Here is one of the famous quotes from the book ‘NINE LIES ABOUT WORK’ on tips for work life balance.
“We survive work but we live life”
Today, as world is heading faster, life is getting busier. Also, the dead lines are closer and work is getting harder than ever. Now a days, success matters more than happiness. Achievement counts more than peace. Competition is high so is the expectation. And to meet these expectations human has virtually turned into machine.
Every single person, these days is part of this rat race. First, secure a job. Then, get married by this year, a house by next year, a car by next to next year and so on. In order to live upto these self imposed demands, we are straining ourselves day in and day out. Apparently, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week is not enough.
Between all the chaos, we have to maintain professional , personal, family and social life. We wish we could stretch time a bit more. We wonder we could manage to get some ‘extra time’ to spend with kids, to attend marriage ceremony of that friend which we promised, to go on that much awaited vacation, to attend to our own hobbies and so on.
Can you get few add-on days or hours ? No, you can not. That is why work life balance is important. Below are few useful tips for work life balance which are quite relevant today.
1. Maintain fixed working hours
What’s work life balance? ‘Work’ is something, associated with profession and career. On the other hand, ‘life’ includes personal, family and social entities. A balance between two is work life balance.
At present, margin between ‘work’ and ‘life’ is blurred. This is because of prolonged working hours. This requirement of ‘extra hours’ is compensated from our personal, social and family life. As a result, we are falling short of ‘life’.
Thus, one of the very important tips for work life balance is to avoid additional working hours. In fact, we should manage a more or less fixed duration of work, no matter how much rewarding an overtime duty is.
2. Keep work and home separate
Everyday when we return, we should not bring work related affairs to home. Similarly, at workplace we should fix attention to work. Merging up the two leads to lack of focus at both places. On top of this, if you bring work related stress home, there will be conflicts in your personal and family life.
3. Use technology properly
Technology has built a smarter civilisations. Particularly one thing it has provided is, easy accessibility. By virtue of this, at home we can receive calls, messages and emails. This is the reason for interrupted personal life at home.
Hence, use technology judiciously. Use discrete mobiles for work and for individual purpose. Also keep your personal and professional emails separate. Additionally, inform your colleagues about your time of unavailability.
Above all, it is your responsibility to give minimum attention to distractions like mobile and computer and maximum importance to persons around you when at home.
4. Work satisfaction
Work satisfaction fulfils you. If you don’t like what you do, then you will carry an extra burden everyday. So, find value in what you do.
Value does not mean monetary benefit. It means, by your work, how you are helping someone and how you are contributing to the world. Always, bear this in mind while at work.
5. Don’t be so hard on yourself
Many a times we go above and beyond the call of duty. We want to outperform to achieve a target. So, we strain ourselves too much. Basically, we face burn out, expecting a better opportunity in future.
Stop being so hard on yourself. It is okey if you have flaws and it is fine if you are slow. Hence, relax and handle your work normally.
6. Keep your priorities straight
You have invested big-time in your organisation. But, it will hardly take minutes for your organisation to replace you. Even so, your employers won’t bother.
At the same time, here are your friends and family who truly care about you. They are the ones who will stand by you in tough time. Thus, one of the basic tips for work life balance is choosing your priority wisely.
7. Don’t let stress hamper your health
You take some stress for accomplishing a work. You assume, it is perfectly fine for you. However, what you don’t realise is that this stress leads to ill health. This is why work life balance is important.
In general, chronic stress suppresses immune system. Also, it has adverse effect on your heart. Moreover, these days stress is the prime cause for mental illness, depression, insomnia etc. So manage stress properly.
To cope up with work-overload, few people take help of alcohol and cigarettes. These addictions further degrade health. So pay attention to your physical and mental well being. Add exercise or morning walk for at least 30 minutes to your daily routine. Besides, include meditation as a part of your life.
8. Work from home
‘Work from home’ is a new normal after coronavirus outbreak. Globally, now most of the employees are working from home. It allows flexible working hours. Apart from that, you get to spend more time with family members. Subsequently, which results in better work and life balance.
9. Take a break
Taking break is indispensable in life. After all, humans can not function like programmed devices. Ideally, going for a vacation at least every 6 months will rejuvenate you. Meanwhile, stay out of work related issues during vacation.
10. Employer responsibility
Sustainable work and life balance, is responsibility of employers too. Employers need to consider social and family needs of employees.
Permitting them breaks during work, encouraging sports activities with in organisation, providing flexible working hours are few things which should be tried. A balanced work and life will boost employee productivity.
To summarise:
Often, a perfect work and life balance is not possible. At times you have to concentrate more on career. Whereas at times you need to pay more attention to your family and social life. Therefore the concept of ‘work and life balance’ is highly individualised. But, by following above strategies one can get close to that.
If you have anything to add to these tips for work life balance, then mention in comment box below. Share the post with others and help them too.
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June 11, 2020 at 12:13 amLovely writing….keep writing