Getting Your Work Life Balance Just Right

Most of us need to work. Quite a lot of us want to work. We enjoy providing for our families and having a sense of financial independence. Having a job means that you can pay the bills, feed your family and enjoy life’s little luxuries.

Even a relatively low-paid job can be the difference between struggling each week and being more comfortable and secure. But work should be more than that. It’s a big part of your life. Many of us work 40+ hours a week, 47 weeks of the year. If you take away the time that you spend commuting and sleeping, it doesn’t leave much left over. You spend much of your adult life at work, and it should be more than something you have to do.

Work can also be a chance to socialize and make friends. It allows you to challenge your brain and learn new things. Most of our jobs allow us to help other people in one way or another. You might have bad days, that’s only natural, but generally speaking, most of us aim to find a job that we enjoy. That brings more to our life than just the financial benefits of having a regular income.

What is Work-Life Balance?

But these things can only be if you get the balance right. You might have heard people say that you should work to live, not live to work, but for most of us, the ideal solution and spread of our time and happiness is somewhere in the middle. You shouldn’t just be working to have a life outside of work. This implies that your work life doesn’t count towards your happiness, and it does.

You’ll never entirely be happy at home if you are worried about work, work issues, or dread going in the next day. But, nor should you be so obsessed with your work that you forget how to live or fail to give yourself time to live.

Even the most ambitious people would hate to look back on their life and see only work. Working too much means, you don’t give time to your relationships and always feel under pressure. It can affect your mental health, and you might feel lonely.

You’d certainly struggle to find happiness in retirement. It can also mean you don’t take the time to look after your physical health or get enough exercise.

Ultimately, working too much can lead to you wearing yourself out. You’ll burn out, get sick and lose motivation. Working too much and too hard overtime won’t just affect your home life; it can harm your work performance.

So, we can see that balance is critical. You want to work enough to earn well and enjoy your job. You might also have goals and ambitions that you want to hit, which is fine. But, working too much and neglecting your home life can lead to illness, stress, burnout, and a collapse of relationships.

Give some of yourself to work, but create a balance that allows you to enjoy life outside of work, get plenty of sleep and live free of stress. Here are some tips to help you to understand that often elusive balance in your life.

Let Yourself Be Sick

One of the most significant downsides of a poor work-life balance is that we never have the time to be ill. In a world where most employees feel like they can’t take time off sick or phone in when they are sick, most of us are working through all kinds of bugs, which inevitably get worse and spread over time.

If you are struggling but don’t have time to see a doctor, at least get telemedicine advice to help you to manage your symptoms. But, if they persist, take time off, you are allowed to be ill, and there’s nothing to feel guilty about.

Take Days Off

When was the last time you took a good day off? A day when you didn’t check your work emails or check in with the workplace WhatsApp group? If you run your own business, chances are it’s been weeks, months, or even years since you had a full day in which you didn’t even think about work. As an employee, you might still struggle to go daily without checking emails and replying to work messages.

Take a day off at least once a week, and make it a day you can avoid all work calls and messages. You could even leave your phone at home and go out for the day. Most of us are guilty of thinking that we must always be reachable, and many managers are guilty of contacting employees during their downtime. Get out of this habit and give your real-life your full attention. It’s not really a balanced life if work always has some of your focus.

Always Have a Holiday Booked

Having something booked is excellent. It gives you something to look forward to and means that you always know how long until your next break. This can help you stay motivated at work, but it also means you are more likely to take time away from the business. When you return from one break, start planning the next, even if it’s just a cheap long weekend in the same country.

Set Realistic Work Goals

One reason that so many of us struggle to find a work-life balance that is healthy and works for us is setting ourselves massive work targets. We’ve got five-year plans, and in those five years, we want to achieve more, earn more and gain promotions. We set our goals so high that the only way to reach them is by working much harder and much more than we need to.

Ask yourself if you’d really mind if it took a little longer to achieve these targets if it also meant that you had a happy home life, good health and that you managed to reach more personal milestones too? Set realistic goals that leave room for some fun.

Watch Those Side Hustles

Although we work much longer hours than we should, up to 40% of us have or are looking for a side hustle. When money is tight, it can feel as though we need to make as much as possible, and sometimes it’s impossible through employment.

But, these side hustles are only a good idea if they are fun don’t feel like work, or are genuinely worth our time. If your side hustle takes two hours every day but only earns £20 a week, ask yourself if you’d be willing to work for that wage. Value your time, and make sure any work you do is worth it, financially or in terms of the joy it brings you.

Expect Ups and Downs

Balance today, I won’t balance next week. Things change. If there’s an illness at home, your family might need more of your time. During a crucial period at work or the sudden growth of your business, you might have to work long hours. Expect ups and downs at work and home, and reorder your time accordingly.

Learn How to Switch Off

If you’ve got used to working all the time or at least thinking about work all the time, you might find it hard to switch off. Even if you commit to working set hours every day, you might find that you are still thinking about work long after technically clocking off.

You need to learn to switch off, which isn’t the same for everyone. Try going for a run or walking home from work to give yourself a chance to burn off energy and unwind. Perhaps try giving yourself half an hour when you get back to talk about your day before leaving it behind. A bath could work, or reading a book on your commute.

As you can see, there’s no fast and easy solution. It’s rarely as simple as deciding to work less and spend more time at home. That in itself isn’t always possible. It’s more of finding more minor ways to save time and change your thought processes, making minor changes to your work habits and lifestyle for more significant effects. It’s also important to remember that things change.

Getting your work-life balance right is a long-term commitment. What works this week might not work next year. As your work and life change, rethink and restructure to maintain the balance. But, the good news is, once you’ve got used to living a life of balance, where you are free to enjoy work without it taking over, you’ll be keen to keep it going.