For those who are in employment, it can be hard make sure you get enough time to yourself as well as time on the job. Work can be demanding sometimes. Therefore, it’s important to know how to separate it from your personal life.
What Is A Good Work Life Balance?
There’s no set criteria for what makes a good work life balance. Each day will vary, as sometimes your work will take priority, and other times your personal life will. The important thing is to make sure that you have enough time to carry out your job while also having enough time to relax outside of work. Be realistic with your expectations. If your job is so demanding that you’re never able to leave work on time and pursue your hobbies, you might want to take a step back and see if any changes can be made. Improving your work life balance will help you achieve more in both aspects of your life.
What Happens If You Prioritise Work Too Much?
Dedicating all of your time to your job might seem like a respectable trait, but it can actually lead to something called burnout. When someone is burnt out, they may be under a lot of stress and find it much harder to perform their work.
If you’re unable to switch off after work and find that it’s affecting your relationships, hobbies and sleep, you need to reconsider your priorities.
How To Achieve A Work Life Balance
Have a look at our short list to see if there’s any steps that you could take to improve your work life balance. The balance can be upset at any time if you’re not careful, and it can often creep up on you without you noticing.
Switch Off
Not everyone works a standard Monday to Friday 9-5, but if they did we’d say to turn everything off at 5pm. It’s important to have some boundaries between your work life and your personal life. The vast majority of things that happen in between your shifts can wait and be dealt with in the morning. By allowing yourself to be contactable during your free time, you don’t leave much room for your focus to be taken off work and put towards your hobbies and family.
If you’re the kind of person who allows thoughts of work to linger after hanging your coat up for the day, try writing them down as a task list for the next day. Put the list away until you’re back at work feeling refreshed and ready to work on them.
Make Your Health A Priority
Whether it’s a common cold, a health condition or a mental health problem that’s affecting you, make sure you put your health first. Make time for doctor’s appointments, therapy sessions and illness if you need to. Putting these things off will only serve to damage your health in the long term, resulting in less productivity at work.
Take Time Off
Holiday time is important. Everyone needs time off work to recharge and reset. It doesn’t matter if you’re taking a week off to go abroad or a long weekend to relax at home, this time is vital for your work life balance.
Taking a break can bring out worry in some people. Some employees will fear returning to a backlog of work. The benefit of taking time off for yourself far outweighs the cons, so try not to let this worry you. Upon your return, you should feel more relaxed and ready to take on the workload. If you’re faced with an unreasonable amount of work, talk to your manager to discuss sharing the tasks or working to complete them over a longer period of time.
Structure Your Day
By having a structure to your work day, you may find it easier to stay on task. If you know the work hours where you’re the most productive, block them off and silence your phone – if you can. This gives you more of a chance to make the most of your productive hours, getting more work done with less distractions.
This also gives you a chance to assess your schedule and prioritise tasks. If there’s items on your to do list that aren’t worth doing, or able to be assigned to someone else, you can remove them and make better use of your time.
Speak To Your Manager
If it’s all getting a bit too much and you’re struggling to keep afloat at work, speak to your manager. A good manager will offer to support you. They may be able to delegate some of your responsibilities to other members of staff to take the pressure off you. Remember, it’s not a bad thing to have limits and boundaries. It’s far better to ask for help than it is to overwork yourself. A better balance of responsibilities results in higher productivity and better quality work.
If you speak to your manager and they don’t offer to help you, it might be time to consider a new job. Being constantly overworked can take a huge toll on your mental and even physical health. If you’re not able to cope with your workload and adaptations can’t be made to help you, a new work environment could offer you a better work life balance.
How A Work Life Balance Benefits Employers
It’s not just employees that will benefit from a perfect work life balance. Better health and happier employees means higher productivity. This results in more work being done with a more efficient use of employee time.
The Benefit Of A Work Life Balance For You
Feeling fulfilled in both your work life and personal life is hugely beneficial. You’ll notice improvements in your mental and emotional wellbeing, and will likely have an increase in productivity as well. A better performance at work puts you in the best position to progress and achieve recognition at work.
So, why not start taking a look at your work life balance today and see if you can achieve better satisfaction in both aspects of your life.