Balancing your work and personal life can be difficult, but it’s important. Here’s how you can improve your work and personal life balance today.
Work always takes priority over all else in our lives. Our desire to succeed professionally will cause us to put aside our well-being. Creating a harmonious work and personal life balance or work-life integration is important; however, not just for improving our physical, emotional, and mental well-being, but also for our careers.
What is work and personal life balance, and why is it important?
In short, work and personal life balance are a state of balance where a person gives equal importance to the demands of one’s job and the demands of one’s personal life. Many of the common reasons leading to poor work and personal life balance include:
- Increased responsibility at work
- Working for extended hours
- Increased responsibility at home
- To have children
A healthy work and personal life balance have a variety of positive effects, including reduced fatigue, a decreased risk of burnout, and a better sense of well-being. This benefits not only employees but also employers.
Work and personal life balance are less about splitting your day’s hours equally between work and personal life. And it is more about finding the freedom to do things with your working life and having time and energy to enjoy your personal life. There will be days when you work extra hours to have time for other things later in the week.
Here are 8 ways to find a balance between work and personal life.
1. Accept that there is no ‘perfect’ work-life balance
When you hear work and personal life balance, you typically imagine having a really productive day at work. Then leaving early to spend the other half of the day with friends and relatives. This can seem ideal, but it’s not always possible.
Don’t aspire for a perfect schedule; try a realistic one. Some days, you might be more focused on work, and other days, you might have more time and energy to explore your hobbies or spend time with your loved ones. Balance is achieved over time, not all day.
It is necessary to remain fluid and continually assess where you are against your expectations and goals. Sometimes your kids will need you, and sometimes you would need to travel to work. But allowing yourself to be open to redirecting and assessing your needs on any given day is essential to finding a balance.
2. Find the work you love
Although work is the expected norm of society, your profession should not be restricted. If you hate what you do, you’re not going to be happy, plain, and simple. You don’t need to enjoy every part of your job, but it needs to be fun enough not to think about getting out of bed every morning.
If your career is draining you, and you find it hard to do something you enjoy outside of work, then something is wrong. You may be working in a toxic environment, working for a toxic guy, or doing a job that you just don’t enjoy. If this is the case, it’s time to find new work.
3. Track Your Time
Analyzing the current condition is the first step towards achieving a balanced life. Keep a time log of everything you do for a week, including work-related and personal tasks. This data will serve as an eye-opener, helping you appreciate how you use—and where you lose—your time.
4. Schedules Scrupulously
Successful people schedule their jobs and then work on their plan. You’ve got one life, so get a date planner. If it’s paper or electronic, this is the vehicle by which you convert your goals and strategies into reality. Set aside 15 – 20 minutes at the start of the day (or the night before you plan your tasks and activities for the day and night ahead).
5. Establish boundaries
Set fair and practical limits on what you can and will not do at home and at work. Clearly communicate these boundaries to your boss, your friends, your partner, and your family. E.g., you may commit not to work late on those days unless there is a crisis. Furthermore, set aside a day at home during which you would not read or respond to emails or voice mails relevant to work.
6. Take care of your own health
Your health should remain your number one priority. If you are not physically, psychologically, and emotionally in good health, your working life and personal life will suffer. Take care of yourself by eating nutritious food (especially breakfast). Exercise at least three days a week and sleep at least seven hours a night. You may not believe you have time to add exercise and extra sleep to your jam-packed schedule. But it is true that these activities:
- Relieve tension
- Raise energy levels
- Increase stamina
- Boost mental focus
- Strengthen your immune system
- And make you a healthier, more active, and more efficient person
In addition, refrain from the use of alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relieve tension. These drugs tend to keep the body in a stressful condition and cause even more complications.
7. Nature Your Family/Relationships
Family relationships, friends, and loved ones are, by far, the primary source of inner satisfaction. If your work or profession is damaging to your relationship, both fields will eventually suffer. Certainly, there will be days when you have to work extra hours. When these days become a rule, not an exception, the issue becomes a problem. By keeping your relationships a priority, your productivity and work efficiency would improve.
8. Leave work at work
Establish a mental switch between work and home. It helps to create transitional activities between the two realms. You may choose to listen to music or recorded books on your evening ride, work out at the fitness center, run errands, or keep a personal appointment. Scheduling those activities immediately following your regular working hours also stops you from wasting an extra 20 minutes at the office, which then turns into several hours.
The Bottom Line
It’s not easy to learn how to balance work and personal life. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this. Every person and family must find unique solutions to their problems, based on their desires and needs.
Essentially, work and personal life balance occur when a person can satisfy family responsibilities and perform duties at work adequately. There’s nothing wrong with working hard to get ahead, just don’t forget the value of things and people that really matter most.
