Today there is indeed much competition in the work world. Companies are striving to beat their earlier turnover and employees have to be on their toes to meet deadlines, ensure productivity and so on.
They have to be visible each day and if they don’t, they might just miss out on a chance or a promotion. Such an atmosphere often leaves people stressed and over worked so much that they are unable to give any quality time for their family.
This trend is not working positively for employees. Many studies and researches have indicated that too much of work and no family time only add to the stress which in turn affects productivity at work.
Here are 20 tips to help you maintain the good work life balance and make yourself a happier you:
Hence there is an urgent need to maintain a balance between work and personal life, so that you remain refreshed, stress free and happy with the result that you become more active, focused and more fruitful at work.
20 Tips for Good Work Life Balance:
1. Prioritize your tasks:
You may have to do a hundred things a day but wait for a moment and think.
Do you need to do all these work today itself?
Make the list of your tasks and group them into urgent, not so urgent, not for today and not necessary for a long time. This will leave you with enough time on hands to pursue other interests.
2. Try to limit your work within your office:
There might be days when you might have to do a follow up or check things even when you are at home.
Unless and until there is an emergency, try to complete your work in office itself. Avoid taking work home.
3. Multitasking is not always the best policy:
Sometimes, multi-tasking might be great but it doesn’t work always. Take up one task at a time and do your best at it.
If you are working, pay full attention to it and if you are with your family, enjoy the time rather than thinking about work.
4. It is ok to say ‘No’:
Do not make yourself a super human being. It is ok that you are not able to juggle too many things.
It is perfectly alright to say ‘no‘ to certain responsibilities and certain people.
5. Make a long term timetable:
On the first day of every month, make a timetable for each day.
May be, you may not be able to stick to it all the time, but you can very well get an idea as to how you are going to spend each day. You can even keep aside weekends for a family holiday.
6. Spend some time with yourself every day:
You might think that you are unable to spend any time for yourself considering your busy schedule, but make it a habit to take some time out for just yourself.
At first, it might seem hard but slowly you will have enough time in your hands.
7. Put up exercise as an urgent matter:
Being physically fit is important if you want a good work life balance. Devote a little time, even 15 minutes, is enough, for any kind of exercise. Run, jog, do push-ups, go for brisk walking, or any kind of activity.
If you start your day with some energetic exercises, you will feel energized throughout the day and you will have enough time to spend at work and with your family.
8. Develop a hobby:
A hobby is a great tool to derive happiness and get refreshed. A hobby can be anything that you like.
Just ensure that you spend quality time in nurturing your hobby.
9. Switch off:
This does not just apply to your phone and laptop but also your mind. When you are at work, forget about what is bothering about home and ditto, when you are at home, forget the work worries.
Just switch off and you will realize that the world is functioning well, after all.
10. Analyze your day or week:
If you can, say, take out 5 minutes at the end of the day, and analyze your day, it will do you a world of good.
You will know how some of your time was wasted or how you could have spent the day more productively, what you could have avoided and so on. This will help you manage the next day better.
11. Seek advises:
If you are stuck up and unable to find a balance between your work and family, then do not hesitate to seek help.
It can be a life coach, a friend, or anyone who is successful in managing work and life. You are sure to find some ideas on how to live better.
12. Encourage delegating work:
Take up work that you can actually do. If not, then delegate work. The best worker is not the one who does hundreds of things inefficiently but the one who can carry out that one task in the most efficient way.
13. De clutter your mind and space:
Never allow accumulation of responsibilities, be it at home or office. Do not carry hundred things in your mind either.
Let your mind be free, so should be your office cabinet and home. Cluttered mind and spaces can only help add stress to your life. So start clearing it right away.
14. Analyze your lifestyle:
Do a review of your lifestyle and see what is bothering you and what is going wrong. Mend it, one thing at a time, and you will know what steps you need to take to maintain a balance between work and home.
15. Vacations – an urgent priority:
Make time for yearly vacations or monthly weekend trips with the family. Consider this as urgent as any other work.
Vacations rejuvenate you helping you to be a better person at work and at home.
16. Learn to take decisions:
There will be times when you might be forced to choose between an urgent professional commitment and a harrowing personal need.
Do not feel apologetic but do what your heart tells you to. Remember, you are a normal human being and it is ok to leave certain things.
17. Grab some extra time from the day:
There are some who like to get up very early in the morning while there are some who might not like to sleep early.
What kind of person are you?
If you like to rise early in the morning, you can have some extra time for yourself and if you are a late sleeper, then spend that extra time either with your spouse or completing some work.
18.Time management is a necessity:
It is not the lack of time that stops from maintaining a good work life balance, but the lack of time management skills.
Learn to manage time and you will do fine both at work and at home.
19. Smell the coffee:
At the end of the day, it is your life and it all depends on what you want. You need money all right, but how much and at what cost.
If you love your family, you have to work and earn for them but their happiness does not lie on your pay check but in your company.
So do not feel guilty if you are skipping the rough tightrope at work to attend your child’s sport meet. At the end of the day, your smile will say it all.
20. Make your own definition to work-life balance:
What does work-life balance mean to you?
Write it down and try to live your life accordingly. You will manage to strike a good balance between your professional and personal life definitely. Do an evaluation of this list on a regular basis.
