For most people, work-life takes over every other aspect of their lives. And because the pressure from work is increasing daily, it stresses mental health a lot. In recent times remote work is taking over the place, a lot of people are working from home, and they are barely maintaining a healthy work-life balance. What exactly is a work-life balance you ask? Well, in this article, we will discuss what a healthy work-life balance is, its importance, and how to maintain it.
What is Work-Life Balance?
Simply put, work-life balance is prioritizing both your work demand and personal life demand. This means that you place the demand of your work life on the same level as that of your personal life. A healthy work-life balance is that in which you can do your work and at the same time spend some time with families and friends. While a healthy work balance is something that every worker wants. Yet most are still under the category of those with poor work-life balance.
Here are some common reasons that cause poor work-life balance:
High Work/Home Responsibilities. If you are saddled with more responsibility from work, you tend to prioritize your work life more than your personal life. And this leads to poor work-life balance. On the other hand, having too much home responsibility is another reason for poor work-life balance.
Working Longer Hours: working for longer hours at work is another reason that causes poor work-life balance. And with a lot transitioning into remote work, they tend to work for longer hours.
Importance of Healthy Work-Life Balance
So, why is it important to maintain a healthy work-life balance;
Less Stress
A poor work-life balance causes a lot of things and stress is one of them. So, when you maintain a healthy one, you will be less stressed and will be able to focus on important things.
Reduced Cases of Absenteeism
When employees are stressed or burn-out, they tend to fall sick and that might make them absent from work. But employees with a healthy work-life balance are always available to work. And this leads to a reduction in the case of absenteeism at the workplace.
Increased Productivity
A healthy work-life balance means you are in a happy state with both your work and personal life. And once an employer is in a happy state of mind, they tend to be more productive. Thus, a healthy work-life balance boosts the productivity of workers.
General boost for well-being.
Another importance of a healthy work-life balance is that it boosts the general well-being of employers.
How to Maintain Healthy Work-Life Balance
Now that we know what a healthy work-life balance is and its importance, then we will discuss how we can maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Evaluate your work-life balance
It is common knowledge that when you want to find a solution, you need to know the exact problem on ground. So, for a worker to maintain a healthy work-life balance, you need to check your work-life. You need to pause and ask yourself some questions to know the state you are in. Know whether you are prioritizing your work life over your personal life and vice versa. The answer to this inquiry will make you know the next step to take.
Acknowledge that there is no perfect work-life balance
The perfect work-life balance would mean that you can take care of your work responsibilities and at the same time hang out with friends and family. Well, while this is ideal, it is not always so. But you need to constantly strive for a realistic one and not the perfect one. Know that there are days when work responsibilities will take over home responsibilities and vice versa. By doing so, you can achieve balance over time and not in one day. However, the key to achieving balance is by remaining open to redirecting your priorities when the need arises.
Learn How to Say No
A lot of people are in the category of not knowing how to say “NO”. Infact, there are some employees that help their colleagues to do their work simply because they don’t know how to say no. And this makes them take on more responsibilities which in turn take a toll on their work-life balance. Therefore, to maintain a healthy work-life balance, you need to learn how to say no when you are overwhelmed with work.
Find the Job that you love.
Working at a job that you love is a sure way of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. But, due to job scarcity, everyone works wherever they see job opportunities. While this is the reality, you should also ensure that the job you are applying for is the one where you will not be sad or brooding while going to work. This means that you should at least enjoy an aspect of your work. If you are working in a toxic environment, for a toxic employer, then it is time for you to move to a new job. This will help you maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Stop Being a Perfectionist
Perfectionists just want to see everything get done, and they eventually tend to do more than is needed. So, to maintain a healthy work-life balance, you need to stop being a perfectionist. Do the work you can do and leave the rest.
Manage your time Judiciously
The popular quote ‘time is money is very true. Workers that do not know how to manage their time tend to have poor work-life balance. And how you can manage your time very well
Avoid Distractions: there are a lot of distractions, ranging from social media, TV shows, and so on. You should try as much as possible to avoid these distractions if not, you might end up wasting your time on unproductive activities.
Create a schedule and stick to it: another way of managing your time is by creating a schedule. Your schedule should be around what you need to do in a day or week. There are lots of productivity apps that can help with this. But, it is not only by creating a schedule you have to make sure you stick to it.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, the various ways you can maintain a healthy work-life balance. You do not need to wait till you experience burn-out before you start balancing your work life and your personal life. Start today!
