In these harried, hectic and hurried times, achieving a proper balance between your work and home lives can be difficult. But it is an important goal to strive for in order to have a normal, happy, high quality of life.
What is work/life balance you may ask? The final answer is different for each individual, but it involves finding a way to not concentrate on your job and work life at the expense of your personal life or vice versa. It may not always be possible to achieve an even 50/50 split each week or even each day, but as long as the two spheres feel balanced overall, then you are on the right path.
This article will provide ideas for keeping your work and private lives balanced and in sync.
One of the most important reasons to achieve work/life balance is to alleviate the stress that can occur when one overshadows the other. According to Wikipedia, stress “weakens your immune system, can lead to cardiovascular disease, and may perpetuate excessive eating, alcohol consumption or smoking.”
One of the best and perhaps easiest ways to begin your quest for a more balanced life is to schedule your down time as you would any other important appointment. Exercise, family game night, a date night with your significant other, dinner with friends or even ‘leave work no later than 5 pm’ can all find a place in your life planner. Along with providing a needed reminder for all of those workaholics out there to take breaks. Unplugging from technology at least one day a week, can allow you to spend vital time with yourself, your family and your friends or to just take a nap! Making the time for your favorite activities is one the best things that you can do to counteract stress and balance your life.
Giving back to others can also be a wonderful way to achieve a work/life balance, especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Many corporations are beginning to realize this and provide their employees with time off to volunteer for a worthy cause.
On the other side of the coin, increasing your productivity at work can be a first step towards not allowing your professional life to overwhelm your personal life. Creating a to do list for your most important tasks of the day, increasing your communication and efforts at collaboration with your coworkers in order to finish work projects more efficiently, or taking advantage of flex time or telecommuting if offered by your job can allow you to leave your work at work at the end of the day.
It’s never too late to take steps to achieve a balance between your work and personal life. Start today and you won’t regret it.
