It is all too easy to feel swamped when you’re cramming everything you possibly can into work and then doing the same again at home with your family. The pressure never stops and you don’t seem to get a breather. So how do you stay balanced?
I like these six practical suggestions, taken from Shannon Gausepohl’s article in Business News Daily, which help you adjust your attitude, feel more in control and stay balanced.
RECOGNISE THE ROLE WORK PLAYS IN YOUR LIFE
Work plays a significant part in life. It keeps the lights on, pays the mortgage, makes the car payment, funds retirement and permits yearly vacations. Adopting the right mind-set allows you to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of your labour, rather than making your job seem like endless drudgery.
BE PRESENT, CONSISTENT AND ACCOUNTABLE
Being present requires you to be attentive at home, at work and during free time. Where you spend your time and energy has a direct connection to how successful you are in achieving work-life balance. It’s so easy to get caught up working, but it’s so important to spend time with family, friends or other people who bring joy into our lives. Although it might not seem obvious at first, the memories that we create while spending time with those we love help spark new ideas, and ways of thinking.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO UNPLUG
We live in a connected world that never sleeps. Turning off from the outside world provides time to recover from weekly stress. It also gives us space to let other thoughts and ideas surface. When you are always on, you don’t allow other things to surface that might be more important.
CREATE (AND STICK TO) A DAILY ROUTINE
Implementing a strong daily routine will help keep you on track to achieve the balance you want. According to Lewis Howes, entrepreneur and author of “The School of Greatness” (Rodale Books, 2015), setting strong habits, such as sleeping 8 hours, avoiding checking your email for the first couple hours of the day, getting outside daily, and taking time to eat right and work out, will make you healthier and happier.
“It will absolutely reflect in your mental clarity, emotional capacity, relationships and creativity,” Howes said. “Those are the traits that make up the greatest leaders and most successful people.”
MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF
While being good at your job is important, it shouldn’t be your entire life. You were an individual before taking this position and you should prioritize those activities or hobbies that made you happy.
“Whether you take a walk in the park, get a massage or [take] a hot bath, it’s important to always set aside an hour a week to do something for yourself,” said Mark Feldman, vice president of marketing at Seven Step RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing).
“When [we] hire, we ask about [details like] books being read by the applicant. It shows that they have interests outside of work life,” Tatum said. Tatum suggests reading, traveling and fostering hobbies that have nothing to do with your career.
TAKE A HOLIDAY
Sometimes making time for yourself means taking a vacation and shutting work completely off. A vacation could be a 15-minute walk around the block without looking at your phone, or a vacation could be two or three weeks traveling with family/friends. It’s important to take a step back to physically and mentally recharge. If you are surrounded by good people at work, a vacation should be easy to take.
View Shannon’s full post 6 Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance Today
