Work, life, and balance are 3 important words for how you command your life.
Do you know how to strike a work-life balance?
You are not the only person that is trying to find the right middle ground where work doesn’t take over your personal life and where your personal life can survive without messing with your career.
Everyone knows the feeling: You’re swamped at work and your personal life is suffering.
You’re trying to be the best employees possible while still maintaining some semblance of social life and taking care of yourself, but it’s just not working.
All too often, employees let their work life consume them to the point where it starts to take a toll on their health, both physically and mentally.
So today, we are going to help you attempt to strike a work-life balance and life-work balance so that you can feel satisfied in all realms of your life.
How To Tell If You Need To Strike A Work-Life Balance
It’s important to have a healthy work-life balance, but how do you achieve that?
- take a realistic look at how you are spending your time
- Are you working too much overtime?
- Do you spend your lunch break glued to your screen?
- When was the last time you enjoyed ANY of your hobbies or do you even have hobbies anymore?
- When you have visited or spent time with loved ones?
These questions should open your eyes to the fact that your work and life are not balanced and you’ve got to take control now!
How To Make Changes For A Work And Life Balance?
Once you have figured out where you are not making life and work merge easily and healthily, it is time to make changes.
- If you’re working too much, talk to your boss about ways to lighten your workload.
- If you spend too much time on your phone, consciously put it away more.
- if you’re not making time for the things you love, schedule it
- If you don’t get out of the office enough, ask to go to a conference.
- If you haven’t had time to sharpen your work skills, request training
- If you don’t like your job, brush up on your resume. It might be time to use those skills elsewhere
- Once you have a resume, consider finding a new job through Lensa to showcase your knowledge and network
- Also, look into different kinds of side hustles, from online work to pet sitting and everything in between, for extra cash
Remember, Balance Is A Moving Target
When working towards striking a work-life balance or life-work balance, remember that balance is a moving target.
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something can happen to throw everything off.
Flexibility will keep you agile, dodging all the moving parts of life, but you must also have a plant when things go off kilter.
1. Reasonable Achievable Goals Help You Gain A Work And Life Balance
Realistic goals can be met, but unrealistic goals only further alienate you from achieving balance.
Set a path for yourself with goals along the way, and figure out what realistically you can accomplish. and that is a big step in getting towards the state of balance you need to feel fulfilled.
Remember, if you are tired, washed out, and setting unrealistic goals, you may lose yourself in the middle.
You also might be losing your self-confidence in the person that you can be, but can’t get to, so be reasonable and fair when you set goals.
2. Balance Is A Moving Target, So Grab A Friend To Tackle It
Don’t tackle the balance ball by yourself; use a supportive partner or friend.
Their job to help you gain work and life balance is to be a sounding board for your ideas, aspirations, and dreams while keeping you on track when your goals are not being met so that you don’t crash and burn.
A good partner will give you the kick you need when you have to get back up and go, and they will hold you back a bit to keep you flying steady!
3. Organization and Routines: Necessary Keys To Strike A Work-Life Balance
One of the best ways to maintain a work-life balance is to organize and create a routine that works for you.
Having a set routine will help you stay on track and make balancing your work and personal life easier.
- use a digital calender app
- use a paper and pen calendar
- keep a to-do list
- do things on certain days of the week and stick to the schedule (shopping, errands, etc.)
4. Always Make Time For Yourself
You have no balance when you get lost in work, and work takes over your life-work balance.
To fight that mess off, you must take time for yourself and do things that make you happy.
- schedule a weekly manicure
- try a monthly pedicure
- schedule a blowout for your hair
- take a lunch hour at your favorite restaurant
- shop for your lunch hour
- go to yoga, spinning, etc.
Always be patient with yourself as you sort through your work-life balance because it’s tough to find.
5. Validate the Company’s Work-Life Balance Philosophy
Even the most perfect diet and exercise regime won’t save you from the toll of a toxic work environment. Companies vary wildly in prioritizing work-life balance for their team members.
Some get it right, ensuring their employees are well-taken care of and happy. Others? Not so much. They often boast unsettlingly high rates of employee burnout, and let’s be real, no one’s got time for that.
Avoid getting trapped in a thankless job by doing a little recon work. Before you commit, sleuth around for some authentic employee reviews.
Just pop the company’s name into a search bar, throw in the word ‘reviews,’ and presto! You’ll get the low-down on what it’s really like behind those office doors. To illustrate my point, you could tap in ‘Primerica reviews‘ to gather specific opinions and experiences about that particular company.
Balancing Life Is A 24 Hour, 365 Days A Year Job But You Got This
Now that we have shared a clear picture of what you might or may not be doing affecting your personal life, you should use that knowledge to start setting goals.
Remember to set boundaries that cut off work time, family time, and time to strike a golden balance in your life.
Schedule breaks, avoid burnout, and get your life-work balance working for you!
Change is not meant to bulldoze your life, to transport you to the future!