Sometimes you mutter to yourself, “I’m sick and tired of all these,” You ask yourself rhetorically, “how can I even achieve work-life balance?”.
Many times, it is due to the stress you go through trying to achieve work-life balance. You try to juggle work alongside your personal affairs, and it is not easy because you have to work to sustain yourself, but what happens when work is beginning to tear you up? What happens when you realize you struggle with work, and at the same time, you also struggle to keep your personal life in check?
Work is really important; also, your personal life is very important too. How can you achieve work-life balance? Where both your work life and your personal life are something to write about.
This is where you need to strike a balance, and this article is your final bus stop to knowing how to achieve work-life balance.
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First, we will define what work-life balance is.
What is work-life balance?
Work-life balance is simply defined as a state of equilibrium where a person equally prioritizes the demands of one’s career and the demands of one’s personal life at the same time. Both work and your personal life should be well balanced.
How To Achieve Work-Life Balance.
Now that you know what work-life balance means, I’m sure you agree that you need to achieve a work-life balance. Below are tips to help you achieve work-life balance. Without much ado, let’s explore these five tips together!
- Learn to take a break.
- Communicate your feelings
- Work at your own pace and capacity
- Dispel activities that drain you
- Get help.
- Learn to detach yourself.
- Seek therapy
1. Learn To Take a Break:
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. You heard that correctly! Sometimes, a break from work is all you need to get relieved from that pressure that’s parading all over you. Whether it is a few hours away from work, you would realize that during those few hours, you are relieved of the stress or pressure from working too much.
You happen to do the things you enjoy doing during your leisure time. Well, nobody is saying your work is the cause of stress, but if you want to achieve a work-life balance, whereby your own is going on well and smoothly, and on the other hand, your personal life and affairs are equally doing great, then you should learn to take a break to catch your breath.
2. Communicate Your Feelings
Understand that nobody will ever know what is going on in your mind, and neither will they know how you feel. Therefore, do not assume that your friends, family, or boss are completely aware of what bothers you.
When you feel there is an urgent need to adjust your schedule to achieve a better work-life balance, you will need to voice your needs. Sometimes, you just need to consider your mental health and voice how you feel.
Therefore, if you need to seek permission from your boss to have a break or something that helps you and your mental health, then you should learn to voice them.
3. Work Within Your Pace and Capability.
Sometimes, when you work above your capacity, there is a tendency that you are putting your health at risk, and this is not how to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
You need to work within your pace and capacity to maintain a healthy work-life balance. This is not asking that you should be lazy, but doing things you can handle will help you a lot.
So, if you are one of those people who are fond of putting it in your CV that you can work under pressure, I guess that act should end because working under pressure is nothing close to a healthy work-life habit!
4. Dispel Activities That Drain You.
This is where you need to draw out a scale of preference on the activities that are much more important to you. Usually, you just notice you are getting more tired than necessary, and it begins to keep you bothered. Sometimes it is advisable to reflect on the activities you engage yourself in, and when you do, you’ll realize that one of the activities you are putting up with is not worth it.
This is why drawing away from activities that drain your energy and leave you mentally weak is more than necessary.
5. Get Help!
We all need help, one way or the other, so why refuse some little help, especially when you know you can afford it?
For instance, you are aware that you have long hours of work to do, and getting home, chores and activities are waiting for you. Now, even if you are a superman, trust that a time will come when you will start experiencing a breakdown, breakout, or even a knockout.
This is where you get help!
6. Learn to detach yourself:
Understand that there are others out there who also do what you do, so when the workload from a client seems too much, rather than saying you will see to it when your body system says otherwise, it is advisable to detach yourself immediately because at that moment what you should be prioritizing is you.
There will always be other clients who need your service, so it is important to know when to say no when it is very much needed!
7. Seek Therapy:
Trust me; you are not crazy! It is not only people who are having mental issues that are confined to therapeutic sessions. When you feel stuck or you are starting to get overwhelmed that it seems you are beginning to fall apart, working with a professional in the therapy field goes a long way.
To help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, your counselor will be there to serve as a guide in helping you through. You, on your part, will need to be more open to getting every help you can from a counselor.
Having a work-life balance is very important, as the impact of not balancing your work-life is always negative. Let’s explore some negative impacts of not having a work-life balance.
Negative Impact of Not Having a Work-Life Balance.
- It affects your relationship: You start feeling agitated with your co-workers and even those close to you. This is due to your unbalanced work life, which affects your relationship with others.
- You start struggling: You see yourself struggling and risking your own life. After all, you struggle to take time off for yourself when you’re sick because your mind is clouded around work only. You struggle with having a little vacation to yourself; you do not even remember the last time you had one.
- It messes up your mental health: Your mental health is really important, and your well-being is at risk once it is threatened.
FAQ
Examples of good work-life habits?
You should duly note these good work-life habits.
- Creating a family-friendly work environment.
- Have a fun committee.
- Invest more in teamwork.
- Have a flexible leave schedule
- Engaging with people outside your workspace.
Four tips to improve work-life balance.
If you are a workaholic, one of your goals should be to be able to improve your work-life balance.
- Take breaks
- Learn to say no
- Communicate boundaries
- Discharge activities that drain you
Six components of working habits.
The following are the components that depict good working habits:
- Time Management
- Stress Management
- Leisure Management
- Managing Change
- Technology Management
- Change Management
Cause of poor work-life management?
When you experience poor work-life management, it is usually caused by one or all of these reasons, namely;
- working longer hours
- Having too many responsibilities at work
- Having too many responsibilities at home
- Having to care for too many people, including children
- Less income, more expenses.
Five steps to achieve work-life balance.
Achieving work-life balance can be as simple as following these steps, they include;
- Have time for yourself
- Use your spare time for fun activities
- Prioritize yourself and your situation
- Manage your health wisely
- Learn to say no, especially when it is not convenient.
Conclusion
Achieving a work-life balance is something that you should prioritize. Despite the day-to-day hustle, one should know when and how to strike a balance! As a workaholic or someone who just finds him or herself in an organization where the work is just too tedious, leaving no time to even have for yourself, you should consider taking these tips into full consideration.
Work is good, yes; in fact, you should not even tolerate laziness. But when the work seems to occupy you and replace even the little time you have to yourself, then your physical, mental, and emotional health is likely to capsize simply because you pay no attention to these things, which do matter a lot. As time passes, you will have no time to spend or enjoy with your loved ones or those you cherish. Then ask yourself, how do I create memories with my loved ones if my work life is not balanced?
So, as a workaholic or someone who finds himself or herself in an environment where the work is tedious, how do you intend to achieve a balanced work-life starting now? Let’s hear from you!
Author: Akanni, Joyce Adeyinka.
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