Balancing Life and Work

For most of us, our days mostly consist of work. We wake up, go to work, and come back home. Five days a week, eight hours a day. Unfortunately, for some of us, work doesn’t seem to end there. Even after your work-day is over, do you find yourself consistently answering work-related calls or emails? Do you find yourself constantly thinking about work even when you’re not there? Do you struggle finding time for yourself? Then it might be time to consider your work-life balance. Work is most likely going to take up most of your time, but when it starts to get in the way of your personal life, then when will you ever find time to take care of yourself? It might seem impossible, but with these tips, you can start prioritizing your needs while also making time for work.

Why Finding a Balance is Important

Those who consistently prioritize work over self-care tend to be at a higher risk for burnout, fatigue, and stress-related issues. Even though you might think that you’re fine, your body will tell your otherwise. With no time for exercise, adequate sleep, or leisure time, you’re not only taking important time away from you, but also your body. A study done by The Lancet, an international medical journal, found that the risk of stroke is higher in people who work more than 55 hours a week. Their findings are also associated with higher risk of anxiety or depression. You’re not only causing your mental health to deteriorate, but you’re also causing your physical health to decline.

Finding this balance is not only important for you, but also for relationships you have outside of work. Those who neglect their personal life over work also find themselves sacrificing personal relationships with loved ones. With no time for yourself, there’s also no time for other people.

Constantly prioritizing work can also, ironically, cause your productivity to decline. When faced with burnout or fatigue, you might find yourself working longer hours, but you might also find yourself struggling to keep up with your workload. If ideas don’t come as easy to you as they did before or if your workload might seem overwhelming when it wasn’t previously, then you might be experiencing burnout. Burnout is your body’s way of telling you to take a break. You want to be efficient, and you want your work to reflect the efforts you put in, but overworking may actually be preventing you from achieving what you want.

Are You Struggling with Finding Time for Yourself?

Do you find yourself having difficulty to focus? Are you easily irritated with coworkers or distant with your loved ones when you weren’t previously? Do you feel like no matter what you’re doing, you should be doing something else? These might be critical signs for you to improve your work-life balance.

When considering your work-life balance, it’s important to step back and really think about what you need. There is no absolute step-by-step to guide you towards a perfect balance because there’s no such thing. It’s up to you to figure out what will work best for you. Try different methods, and whichever ones benefit you the most are the ones that are right for you. It might be frustrating in the beginning, but remember everything takes time. Don’t be discouraged because one method doesn’t seem to work. There are hundreds of ways to improve your work-life balance, and the tips you follow might look different from others.

That being said, we’ve narrowed down some of the ways you can start finding your way towards achieving balance. If you’re considering what you want your work-life balance to look like, take these tips and see how you can use them in your daily life.

1. Plan Ahead

This tip might seem simple, but a lot of us have difficulty managing time for work and time for our personal life. Planning ahead and setting blocks of time for different tasks allows us to set necessary boundaries. Try making an itinerary with all the tasks that you can finish during your workday as well as activities you want to do when it’s over. That new café that opened across the street that you’ve been dying to try? Make time for it. That new book that you’ve been meaning to open up? Give yourself an hour or even thirty minutes to read. Haven’t seen your friends in a while? Schedule a day to meet up.

It is important to determine when you will work, and when you’ll stop. Otherwise, you might find yourself answering work-related emails during vacations (times when you really should be prioritizing you), which can lead to burnout in the future. Finding time for yourself is very important. When you constantly put work above all else, you will find yourself neglecting your own needs outside of work.

2. Find a Hobby

If you don’t have one already, finding a hobby is a great way to find a way to use your personal time. Engaging in a hobby allows your brain and body to be focused on tasks other than work, which prevents burnout and fatigue. It also allows for time to decompress after a long work day. Reading a book, going for a jog, or working out are great examples of hobbies that you can easily start. If you want to invest more into your hobby, try activities like knitting, drawing, or photography. This might be obvious, but try to find a hobby that you actually enjoy. If you find yourself participating in activities that feel like work or aren’t fulfilling, then you aren’t giving yourself the necessary breaks you need. There are thousands of different hobbies that you might enjoy, so take the time to research and find the ones that are best for you.

3. Understand the 50/50 Myth

For some of us, hearing work-life balance might make us think about breaking work and personal life into a 50/50 split. However, that’s far from the case. Although some of us might find the perfect split between focusing on work and on your own needs, that is not the reality for most of us. Understanding work-life balance comes from meeting your needs while also actively engaging in work. It means not neglecting yourself when it comes to tasks related to work. It means making time to take care of yourself and of your personal relationships. It means taking time to take breaks. And figuring out how to accomplish those relies on you. Balancing work and life looks different for everyone. Just because someone you know spends their free time meditating and doing yoga, does not mean that you have to.

There are going to be days when work takes up most of your time. There will be days when you have to do more than you usually do for work. And that’s okay. As long as you know what you need and how to take care of yourself while facing these work-related tasks, you are doing exactly what you need for you.

Understanding the importance of work-life balance can help you prevent burnout and stress-related health issues. It can also improve your work ethic overall. Making time to take care of yourself and your needs will greatly benefit your mental and physical health. Planning ahead and getting a hobby are just a few tips to start taking care of yourself. Remember, you have to listen to your needs, and your needs will look different from someone else’s. It may take some time, but implementing strategies to start focusing on yourself can greatly benefit you in the long run.

If you want to read more about Barbie’s experiences as a small business owner, check our the rest of her website at barbiepatel.com. And check out her website at cinderellabridez.com if you want to learn more about makeup, wedding events, or lifestyle tips.