In society today, people work for long hours and barely have any time for other aspects of their lives. We all have the desire to be successful in our careers and this may lead to neglecting our own health. An ideal work-life balance or work-life integration is essential to enhance the physical, emotional, and mental health status as well as to advance in our careers.
Content Outline
What Is Work-Life Balance?
Work-life balance can be defined as the state of affairs in which the person is able to effectively manage the competing demands of his or her job and other aspects of his or her life. Perhaps, everyone dreams of having a work-life balance, but this goal is rather elusive. These are the possible causes of poor work-life:
- More responsibilities at work
- Putting on more hours of work
- More duties at home
- Having children
Personal and professional life are two critical aspects that we need to balance in life. According to career expert Chris Chancey, CEO of Amplio Recruiting, a good work-life balance has several benefits including reducing stress, minimizing the risk of burnout, and increasing the quality of life. This is advantageous to the employees and employers in the workplace.
According to Chancey, employers that implement work-life balance policies have the potential to save costs, the employee absence rate is low and the employees are loyal and productive. Options that can be chosen by employees include working from home and having flexible working hours also enhancing work-life balance.
How Can You Enhance Your Work-Life Balance?
If you wish to have a better work-life balance, then you have to try and find the right balance between the time you spend at work and the time you spend at home.
When planning your schedule, it is equally important to come up with a good work-life balance that will allow you to work effectively and also have time for other activities in your life. Work-life balance is not so much about dividing the hours available within a day between work and other aspects of one’s life but more about being able to manage the various tasks that show up in the work domain without neglecting the other aspects of life. Sometimes, you can have longer days at work so in the following days you can engage in other activities of interest.
Below are eight ways that could help you to achieve a better work-life balance.
1. Realizing that there is no way of achieving a perfect work-life balance
As soon as you hear the term ‘work-life balance’ you most likely picture a person who had a very efficient day at work and then left work early to enjoy the rest of the day with friends and family. This may be seen as perfect but this is not always the case.
Do not try to schedule the ‘perfect’ schedule, try to schedule the ‘reasonable’ one. There are some days when you may have to work and on other days you may have more free time to engage in other activities or be with your friends and family. It is the cumulative state in which one can manage between work, family, health, and other aspects of life.
Heather Monahan, co-founder of Boss in Heels, and the author of the best-seller entitled ‘Be You; A Woman’s Guide to Mastering Failure’ stated that, ‘It is important to stay flexible and always know where you stand in terms of goals and priorities’. It is necessary to understand that sometimes children may require their parents, and at the same time, parents may need to travel for work, thus, the most important thing is to be flexible and be able to identify and meet one’s needs at any time.
2. Find a career that you enjoy
Although it is a normal routine in society to work, your career does not have to be one that is filled with misery. If you hate your job, you will not be happy and it is as simple as that. You do not have to like everything about the job, but it should be interesting enough so that you will not dislike waking up in the morning to go to work.
Monahan suggested finding a job that you would be willing to do even without being paid for it. “If you are in a job that is draining you, and you are unable to perform some of the activities that you love outside work, then something is wrong,” said Monahan. “You might be working for a bad company or a bad boss or in a job you hate, if this is the case then it is time to look for a new job. ”
3. Prioritize your health
Your well-being in terms of physical, emotional, and mental health should be your priority in life. If you are suffering from anxiety or depression, and believe that therapy could help, find the time for those appointments by taking time off from work, or skipping the spinning class. If you are struggling with a chronic illness then it is fine to take a sick leave when you are not well. Overworking yourself is not a solution as it might lead to a worsened condition and a longer absence from work.
“I would like to stress that taking care of yourself and your health should be your top priority because this will help you become a better worker and a better person,” Monahan said. “The employees will be absent from work less often, and when the employee is present, the employee will be more productive and efficient. ”
Just because you want to take care of your health does not mean you are required to engage in some radical measures. It may be as basic as taking a few minutes each day to quiet your mind or exercise.
4. Take a break from the electronics
Isolating yourself once a week can enable you to escape from weekly stress and have a chance to think about other things in the world. Unplugging can be as basic as taking a break and meditating instead of responding to emails during your lunch or on your daily commute.
