Without work, there’s no money. It is seen that working humans spend one-third of their life in work which is nearly 90,000 hours. The definition of healthy work-life balance differs from person to person. It is a misnomer if you believe there can be a 50-50 division between the two. Work-life balance is important for all. Be it a woman or man both have to contribute their part in the house.
In reality, a faulty work-life balance is not only the mistake of the upholder but also its upbringing. For instance, since childhood, all of us are told to just focus on studies, and be in the rat race if competing with each other. In the process, we dump friendships, and relationships, and move on the road to imagined success without personal growth.
I am not saying we should not focus on our careers, but attaining success is not the peak of the hill. You can be both successful and happy while striving and struggling during the process.
So buckle up and text your long-lost school best friend whom you missed all these days, attend an alumni get-together, go out in the park with your kids, and take your wife/husband on a beach date. Enjoy the good days so that you don’t feel drained out on the hard days. Wanna know how? Continue with me and I am sure you will surely figure this out.
Do You Need to Change?
My friend, remember change is the only constant in life. You can be a hard-core employee who is constantly behind your boss for an appraisal hence the workload. But there is always a time to chill with friends, family, and colleagues. Hence improve your work-life balance.
It will be difficult to enjoy the bad days if you never know what are good days. So spend time productively. I know some of you might be so deeply rooted in the work culture that even a second off makes you think a lot.
Working on weekends is the worst idea for a happy human being unless it is something very urgent. So take some steps back and enjoy your leisure hours. This way you can be active while at work and play both.
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5 Steps to start improving your work-life balance
I understand, even if I say just going out and sitting on a seashore alone might think a burden to you. So here is a checklist that you can wonder about while spending leisure time alone.
Recent studies say that work-life balance is not an achievement but a continuous cycle that goes on and on. So ride your bicycle carefully because the roads here are filled with pits and hurdles.
1. Take a Pause
The human brain and body need rest. I am sure you would agree to this. Coffee is a stimulant but for how long? You cannot work for sleepless nights and be fresh then all day. Hence take a pause. I am not much considering the people who have to do over-work due to some personal reasons. Guys, you too can prioritize some work and take breaks. Reduce your time wasted on gossiping unnecessary stuff, do smart work, and enjoy leisurely while free.
Just think that you have paused, now what?
Ask Yourself:
- Am I Stressed or Unhappy?
- Am I running behind in money or skills and experience?
- What are my priorities?
- What am I missing out on?
- Does taking a break hamper much?
2. Listen to Your Feelings
Feel your heart, and listen to your brain. This is the most common dictum that has made us machines to mankind.
But taking a pause can help you rethink what your situation is. You can make more accurate decisions and feel. Does the fact that you are not giving time to your family and yourself, make you feel angry, resentful, unhappy, or neutral?
If you sense a void in life while dealing with workplace challenges, talk to your supporters who made you reach there. They can be the only Buddhas in your life. Since people who know you, give better solutions.
3. Recheck your Priorities
Preferences or priorities or dreams are the driving force in real life.
For instance, you cannot enjoy every nook and corner of a beautiful tourist spot like Jaipur in a day. There is so much to explore and cherish individually. Similarly, even if you think there’s no end to work. It will pop up every time.
Therefore, give yourself time to recheck your priorities. The major ones should be done immediately while some that need not be done now must be prepared without much load. By the time you enjoy a sweet sleep unharmed.
4. Look For Better Ways
There’s always a better way to end things right. You may or may not be aware of this. Your priorities might change with time so also you should change your ways of looking into things.
For instance, As a bachelor employee, one may prefer doing night duties while married men and women consider day jobs better. So this is an alternative to timings according to work and home priorities.
Another example is of work from home mothers as well as fathers during the initial years of their babies. Their priority is the safety of their child which can be fulfilled only by staying at home while the office work can be done through a laptop also without physically being present.
5. Be Flexible
Flexible trees resist the strongest winds. Being comfortable working at odd hours for the sake of the company is a fabulous quality of the best employee. But also being able to celebrate important days of your life with your loved one makes you happier.
For instance, Doctors, nurses, and health workers have to cope with difficult patients at odd hours. But it is their flexibility at work that they give each patient the time required without compromising their personal lives.
Self-help is the Best Help to achieve work-life balance
However, blabber is worthless unless you are not bound to bring changes in your work-life balance. So here are the 7 best ways to start your self-help journey without fake affirmations and just real work.
