Nowadays, work-life balance can appear to be an incomprehensible task. Newest technology has made employees available at all times. Even amidst the global pandemic, organizations kept on operating and employees kept on delivering tasks from home.
A Harvard Business School study shows that about 94 percent of professionals work over fifty hours a week and 50 percent of professionals work over 65 hours. Such work routines can be tiresome inducing stress that can deteriorate your health and ruin your personal life.
Being confined to homes this past year made us all realize to focus on the overall goodness of life and pushed us to become in charge of our happiness.
This was further made easier by technology; work, entertainment, shopping, health, relationships – everything could be sorted because we were all connected and the internet.
Experts report that last year many remote workers suffered more stress damaging their mental and physical health due to the never-ending work; this is mainly because workers could not maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Another thing that added fuel in 2020 was the poor or no internet connection – due to which many workers had to lose jobs too. This made one thing very clear: the internet has become a necessity now, more than ever.
If you have also been a victim of poor internet, I would recommend you sign up with a better deal, for instance, look through Spectrum bundles, you can customize service plans (internet, phone, and cable) yourself and avail yourself incredible discounts at the best market rates.
Why Is Work-life Balance Important?
Before discussing the significance of work-life balance, we need to know what it actually is. So, work-life balance is the balance that one can attain when one has equal focus on career and personal life.
If the scale tips in any one direction, the other can be ruined and so it is very important.
Some reasons that can lead to a poor work-life balance are:
- Increased duties at work or home
- Long working hours
A decent work-life balance has various constructive impacts on an individual’s life including a greater sense of self-worth and well-being, better understanding of responsibilities, and lesser levels of stress.
While making a timetable that works for you, consider the ideal approach to accomplish balance at work and in your life.
Work-life balance is less about segregating hours of your life and more about being able to complete work while having energy and time for personal life. There might be a few days where you work long hours so you have time later in the week to appreciate different things.
This article brings the top tips to achieve a better work-life balance.
Accept A Job Only If You Love It
Your career should never limit you. I know that society has put together ideas of how you should be and which work is better but you do not need to listen to anyone but yourself.
Always choose yourself and your happiness. If you disdain what you do, you are not going to be content ever even if you make millions of dollars a year. You do not have to cherish each part of your work, however, it should be energizing enough that you do not hate getting up each day.
It is never too late to start again and so just find a job that you actually love and are passionate about. The easiest test to know if your current job is wrong for you is to ask yourself: Would I do this work free ever? Do I love the work I do or create? Am I always drained of energy? The answers to these questions would surely let you know your next steps.
Understand That Perfectionism Is A Myth
The term ‘work-life balance’ somewhat makes us imagine a perfectly productive workday and a perfect evening with loved ones, right? It is a hoax if you think it is always possible.
One thing that I have learned throughout my career is that you should never run after perfection in everything.
You get one thing perfect and that is okay, you get none and that is all right too. Do not stress yourself over perfect schedules, perfects presentations, and perfect relationships.
The thing about humans is that we are imperfect and expecting anything else is wrong. Accept that things are not under your control always and just give your best every time.
Be realistic and make your approaches to be realistic as well. Then, trust me when I say that everything would start falling into pieces.
Make Your Health A Priority
There is nothing more important than your physical, mental, and emotional health. If you are battling with nervousness or sorrow and have taken up therapy, make sure to fit it into your schedule.
Your work is replaceable, you are not! If you are sick, call in sick without thinking bad. There is nothing wrong with taking care of oneself and if your company does not think like this, you should not invest your energy and time there.
Healthy employees are an asset to companies and so if you want to an asset, take great care of your mental, emotional, and physical health.
If It Gets Too Much, Just Unplug
Sometimes, the best thing we can do for our mental and emotional health is to distance ourselves from the outer world.
If you are stressed, or have a creativity block, you can take a day off from just about everything. Do anything but for yourself only to get back in the zone. As absurd as it sounds, restarting a PC does solve problems and it is the same with humans.
You need to reboot yourself to get better. Give yourself a break from time to time to decompress. This would help you in the long run as well and you would be able to dodge potential burnouts.
The Bottom Line
Always Choose Yourself! You should be the most important person in your life. Everything is replaceable but not you, your mental peace, and your health. Take care of yourself.
Maintain a schedule and set boundaries. Make sure to spend time with people you love and take a break from time to time. Understand that your life is not just your work or your career.
