While your career is important, you need to find a happy medium between working to live and living to work. Check out these work-life balance tips for a start.
62% of individuals work more than 50 hours a week, 35% more than 60 hours, and 10% more than 80. In many industries, the 40-hour work week is a thing of the past.
The digital society we live in ensures we’re available for around-the-clock communication. Factor in the anxieties we have over losing our jobs, and you can see how employees feel pressured into working dangerously long hours.
The “work hard play hard” mentality will only get you so far before you burn out. These 4 work-life balance tips will get you into the mindset of working to live, rather than living to work.
1. Accept You’re Not Perfect
Perfectionism is a habit that often forms at a young age, so it’s a hard one to kick. When we’re growing up, we’re bogged down with getting good grades, participating in sports and clubs, making time for family, etc.
But, these responsibilities only grow as we get older. It’s only natural that from time to time, you’re going to slip and miss a deadline. Or, maybe you’ll have to miss your kid’s soccer games all week.
That doesn’t make you a bad employee or parent. It makes you human.
2. Trim Your Schedule
Especially when we go through busy phases of our lives, it’s important we keep sight of what’s most important. This varies from person to person and depends on factors related to both your work and home life (i.e. whether you have kids or not).
But, for most, our priorities align with succeeding at work, while making time for our loved ones. You can better manage your time for these goals by trimming any unrelated activities.
Tell that chatty co-worker you’re busy. Drop that organization you’re only semi-interested in. Say no to the office happy hour.
3. Stay Active
As our schedules are already packed with seemingly endless responsibilities, it’s understandable we negate exercise. But, staying active is an effective tool for managing stress and uplifting one’s mood. You don’t even have to devote several hours each week to feel this effect.
Start small; set aside a few minutes each day to get through some cardio. Statcare Urgent Care recommends taking hourly walks around the office. You can even try meditating in the car on your daily commute into work.
4. Put Your Phone Down
We’ve all been guilty of checking working emails or scrolling through Facebook when we should be focusing on family/friend time. If your time with loved ones is already limited, you need to ensure the time you do spend is worthwhile.
That means letting a call go to voicemail and ignoring the social media buzz. Quality time means much more than the quantity of time, so make sure your loved ones get your full attention.
Looking for More Work-Life Balance Tips?Â
It’s important to realize you’re going to be busy for long periods in your life. You can’t let your work life overconsume your personal life, or you’ll feel the effects. Use these work-life balance tips to optimize the time you spend both at home and in the office.
At Entrepreneur Podcast Network, we’re dedicated to helping the busy professional. Tune in to some of our talks for inspiration and information in your work life.
