By: Ranielle B. Merjilla
Everyone was challenged in different ways after the pandemic and navigating to go back to older routines was such a struggle, especially those in the workforce. There was no clear distinction between work and personal life for remote job workers, resulting in everyday work to cause double the exhaustion while individuals strive to find time for their families, hobbies and stress-relieving activities. As we embrace the new normal, we should also discover ways to achieve a healthy work-life balance to prioritize success in both our professional and personal lives. But first, what is work-life balance?
Work-life balance is being able to perform well on both work duties while doing personal responsibilities at the same time. There is a clear distinction between life during work and after it, for someone to be holistically healthy to deal with everyday life. Here are 8 tips to attain such:
- Proper time management
Balancing two “lives” can be overwhelming at times, especially if work demands most of one’s time. One can use an organization tool where various digital platforms are available to arrange duties based on urgency and necessity. With this, one has a vivid picture of a list to do for the day, allotting enough time for each task and figuring out how to balance out a healthy life.
- Communicate Boundaries
As you spend most of your time with your co-workers, sometimes personal time is not prioritized enough in which communication for work-related tasks should stay within the dedicated working hours. We should remind them of such important information to reduce the time thinking about work at the end of the day.
- Take Breaks
As you fill up your to-do list, also insert short breaks in between to avoid over-exhaustion. It can be a 10-minute walk away from your desk and those working from home, taking a short breather outside your place would make a big difference. Additionally, savor your lunch breaks without doing any work-related tasks as this is time for yourself to recharge in the middle of the day.
- Dedicate After-work Hours for Yourself
Employees usually have a hard time doing more tasks after working hours as their jobs can be tiresome enough and may decide to just lay in bed for the rest of the day. However, these tasks can be not that special at all, which may include preparing yourself a hearty meal, doing a short stretching or workout at home, taking your pets on a walk, or watching an episode or two of your favorite movie or series. This will allow you to something to look forward to at the end of the day.
- Discover Hobbies
What makes your heart excited? What are the things you yearn to do aside from work? These are the questions you may have to ponder and starting here, learn to look for some time for you to do these on certain days of the week or the month.
- Plan your Weekends
There are only two days in a week to dedicate all the time to yourself. These are the days where you do daily errands such as groceries, doing chores at home, and other tasks to reset for the upcoming week. However, insert something special for every week that can be a date with your friends or loved ones, buying yourself a treat or something you love, going shopping or even just spending time strolling in stores, or anything that makes you excited for the weekends.
- Develop Healthy Relationships
There are ample of people in our lives that we keep and keeping connection with them allows each day to be bearable and worth living. These can be friendships, romantic relationships, and family. Whatever it may be, learn to invest in people who are worth keeping and those that contribute positively in your life.
- Learn to Ask for Help
With the saying “no man is an island”, we cannot function without relying on others. If it gets tough, encourage yourself to seek help from co-workers, or companionship from your loved ones which is why we have to have healthy relationships. The same way that we have people to share our success and milestones with, which makes it a hundred times more rewarding.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurathomas/2022/07/26/what-does-work-life-balance-even-mean
https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-have-good-work-life-balance
https://www.smartsheet.com/content/how-to-improve-work-life-balance