If you are tired of a rough routine and need a break to get relaxed, you are not alone in the pursuit of happiness. Nowadays, technology has made it hard for people to relax even when they are free. Your office is one touch away, so it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Work, of course, is essential for your survival, and you must take it seriously, but what about yourself and your family. Try thinking for a second and ask yourself about your primary reasons for working in the first place. Are you working to be a good worker? Are you making money to make your boss happy?? Of course, your answer is NO!!
Work-life balance has become the crucial debate for management gurus all around the globe. Some people emphasize that life is superior to work, but the reality is that we have to fulfill work and family responsibilities equally.
A survey conducted in Singapore on the importance of work-life balance shows a majority of the respondents, 43.8 percent, stated that they strongly identified with valuing work-life balance. In comparison, 4.1 percent of respondents said they strongly identified with being driven to achieve as much success as possible.
Here are some exclusive ideas that can help you get started in improving your work and life balance:
1) Do what you enjoy doing
Most of us often end up choosing a career or job role that makes more money than what we might have done if it was not about money. While it seems all fine at first, the unhappiness of not doing what you might have enjoyed starts taking a toll, and it adds to stress and weariness.
This weariness keeps on adding up and starts affecting both your work and life. Hence, one of the most important things to live a balanced work and personal life is working for something you are passionate about.
2) Make a to-do list
You need to make a to-do list before the week starts. Using a planner allows you to do every task on time, and you don’t have to run after checking email and taking calls when you are at the dinner table. Make small goals, add your daily tasks to the list, and stick to the plan you have devised for yourself at the beginning of the week for a smooth and easy transition between your work and life.
3) Keep personal life personal
Just like we try to leave all our work affairs at the office, the same goes with personal matters. You need to leave your spouse’s fights and children’s issues at home to focus on the work that you are doing. And when you reach home, it should be a place that offers you quality relaxation time and activities to eliminate all the burden and tension your workplace has infused into your mind.
4) Start your work with a good gesture
A considerable amount of work must not stop you from smiling. Sometimes you need a friendly talk with a colleague, and all your tiredness melts away. Get some energy boosters and complete your work earlier rather than sitting late with a grumpy face. Do small prep talks with yourself before starting the work on projects or presentations. These small talks help individuals in believing themselves and performing better than they do on weary days.
5) Prioritize your work
There is a difference between work, important work, and priority work. Make sure you do the urgent and essential work first and put off non-urgent work for some later time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a house chore or office meeting; critical and vital should come first. It would be best if you made a planner according to the priority of the task in your office. Assign the time window to the task, stick to the plan, and finish the work before the deadline. You will have only one mission in hand. It will improve your productivity, and you will get more out of your efforts.
6) Find your productivity zone
Analyze yourself and find the best time of the day to start work if you are a morning person. Don’t delay your work for the evening and vice versa. Use your energy when it is at peak; once the energy is gone, you won’t complete work because energy and time are locked together. The best approach to do quality work is to look for the window that offers you maximum productivity and try to finish the most complex and tiring tasks in that time window.
7) Stick to your working hour
No matter if you are working from home or going to the office. Your working hours should be written and decided before you start your work. Try to train yourself to realistic milestones. Don’t make goals that you can’t accomplish in a limited time. Avoid distractions such as long coffee breaks or unnecessary chit-chat. Quite a few researches have concluded that long working hours negatively influence work-life balance, children’s well-being, and marital satisfaction.
8) Make a long term planner
Make a monthly planner; it depends on your work. The planner helps you to define your goals and deadlines. Once you are done with the planner, you can foresee the challenges and resolve them on time instead of bringing unresolved issues home. Don’t get overwhelmed and assume that you need to accomplish big changes all at once. Make it slow and keep achieving the fundamental goals every single day. The power of accomplishment will keep you steady on your track, and it will give you ample time left to spend with your friends, loved ones, and family.
