How many times have you worked late to complete tasks on time, and worked even more than what you were told because you wanted to be successful? And after closing the office door, you often think about current projects and what’s coming up. You would like to discover many things, but for now, you put it off with the promise “I will do it when I have more time”. What about your family, children, parents, and friends who deserve your attention and time? You really put in a lot of effort to do everything right, but you can’t make time for everyone and most often you sacrifice time for yourself and your dreams. So, you start feeling stressed, fatigued, anxious, dissatisfied, and sometimes angry. All of this can lead to emotional exhaustion, burnout, and even depression. Your mental and physical health begins to suffer.
Believe it or not, these situations happen to people much more often than anyone would think, and it is an example of a work-life imbalance. How to get out of this situation and enjoy life again?
What is work life balance?
The description of work-life balance is the amount of time you spend doing your job versus the amount of time you spend with your family and doing the things you enjoy. And while many of us understand the importance and necessity of such a balance, achieving it is neither simple nor easy. First, it’s important to remember that there’s no perfect work-life balance, which doesn’t mean you have to split your time equally between work, family, and hobbies. Balance is more like a continuous process of compromise and time management. Each person’s balance is different because it depends on personal characteristics, work, environment, emotional background, lifestyle, family, responsibilities, etc. So, let’s not try to fit everyone into the same framework. Work life balance is the inner state and satisfaction of each of us.
Why is it important?
A right work-life balance improves the quality of life, which positively affects our physical, emotional, and mental health and helps prevent burnout or destructive behavior patterns. Studies show that human productivity drops drastically after working 50 hours a week. Thus, additional hours at work will not bring the desired benefits, on the contrary, the possibility of making mistakes increases. The number of hours worked will not always lead to the desired result. Beyond long working hours, more of us should focus on how we feel at work. If we feel supported by our employers and colleagues, we are engaged, which makes us more creative and productive. Work-life balance should be in the interest of employers by offering flexible working hours, working from home, emotional health improvement programs, etc.
According to the Gallup Women in America report, work-life balance encompasses everything that goes into a well-lived life. The report says that women view personal life and work holistically and look for employers who support them as people, and not just as employees.
Men pay less attention to a better work-life balance though. Unfortunately, this often turns into emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion, resulting in burnout, depression, and addictions.
How to achieve the right work-life balance?
A study presented by the Harvard Business Review highlights that achieving balance is not a one-time task, it is more like a cycle, as priorities and circumstances change. It’s important to stay flexible and find the right balance at that particular stage of your life. The most effective way to do this is to improve your self-awareness and recognition of your emotions and how you respond to them. The right balance is the inner state of each of us. The path to healthy balance consists of five distinct steps that form a cycle.
1. Take a break and evaluate your emotional state
Take some time to understand how you feel right now and how it affects your personal and professional life. Try to answer the following questions:
· What is causing you stress or dissatisfaction right now?
· How does this feeling affect your work or engagement to work?
· How does it affect your personal life?
· Where are you stuck the most? And what is it about this situation that makes you feel this way?
It can be difficult to name the situation you’re in right now and the emotions you’re feeling, especially if you haven’t practiced self-awareness and emotional reflection before. However, it will allow you to determine which area of ​​your life is most affected and which you need to focus on to improve your well-being. Many people hesitate to take the first step because “there is no time”, but this step is essential to get out of the cycle of constant stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and unfulfilled dreams.
2. Evaluate your current priorities and reprioritize
After figuring out how you feel now, it’s time to answer why you feel this way:
· What are your priorities?
· Are your current priorities what you really want in life right now?
· What is your real priority?
· Why is this priority important to you?
· Is it really necessary and inevitable for you?
· What can you sacrifice for it and for how long?
· What do you now regret about your current choice of priorities? And what will you regret if you go the way of a new choice?
A rational understanding of your priorities and decisions driving your life is important, but even more important is recognizing your emotions, i.e. how you feel about them. Awareness of your emotional state is a key step in starting to make changes in your professional and personal life. Often, when we take some time to recognize our emotions and identify the causes of those emotions, we realize that the current priorities are not the ones we want in life.
3. Manage your time align to with new priorities
Remember that you have chosen to act and live differently to achieve a better work-life balance. However, keep in mind that your current life and time management have been adjusted to your past priorities and you have consciously or unconsciously formed habits to maintain them. So, changing priorities will require developing new habits. And as we know, this is not an easy or quick process. Take your time and don’t give up if you don’t succeed at first. For new priorities to take over, you need to reorganize your daily routine.
It can be messy and chaotic for some time, while everyone gets used to it, including you. Create a schedule for your work day and personal activities and stick to it. Consider fitness, hobbies, and other activities. Try mindful practice as it helps you reduce stress. Making time for mindfulness, such as taking a few moments to focus and meditating, can help bring a sense of peace and stillness back into your life. Doing so regularly will help you practice letting go of any worries or anxieties you’re carrying around with you throughout the day, allowing you to stay in tune with both your body and mind. Focusing on what brings you joy can also restore that sense of balance. Whenever possible, try to incorporate energizing activities like exercise, reading, or talking with friends into your daily routine!
4. Set Personal and Professional Boundaries
As soon as you find time for yourself, get to know your emotions, and set new priorities, you will get a surge of energy, and you feel that you can control your life again. However, this feeling is temporary and soon you will be absorbed by the routine, and work. Just because you have changed your priorities does not mean that the environment has changed – employers and co-workers are used to a different allocation of your time. The change will take time and effort, and it could bring you back to where you were. To avoid that set boundaries in your personal and professional life. An example of private change would be – not working in the evenings, not checking e-mail, or not answering the phone. For a public change, talk to your manager, ask for more flexible working hours and/or a different schedule, and inform co-workers of your decisions. Consider taking another role at work due to keep your priorities.
5. Reflect on your emotions and refine the process
Once you’ve implemented the changes and started living your new routine for a while, don’t be afraid to stop and reflect. How do you feel? If something is still bothering you, change it. There is no perfect work-life balance, but you should be comfortable with it. Achieving your healthy work-life balance can take a lot of change and time, and self-awareness, reflection on your approach and continuous improvement are likely to be an integral part of the process.
If your priorities have changed, go back to step one and start the cycle over.
