you’re at work, or your boss could also put a call through to you during your leave.
Explain to your relatives that you should not be contacted except in critical conditions. You also need to politely make it clear to your boss that you do not want to be contacted when you’re not working except in an emergency, unless it’s about something that is unrelated to your job. Your relatives and employers should be able to keep things going even in your absence.
- Take Care of Yourself
We do not often remember to take care of ourselves. Sometimes, one could get mixed up in the day-to-day activities and forget that eating healthy, relaxing, and being happy are all essential to life. You need to ensure that you take in food as needed, and that you get a lot of rest. When you take care of yourself like this, it becomes simple to maintain a work-life balance because you’d gain the needed energy to be used during both leisure and work.
- Request Help When You Need it
Not maintaining a work-life equilibrium could lead to a lot of stress or fretfulness for an individual. Once you discover you’re feeling this way, it’s recommended that you talk to someone who you’re close to, such as your boss, a relative or a friend. Everyone reaches burn out at least once, so it’s OK to admit if you’re struggling.
If you feel speaking with a relative or an acquaintance might not benefit you, you could contact your doctor or therapist. Doctors and therapists give professional advice on the best ways you can relieve stress.
Several firms now understand the benefits of their employees having a work-life balance, as this ultimately makes it simpler to toggle between your work and leisure time. Always remember that you need to be organized and your body and mind need to be taken care of at all times.
Article by Ruby Clarkson ruby.clarkson@harbourmail.co.uk
Writer, editor, animal lover and coffee enthusiast
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Thanks to Cornerstone for assisting with research for this piece
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