Monahan stated that when she used to travel to work with her boss, he would sit next to her and read a novel while she was working.
However, the same tactics are used nowadays. She also stressed the importance of stepping back and relaxing can make you more effective and focused when back at work.
5. Go for a holiday
At other times, it is about taking a vacation and ensuring that you don’t need to work at all for a while. It’s a fact that everyone needs a break whether it is for one day off from work or two weeks in Hawaii.
Based on the State of American Vacation study by the U. S. Travel Association, 55 percent of the working population said that they still have some vacation days that they did not use at the end of the year. Employees are usually anxious that the absence will affect the productivity of the organization and they will be faced with a big number of tasks when they get back. Therefore, fear should not be an excuse for not taking a much-needed break.
“The fact of the matter is that there are no virtues to be found in not taking the needed time off; the advantages of taking a day off, far outweigh the disadvantages,” said Chancey. Thus, with effective planning, it is possible to step away from work without having to stress about the increased workload for the other employees or having a mountain of work to sort through upon return to work.
6. Ensure that you and your loved ones spend time together
Your job should not define you it should not be in your life. You were a human before taking the job and there should be things you liked doing. Chancey noted that work-life integration is not possible without planning for it.
According to Chancey, “If there is no tight scheduling of personal time, there will be no time to engage in other activities away from work. ” “Even with a very tight schedule, you are in control of how you use your time and your life. ”
When spending time with your loved ones, ensure to set a schedule of romantic and family dates to take. First, it may seem strange to set up personal time with the person who is sharing the home with you, but doing this will help to avoid working the relationship into the ground. It is infamous that work takes a lot of time however, this does not imply that you should neglect your personal relationships.
“You need to understand that no one at your workplace is going to love you or care for you as your family and friends do,” said Monahan. Also, every position in the workplace is fungible and no matter the role you occupy, the organization will not be indisputably affected the next day you are gone.
7. Work schedules and set limits
Establish boundaries for yourself and for your colleagues as to how much work is too much work. As you leave the office, don’t plan for the subsequent tasks or respond to the organization’s emails. Perhaps, it will be useful to have a separate device for work, a computer or a phone, so that you can switch it off after work. If this is not possible, the work and the personal platforms should be kept in different browsers or emails.
Furthermore, Chancey suggested that there should be working hours that are to be followed strictly. According to Chancey, ‘It does not matter whether you work in an office or from home, it is important to set a time that you will be working and a time that you will stop working or else, you might end up answering emails at odd hours such as at night, during the holiday or even on weekends. ’
Chancey suggested that you should inform the team members and your manager that there are certain limits that cannot be crossed to enable you to attend to personal issues. This can assist in making certain that they comprehend and appreciate the boundaries that you have put at the workplace and that they do not set up impractical expectations.
8. List down goals and priorities to follow
To set feasible objectives, use time management techniques, assess your list of tasks, and remove the activities that do not create value.
Try to notice when you work best and then try to use this time for work-related tasks and activities. It is also advisable not to keep on checking your emails and phone every now and then as these are some of the biggest time-wasting activities that also disorganize your focus and productivity. This means that having a daily schedule can help improve your productivity in the workplace therefore be sure to stick to a schedule to have time for other activities outside work.
In What Way Does A Flexible Workplace Assist You With Work-Life Balance?
Most people who can achieve a good work-life balance will often credit to flexibility. A recent study showed that in the previous few years, many employers have granted employees more options in terms of their time and location of work, a model that has been further extended since the COVID-19 outbreak.
It is evident that employers are still finding it difficult to cope with the situation where they have fewer resources to spend on benefits that have a direct cost associated with them. Nevertheless, it has become a high priority to offer employees a numerous list of benefits, which are helpful for employees and their families and enhance the employees’ health and welfare.
When it comes to the concept of flexibility in the workplace, it often proves to be advantageous for employers in the long run. Looking at the future, it can be seen that if employers want to attract and retain talented employees, they need to address the issue of flexibility at work. Work-life balance will mean different things to different people because, at the end of the day, we all have different responsibilities in our lives. In today’s society, balance is a very individual matter and only you know what kind of work-life schedule will work for you.
