Achieving a work-life balance is pretty high up on a lot of people’s list of priorities. What is the point in working really hard every day if we don’t like what we do, have the time to enjoy ourselves and can’t make the most of the lifestyle that we work for?
If you are happy to work every hour of the day then good for you, but if you want to take time out and enjoy yourself then here’s some of our top work-life balance tips:
1. Don’t let emails invade your life
Constantly checking your emails is not productive and can cause you unnecessary stress. If they are on your work phone, then turn it off when you finish for the day and on weekends. You shouldn’t be required to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and if you are then maybe you need to say something about it. If someone urgently needs to get hold of you then they will give you a call, so don’t let emails invade your life.
2. Know your limits
You can be super-productive and super-efficient, but you are always going to have a limit to what you can take on. There is no point in overloading yourself because then your work life will definitely start to overflow into your personal life. You will struggle to switch off and escape the stress and work-related thoughts. If you are feeling stretched, then it is ok to say no if your boss tries to pass you another large task.
3. Work smart
You have only got so many hours in a day and you should only be working for a proportion of those hours so it is important to know how to work smart. This means being able to prioritise and allocate a feasible amount of time to each of your tasks. Try to cut out or cut down the time taken by less productive activities such as unstructured meetings. Working smart will allow you to work normal hours and stress less allowing you to enjoy your personal time.
4. Don’t take your work home
If you’ve had a bad day or have a long list of tasks that are playing on your mind, going home and continuing to think and talk about it won’t help you to de-stress and relax. Before you leave at the end of the day try writing a list of all the things that are on your mind and that you need to do and then you can start with this the following day.
5. Remember you can’t always be perfect
It is great to strive to do well and always perform to the best of your ability. However, if you have got a lot on you can’t always dedicate the time to perfect everything that you do, in fact in most instances perfection isn’t really an achievable thing. You need to know when something is good enough and at this point you need to make yourself stop. Give yourself a break and stop piling on the additional pressure if you are already doing a good enough job.
6. Make time for active hobbies
Doing something that is active and that you really enjoy is a great way to shake off any work stress, get away from demanding technology and have fun. Exercise is also a proven way to improve your mood making you happier both at work and in your personal life.
7. Make changes
If you are not happy with your current work-life balance then you need to actively do something about the things that are not working for you. It is very easy to get stuck in a rut as we get used to our daily activities but sometimes we need to take a step back and consider how happy we are and what can be done to improve the balance in our lives.
8. Set your own rules
Ultimately only you can set the rules to achieve a work-life balance that you are happy with. While others can offer you some great advice you need to work out what works with your life and your career.
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