How important is work-life balance? Our personal time being spent is always valuable for our mental health, and overall wellbeing.
Let’s talk about it...
It is hard to balance work and your personal life. It has always been challenging to juggle both effectively. If we don’t make an effort to find ways on how to be able to manage our time, it will be impossible to achieve the state of having a work and life balance.
Some changes can be done in order to accomplish this goal. It only takes discipline and believing that you can do it.
There are certain benefits when you have already reached the equilibrium. This will reduce stress levels, you will be happier with your current job and future endeavours, and there will be an increase in satisfaction with life in general. You will also notice having more time with your family, talking to friends, and doing other activities of your interest aside from your work. This will not only give you a healthier body but also, a healthier mind.
How do we achieve work-life balance?
Find an activity or a hobby and do it until it’s part of your lifestyle.
Personally, I love swimming. For me, it’s both leisure and exercise. It doesn’t only make me feel better but it’s also good for my body. Some of you may prefer going to the gym, jogging, watching movies in the cinema, eating in restaurant, going to a bar, etc. It is important to take care of yourself and have a choco break 😉 after working for the day. Everyone deserves a well-rested mind and a bit of relaxation.
Be mindful on working hours you are required for the day and stick to it.
It is essential to meet your professional life’s demands, but it shouldn’t be a cause of worrying too much and consequently, not having enough time for your private life anymore. It is not healthy at all. Meeting both ends effectively will have a big change and impact in your life. Unless absolutely necessary, make sure that you finish your work on-time, so you get to spend the rest of the day with your loved ones. Having this mindset will benefit both your family and company.
Learn to prioritise more important tasks.
There are times that we tend to overlook the tasks which are more important. In exchange, these tasks are being left behind and we don’t recognise the time is being used for non-essential or less important duties. This will extend our time for work commitments, and we will be feeling tired and stressed for doing additional work. We should know how to prioritise things and list them all down so that the most important will be done first before anything else. You may give it a more personalised approach in order to be more efficient. Efficiency and effectiveness are key to perform your job well. This will also translate into having more time left for your personal life.
Arrange a schedule that is suitable for your needs.
A planner may be purchased to write down schedule for the month to make sure you don’t forget anything. This will guide us with time management, as well. Although most of us would use our mobile phones now for everything including notes and reminders. I do use my phone a lot but I’m still old-school in terms of things to do both at work and at home. I maintain 2 notebooks, one for personal and one for professional stuff. It helps me keep organised and on track with may day-to-day activities/tasks.
Set limits and expectations.
This is quite challenging to do especially when you are workaholic or just a person who’s really dedicated to your job or business. However, there’s a time to stop and reflect again. Even if we allot most of our time doing our work, it will never be enough. There is still more work to do, and you will still encounter them along the way. Therefore, setting limits and expectations will help you have a well-deserved time off and follow the cycle going forward.
And...
Let’s try to live our life without regrets. Remember that we can never bring back time. Time spent is time gone. Don’t get me wrong, I love and enjoy my job. But I always go back to the reason why I work so hard, my family. Then why would I devote all my productive hours and energy to work alone when I have my family looking forward to spending more time with me? We don’t live just to work, we work to help us live. Never make it the other way around.
When we retire from our job, it will be good to look back with a smile knowing that we spent our prime years doing what and being with whom we loved and treasured. We only live once, make the most out of it. Make it count and spend it most with those what and who really matter.
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This is a dream of mine. I believe you can achieve it by managing your time effectively.