9) Organize your workplace
If you feel guilty about arriving late or missing some critical meetings, then organizing the workplace is one of the essential things to do. If you are struggling to find equilibrium between your work and family, then your workplace should be as important as your bedroom or living room is for you.
Your office should be comfortable and well equipped to allow you easy access to all necessary stuff. A messy workplace can hinder performance and will make you feel tired and weary by attaining the tension and burden of scattered things on the table. The clean and neat environment will offer you the opportunity to focus on the work at hand, and your productivity will increase most dramatically.
10) Combat fatigue and get your energy back
A sound mind helps people work productively, realize their full potential, and contribute to work. Despite the stress and long working hours, you need to take a break for yourself. Meditate, switch your routine, walk around, eat food that can boost your energy, and then get back to work because “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
You can have a hobby or play some good indoor games even in the office to get the necessary energy dose. If your workplace allows you to have an exercise machine, benefit from it and make yourself mentally and physically fit for a better work-life balance.
11) Get rid of boredom and jump into the weekend mood
When you are bored in the office and eagerly waiting for the weekend. Just put your work aside and plan for the weekend. Write your favorite activities or think about them. This exercise will uplift your mood, and you will be back to work with a smile.
And once the weekend reaches, try to realize all the daydreams and make it happen to get maximum fun and joy out of the weekend. Which will make you feel accomplished, and you will be more productive in your work and other activities.
12) Don’t be a workaholic
It’s OK to be proud of yourself for being a hard worker. But draw boundaries between workaholics and hard work. Enjoy precious moments with your colleagues and family. Put your phone aside and stop thinking about future challenges. Continuous work can lead you to burnout. A workaholic is a serious issue that can lead to health problems. However, the stress level associated with excessive time at work does not apply equally to all people.
13) Rethink your responsibilities
Have you ever wondered, why you’re working so many hours? Is it because there’s too much work, or is it because the workload you have is inefficiently managed? If it’s the former, go to your planner and remake your to-do list and recreate the planner to see if you are giving importance to unnecessary tasks. However, if you’re working for many hours because of inefficiencies in the workflow, you might want to take a step back and try to find out where the holdups are occurring at. Then ask yourself whether there are ways to better streamline your processes? (The answer is almost always yes.)
14) Avoid burning out
When anxiety creeps in, take a break and let the work go. The burnout can lead to a meltdown if left unaddressed. According to a Monster poll of 3,000 workers, half the respondents said they have cried at work. A boss or colleague (45%) and workload (16%) were the top two work-related causes. “The good thing about burnout is that it can be fixed,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Russell Thackeray, who is also the founder of QEDOD, an organizational development consultancy. Before the burn becomes a full-on blaze, take a deep dive into what job burnout is all about. If you think it describes your current situation, try some of the stress management strategies.
15) Focus on quality over quantity
Enforcing a well constructed time management system is very important, Dudley says, so that you’re doing your best with your hours on the job. This may require setting boundaries to let your co-workers know when you are in “do not disturb” mode. One way of doing this might be by setting up signage on your work desk or office chair, or you can block out times in your online calendar so your team can see your availability.
16) Be mindful of the fact that you can smile
Not only can smiling make you feel happier and more positive, but it can also lead to higher productivity rates. Satisfaction and joy lead to more productivity as we engage in a positive, happier mood. However, negative emotions can cause a drained feeling and lead us to be less productive. If you don’t feel like smiling, fake it till you make it and keep on smiling.
17) Your health is the top priority
Being in good state of health should be your main concern every day. If you struggle with anxiety, depression, and physical health, don’t forget to take an appointment even if you have to leave early. Prioritizing your health doesn’t need to include any radical or extreme activities. It can be simple exercises or daily mediation. Taking care of yourself prevents you from future illness and help maintain a better work and life balance.
18) Politely excuse useless activities and people to save your time and energy
It is very hard to excuse unwanted people who are around you. And it is nearly impossible if you have to see the person every day. Such people waste your time and discourage you, which can lead you to trouble. The easiest way to ignore is to avoid encountering such individuals. Keep your conversation short but polite if encountered. Recognize activities that set you off and maintain your happiness.