1. Accept that PERFECTIONISM is a mirage
All days are not the same. Today’s fast-moving world demands fast results from employees. Hence your 9 to 5 job is never a 9 to 5 job solely. You do overtime after getting back home and attend to foreign clients even at night.
Your babies might be waiting for you the whole day but they sleep before you reach home and leave before they wake up. But this doesn’t happen every day. There must be weekends when you just spend the whole day with your family. This is the picture of a happy work-life balance. Not the one everyone thinks of.
2. Like Your Job
I would never tell you to fall in love with your job. Every career has pros and cons. But if the pros are enough to make you rise from your bed and build self-confidence , then you truly like your job.
A job that is dreadful to go filled with toxic air and people are hard to sustain for a long time. Even after work, if you don’t feel like doing anything productive, then it’s time to rethink your job.
For instance, a toxic boss who doesn’t respect the work boundaries of an employee and takes personal benefits is problematic to serve. These employees must be working under pressure and trauma.
3. Take Solo Vacations
Unplugging from the daily commute is necessary for detoxification. You can do this every day. Meditation and yoga clubs are one of the successful ways to detoxify the mind from negative thoughts. Similarly, while on a trip you must have seen people busy scrolling through their electronic devices doing some office chores. This is when you seem to stop enjoying the process.
A result-oriented attitude never tastes sweeter than a process-oriented one.
So go out and explore the world, meet people around the globe, practice traditions, dance, sing, read novels, and do whatever you like without dreaming of tomorrow’s deals for which you have already prepared.
4. Health is Wealth
Stop cramming over workload. Studies show poor health of employees who work all day long sitting in front of their desktops. They can have back pain and poor bone health.
Use your gym membership today. Do moderate exercise so that your machine goes a long way. Take a walk home, talk to people in your neighbourhood who are not from the office, and eat healthily.
Some employees don’t use their employee leaves for fear that one trip can destroy their workflow and pile up backlogs. This usually happens with the new joiners and freshers.
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5. Participate in Family Dates
Your parents taught you to hold a pencil but today you might be so busy that you have no time to take them to dinners. Hence spend time with your mother, and help her with cooking, cleaning, and gossiping a lot about your childhood.
Fathers usually don’t open up much. But they feel the most proud of you. So sit at home and tell him about what’s going on in your life or go on walking.
Everything is lost once the person is gone. Nowadays people have time to attend farewells but not spend real time with the same person.
6. Remove the Burnout
You are dearest to your loved ones but only necessary to your company. So remember to set clear-cut boundaries on when you should attend emails, calls, and messages from clients.
Set separate accounts for most of them. Planning overhand for romantic and family dinners might sound desperate. But the best method is to not miss a chance to impress your loved ones. They appreciate you for who you are and what you can achieve further in life.
7. Keep Your Personal Goals Clear
Being realistic is the first step towards becoming a good leader. Your personal goals should not be based on someone else’s predictions. So know your capabilities and start working towards them.
Some have the habit of checking out their phone every minute or second. This drains your vision, mind, and thinking ability. You might be putting in effort on the wrong tasks while on weekends or family time.
Tips to Modify Your Workplace Experience
As a legit employee of any authorized company, you must also be aware of your rights in the company. Unless you are afraid of losing your job or being precariously employed. So here are the rules.
1) The Citizens Advice page says that there are timings fixed for sick pay, sick leaves, working hours, parental leaves, contracts, and much more. With proper knowledge, you can enjoy your work and personal life better.
2) A disabled person or a pregnant woman is open to special considerations and adjustments in the office.
3) Speak about workload with your coworkers and try to approach the boss if you all are experiencing over workload.
4) Eat healthy home food. Go out and walk in the open air during lunch hours. Taking small breaks keeps the flow going.
5) Do not waste time in unstructured meetings. Your time is precious so ask your juniors and yourself to be prepared with the agendas for the meeting. It saves time.
6) Keep track of your everyday working hours. Weeks and months of tracking may not be much impactful.
Final words
What a Life Coach Has to Say About This? Healthy work-life balance is a hot topic for every generation. Everyone is hanging between money and job satisfaction. In the process, we always forget that the brain which should be our friend becomes our enemy if not trained to survive.
Even the rich commit suicide as the poor do. Yes, but the reasons may differ.
Life is a marathon. We can run on a set of formulas.
Choose between good stress and bad stress. Are you developing from within the job? Are you looking for just money from minimal work or good job satisfaction from wherever you work?
Changing jobs because of failure to perform your best isn’t a solution. Change yourself to be the best version of yourself.
