We all know how challenging it is to achieve a healthy balance between work and the rest of your life. More and more, workers in the United States are craving this kind of balance, just behind good salaries and job security. Having work-life balance is essential for a healthy mind.  It can even help foster productivity.

Here are 4 Tips to Achieve Work-Life Balance:

Manage Expectations & Ask for Help

If you’re feeling particularly overwhelmed, don’t shy away from asking for help. A lot of us take great pride in our work and our ability to get things done. Everyone loves a boss, right?  But, you can’t always deliver a 100%, otherwise you would be a unthinking, unfeeling machine. It’s OK to redistribute work sometimes and ask for support from those around you. Chances are co-workers will be glad to help you out especially if they know they can rely on you when times get a little tough for them too.

Tackle Tough Tasks Head On & Then Cool Down

Many of us, at least once in our lives have been on the other end of a mountain of difficult tasks. Often, it is the workload that keeps us from achieving the work-life balance that we so desperately need.  Managing your time effectively can make a world of difference when you’re trying to achieve true work-life balance.

First, it’s important to stop and take notice the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed. The project can wait 3 minutes while you pause to breathe and re-assess how you’re feeling. Checking in with yourself throughout your day will certainly help manage your energy and time more effectively. Sometimes just powering through can make you drag yourself through tasks, making you feel worse AND keeping you from being as productive as you would like.

With that, it’s best to sit down and create a to-do list once you arrive to your office ranking the toughest tasks of the day to the easiest. In essence, prioritize! Tackle the tough stuff first in the day when you know that you will have a lot of energy and work your way down that list.  With this practice you can leave the office at the end of the day knowing that you worked through your toughest tasks and fast-approaching deadlines, even if you didn’t make your way all through the list. The important pieces will be knocked out first and when your energy or focus starts to wane you can take on those smaller tasks. You may also need to refuel with a nice healthy, snack.

Take a Break – Your Health Depends On It

In an article titled, “Americans Are Too Afraid and Stressed to Take Days Off from Work” author Jillian Berman reported that about 40% of Americans don’t plan to use all their paid time off this year.  That’s a high number!  While some of us may feel that our jobs really need us for our excellent work, as humans with full lives we also need (and deserve) a break.  Taking time off for a vacation is a simple and obvious way to give yourself much-needed recuperation. While Americans have gotten slightly better about taking time off, we are still working ourselves way too much, which can lead to a lot of negative health effects over time.

And don’t worry, if traveling isn’t your thing, or not cost-effective for the moment, consider a staycation and visit some local sights in your city or town and catch up on some much-needed leisurely reading. Any time off will do your body, and mind, good.

Take a Tech Vacation

Over the past few decades, technology has become an increasingly bigger part of our daily lives.  That can often leave us feeling stressed out and overworked if we spend time away from the office answering emails and taking calls. Every job can stand a little down time during the day so if you struggle to step away from your gadgets for fear that you might miss something, try starting with an intentional 15 minute tech break and gradually increase your time until you reach a time you’re comfortable with. You may even want to take a nice long bath to ensure you can’t hear or see that phone of yours.

While everyone’s work circumstances differ greatly I hope that these simple tips might help you gain a little more balance in your daily life.

 

If you need help achieving work-life balance, career coaching may be for you! Contact us to learn more about how Viva Wellness can help.