As technology has advanced and become faster and more immediate, the pace of life seems to have increased to keep up. Long working hours or being available outside of hours through email or other communication means now seem to be the norm and often, the expectation. We may feel we cannot ever truly switch off, leading to feelings of pressure and stress. This, then becomes a perpetual cycle that is often difficult to get out of – if we check work once at home (even harder if working from home!) we can feel compelled to respond but if we leave it, it nags away in our heads and takes mental space away from our leisure time. Similarly, life events can seem to take over every other aspect and it can be hard to focus on the task at hand and be as productive as you once were.
In this article, we examine a healthy work life balance and share some tips on how to redress the balance if it has become lopsided.
What is Work Life Balance?
Simply put, work life balance is the division of your time between focusing on work and the tasks necessary to achieve results and the focus and time given to family, friends, leisure activities and arguably most importantly, yourself.
How Do I Know If I Have A Good Work Life Balance?
It’s vital for mental and physical health that we all try to achieve a good and healthy work-life balance. This is not one size fits all, however and doesn’t necessarily mean an exact 50/50 split. It just means that we all need to ensure that we feel fulfilled and content in both areas of our lives and the balance isn’t tipping heavily in favour of one way or the other.
Rebalancing Work and Life
There is no magic fix to achieving a better work life balance. You alone know every nuance of your life and work and how you are feeling about each aspect. That said there is lots of great advice available, below we share some of the most popular tips to help regain that much needed balance:
Be Present. Whichever environment you are in, be it work, spending time with family or friends, at the gym, watching tv, reading a book – be present in that moment. If you find your mind wandering to work or you are dwelling on life issues, acknowledge that thought but bring yourself back to the present and the people or environment you are in. You can deal with the other matter at a more appropriate time. In other words, be present in the current moment.
Ditch perfectionism. We all want to do the best we can, be it in life or work, but does it have to be perfect? Can it be a good job instead? At times we can get stuck in a loop where we feel nothing we do is good enough and we strive for better, which can make a project a never-ending task and means little ever gets completed.
Unplug. In our technology rich lives, it can be hard to completely unplug. Try to take an evening or weekend off from social media and news sites. Put your phone down and spend time in the real world.
Relaxation. When was the last time you truly relaxed? Relaxation and downtime will give you perspective and refresh you. Try meditation as a way to mentally pause and reset.
Exercise. One of the best ways to reduce stress, the mental health benefits of regular exercise are well documented. Exercise, rather than draining you of energy, will boost your reserves.
Reassess. Does your normal routine really serve you? Take a few minutes to reassess your habits and routines, do these still work for you? Or are they an ingrained habit that you do without really thinking about it? Weigh these up against what you would like to be or should be doing and change your routine as needed to make it serve you better.
Time Drains. We all have activities or people that seem to suck up so much of our time. Often becoming conscious of the fact can be enough to enable you to reclaim and limit the time you allow for these.
Learn to say no. Especially important if you regularly feel overwhelmed. Learning to say no to people and tasks that you feel obligated to spend time on but are not high on your own priority list will give you more time to spend on what matters most.
Maintaining a good balance between work and life is not a one-off task. It is not something that can be achieved and then ticked off the list as forever done. Life and work can change rapidly and so will your balancing act. We hope the tips in this article have proved useful, if you do need more support mentalhealth.org.uk have a wealth of fantastic advice to help you regain your work life balance.