19) Unplug yourself to get power
While your job is important but it is not your entire life. Give yourself little breaks to reveal the stress. Reading a book or listening to good music gives you the energy that lasts for hours. So, consider your desires and stay energized in the workplace with small brakes that offer you more energy and power to fight the tiring routines and burdens.
These activities will help you divert the focus from your work’s burden and think for once that you are alive and there is more to life than mere work.
20) Make Flexible work schedules to accomplish most
With flexible work schedules, many workers point to the flexibility to deal with family chores, personal obligations, and life situations and responsibilities pretty conveniently. If you have a flexible schedule, you should try to spend it with your family by involving yourself into their things. You can go to a parent-teacher conference, take a yoga class, or be there at home until the washing machine repair person comes.
Flexible work arrangements allow employees to work when they accomplish most, feel freshest, and enjoy working.
Sixty-two percent of Polish employees were happy with their work-life balance in 2021. Only three percent assessed their work-life balance as very bad. For an improved work-life balance, the most important elements were the flexibility of work and the time of commuting to work. (Published by G. Wanat, Feb 2, 2021)
21) Allow yourself to be realistic instead of a perfectionist
Perfectionism is perception only. If you think that you can work to your full potential, leave the office at the exact time to spend high productive time with your family every day. Unfortunately, it won’t be possible. Make sure you don’t spend time and energy to get a perfect work-life balance; strive for a realistic one. Perfect balance can be achieved over time but not every day. At the time, you may need to go to family dinner, and other times you have to travel to an important meeting, allow yourself to redirect and to get the perfect outcome.
22) Spend some quality time with your family
Between work and life responsibilities, the days pass you by in the blink of an eye. You worry that you don’t spend enough time with their children and feel guilty about working full time, or experience anxiety about choosing to work out at the gym or go to dinner with friends. Have no despair! Children need high-quality time with parents and caregivers—that is what is most beneficial to children and what can positively affect them as they grow. It isn’t about endless hours—it’s about how you choose to spend that time that truly matters. A study shows, Feeling that one spends the “right” amount of time with children and that children are doing well are strong and independent indicators of parents’ work‐family balance.
23) Vacations are as important as five days of the week to work
Unplug yourself and take vacation time; shut work completely for a while. Whether your vacation consists of a one-day or a two-week trip, it’s essential to take time off from work, to recharge physically and mentally.
According to the State of American Vacation 2018 study conducted by the U.S. Travel Association, 52% of employees reported having unused vacation days leftover at the end of the year. Employees are often worried that taking time off will disrupt the workflow, and they will be met with a backlog of work when they return. This fear should not restrict you from taking a much-needed break.
24) Take help from others to enhance your potential
It is completely alright to take a little help from your friends. Don’t suffer in silence if you are overburdened. Go to them and ask for assistance and make your work easier. Helping other in their difficult task will also increase your morale and help you reach a higher level of fulfillment and satisfaction in the workplace. Whenever you try to get help from co-workers, the suggestion will make you look at the other possibilities to do the work most productively.
25) Take charge of yourself
It is possible to have a successful professional career and a fulfilling personal life if you take control of your work and life together. Be proactive with your time. Don’t hide behind excuses. Be accountable for your choices and actions. Solutions may vary from person to person, so periodically review your situation and adjust accordingly.
Over to you
Management gurus and psychologists are emphasizing work-life balance. If you try to be a workaholic, the end will be a dissatisfied arrogant worker who will show continual reduction performance and cause great harm to the organization. The managers and decision-makers on the big chairs are focusing more on their workers regarding the work-life balance.
But it is an individual’s responsibility that one must seek practical ways, as we have mentioned above, and try to stick to the plans and get maximum out of these practical and powerful steps. All the steps we have mentioned above are scientifically proven and show maximum results in enhancing the individual’s performance and productivity in professional, domestic, and social life.
