Finding a Good Work-Life Balance
You understand that being a “workaholic” or working so much can impact you physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, finding balance in your life continues to be a struggle for you. Unfortunately, it is essential if you want to reduce your stress levels and live a more fulfilling and healthy life. Stress is a natural reaction to the stimuli going on in your life, but it’s vital that you make an honest assessment of how you spend your time and allow yourself to rest properly. There’s no need to let the pressures of your life become so intense that they cause you physical harm.
In recent studies, doctors have been able to prove that consistent stress from so many different types of life pressure can more than double your chance of heart attack. After considering how seriously being a workaholic can affect you and your loved ones, it’s important to remember that having a balanced life is one of the best ways to fight chronic physical and mental health issues.
Whether you work outside the home or from home, you might be struggling with your work-life balance. This often happens when the lines between work and home blur, where you bring your personal problems to work, and your work problems home. When you never seem to have time for what you want, because you are so focused on everything at once.
Here are some tips for improving your work-life balance and live a much happier and more balanced life.
Have Separate Work and Home Spaces
This is especially important if you work from home, at least part time. You need to have designated personal and workspaces, no exceptions. Even if you don’t have a large home, there is a way to separate them.
This might mean sectioning off an area of your kitchen table to be used only for work purposes or putting a desk in your guest room to be used for work. Do what you can to have spaces for personal and home life, and spaces for work life.
Have Separate Work and Personal Goals
Your goals in life should not be combined for work and personal – they should be different. This is another great way to improve your work-life balance. You spend just as much time and energy on your personal and family goals, as you do on your work goals. This helps you to feel that balance, and not feel as if your entire life is dedicated to your career.
Only Set Reasonable Goals
When you set out to accomplish things that are out of your ability without considering the complexity of the task, it can be very demoralizing, but if you set goals that are reachable, it’s a much more gratifying experience. That doesn’t mean to set the bar low, only that you should do what is the most feasible thing to do at the time and work your way up to a higher standard if you choose.
These calculated moves have help you to be more successful in the long run, and because the success is incremental, it is a lot easier and attainable for even the most pessimistic planners.
Learn to Manage Your Time at Work
One of the most damaging things to a great workflow is procrastination. When you put off tasks that need to be finished soon, it seems like it won’t be a big deal at first, but if anything was to go wrong, then you suddenly are even more behind, and it might become difficult to meet expected deadlines. Try to take care of anything that you know could be disrupted by a sudden life event or unexpected occurrence.
The best way to tackle a large project would be to break them into groups of smaller tasks so that you can easily see your progress and do a more thorough job of checking on the quality of your work. This will make the project seem a lot less intimidating, and will take a lot of the heavy stress right off the top.
Schedule in Free Time and Take Breaks
For your personal time away from work, schedule in time just for you. This is when the computer and phone get put away, you don’t see paperwork, and you just focus on yourself and family. It can be helpful if you work from home, to have specific hours during the day when you are working. For example, if you know that at 8 am every morning, it is time to work, so you turn off the TV and head to your office or workspace.
A lot of people underestimate the power of a quick rest period. When you have the opportunity to take breaks, you should take a break! Most reasonable employers expect for you to take breaks. There’s no reason to be a martyr for the company brand. Remember that your job is what you do for sustaining your life, but your job is not your life. Taking an 8-5 schedule for example, try to take normal breaks, mid-morning, lunch, and mid-afternoon. End the day at 4 or 5 pm. The computer is closed, and you don’t work the rest of the evening.
Be Honest About What You Can Accomplish
Sometimes you want to make yourself look good at work, but you didn't’ realize what the job really entailed. If this happens, it’s important to communicate with the other people depending on you. At times you can fall behind through no fault of your own, but making sure, that everyone understands a realistic outcome without waiting to the last minute will reinforce confidence in you. Be sure that when you tell them about your situation, you approach it calmly with thoughtful alternatives to keep the ball rolling. If you have fallen short of expectations, be sure to keep a cool head and be persistent in your expressions of the fact that you can restore their confidence in you. It’s impossible to be perfect. Having an improbable belief of the possible outcomes to either extreme can be unhealthy, so you should always try to manage your expectations.
Practice Self-Care
Give yourself some time each day for self-care, not just spending time with family, but time with yourself. Even if it is just 10-15 minutes a day, you need this time for yourself.
Listening to your favorite music is a good example. It feels good to listen to a song that you haven’t listened to in while. When you feel yourself getting stressed out listening to a familiar piece of music can help you to stay focused. Science has studied many of the effects of music on the brain, and these studies have shown that music can reduce your stress and blood pressure very quickly. If you feel stressed often this can be a great way to occupy your mind to keep out the negative thoughts so you can focus on completing your tasks.
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Please check out my other blogs for more ideas and if you’re finding yourself stressed, overwhelmed, anxious please feel free to email/call me for a free, no obligation, consultation. Remember, you deserve to have the life you want!
heather@setsailtherapy.com 317-648-9295.
