Separating work and life can be a difficult challenge. Life stress can find a way into your work time and vice versa. Sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough time in the day to deal with all the responsibilities of work and have a healthy home life as well. Here are some ways to make sure you actually have a healthy work-life balance:
Schedule Time for Both
Put work responsibilities and life responsibilities on your calendar. You probably won’t be able to fit everything you want in, but your life will be more balanced. Also, having a set schedule will take away some of the stress and chaos of finding a work-life balance. Don’t over schedule. Give yourself extra time if something else comes up, or if you need time to relax.
Don’t Worry About Having a Perfect Balance
It is unlikely that you will be able to create a perfect 50/50 balance between your work and life. Some days will be heavier on the work side, and others will have more on the life side. Shift your time to what is most important at the moment. If there’s a family emergency that needs your attention, you should probably spend more time on the life side of your balance. Stressing out about making it a perfect balance defeats the purpose of having a balance in the first place. Learn to go with the flow and let important things take priority.
Spend Your Time in Meaningful Ways
Simply having a balance of time at home and at work doesn’t guarantee happiness. Spending your “life” time doing nothing may be beneficial once in awhile, but doing it too often will not bring happiness. Find activities you enjoy to engage in, at work and home. Spending your time in meaningful ways can help you to feel less stressed and happier.
Share these tips with your co-workers and employees to promote better work-life balance in your company. Most importantly, encourage the leaders in your company to model the behaviors you hope your employees will adopt. If employees see leaders prioritizing work-life balance, they will be likely to do the same.