The essential step is to look for a more flexible schedule that would suit your lifestyle. The FlexJobs survey revealed that 87 percent of the workers stated that the possibility of working remotely was beneficial for achieving a better work-life balance.
Besides the model of remote work, the other benefits such as the possibilities of flexible hours, time off for mental health reasons, fewer working hours, or a four-day workweek determine what will be most effective and how to properly present your concerns to your employer.
What Is The Importance Of Work-Life Balance?
Achieving a successful work-life balance while maintaining a happy personal life is the aim of a healthy work-life balance. An imbalance that results from dedicating an excessive amount of your time and energy to work can have detrimental effects on nearly every aspect of your life.
Below are some of the reasons for achieving a proper work-life balance:
It can influence your psychological state of health.
Stress is inevitable, especially at the workplace, however, when you spend most of your time at work and have no time to relax, stress becomes unbearable and may damage your psychological health. If you are a stressed employee, then you are likely to have little or no time to attend to personal matters at home which are also a source of stress.
Mental Health America and FlexJobs conducted a survey where 76% of the respondents said that workload and stress at the workplace harm their mental health and cause issues such as depression and anxiety. However, they established that most employees who work in companies that allow flexibility in their work arrangements report improved mental health. Indeed, the employees who do not have flexibility were twice as likely to report that they have poor mental health.
It affects the physical health
Besides affecting mental health, stress which results from an unbalanced work-life is also known to cause other physical health problems. According to a CDC report on stress at work, it is reported that stressful jobs have adverse effects on the physical health of the workers, including heart disease and musculoskeletal and psychological disorders. The report also establishes that there is some indication that stress at the workplace can be a cause of ulcers, cancer, and poor immune systems.
A healthy work-life balance not only decreases stress, which can lead to disease, but it also enables you to take care of your health through exercise and a healthy diet.
It affects your performance at work
This means that a lack of balance between work and other aspects of life has adverse effects on your health. Dedicating a lot of time and effort to work can also have adverse effects on your work as well. The 2021 Mental Health at Work report by Mind Share Partners highlighted that stress and other mental health problems at work reduce employees’ output by 72 percent. Also, they are absent from work due to mental health problems approximately eight days per year.
However, a study conducted in the Kansas Journal of Medicine in 2021 established that employer attempts to reduce stress and enhance the psychological health of employees increase performance. This means that you cannot become more productive by working more hours and hence it is crucial to concentrate on the job during working hours. Thus, it will be advisable to work with your employer to identify better ways of arranging your working schedule that can result in a better work-life balance, which, in turn, will make you a more productive and valuable employee.
It impacts your relationships
This may seem quite obvious, but the negative effect of work-life imbalance will affect the workplace. In a UKG poll carried out not long ago, 71% of the people stated that work stress spills over to their personal lives and 62% said that it has a negative effect on their interpersonal relationships. If the person is under pressure at his or her job and spends most of the time working, they will have no time or energy to spend with family.
A positive work-life balance will enable you to share more time with your friends and family. Not being overworked means that you will be able to engage with your friends and family to the maximum and enjoy the time you have with them. Thus, the aim is not only for being a good employee, it is for being a valuable and fulfilled person in the workplace and in your whole life.
A Healthy Work-Life Balance Does Not Come Easy
No one is exempted from these physical and psychological limitations. When one is overworked to the extent of giving his or her all at the workplace, there is bound to be a breakdown of other aspects of their personal life. It is surely significant to succeed at work, yet we have only one life to live and that is why it is necessary to enjoy it. You should not let work interfere with your personal life or health.
These are some of the tips on how to balance work life and personal life in order to be a healthy and happy employee and a member of society. But that is not easy and the right balance is different for each person. It could mean quitting, discussing with your employer about changing the working hours, or finding a new job where you can have more flexibility. Think about what you require to have a better work-life balance and then do it.
At FastLane Recruitment, we understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. Our dedicated team works tirelessly to match you with roles that not only align with your career goals but also support your personal well-being. Take the first step towards a fulfilling and balanced life by contacting FastLane Recruitment today. Let us help you find the perfect job that complements your lifestyle. Reach out now and experience the difference!