A Work-life Balance: How to Create a Better One for Yourself
As employees' mental health and well-being become a concern, progress in this area cannot be made without discussing the balance between work and life. A study by Zippia found that 72% of workers believe work-life balance is a very important factor when choosing a job, and 57% of job-seekers say a poor work-life balance is a deal breaker when considering a new job.
This article will explore the topic of work-life balance and recommend three ways in which you can better accomplish this need within the workforce.
What is a work-life balance and why is it important?
Work-life balance is where an employee can equally prioritize the demands of work and the demands of their personal life. It’s less about having equal time dedicated to the two areas and more about having the flexibility to perform your work responsibilities while having the time and energy to enjoy your personal life.
Gaining a work-life balance is not easy, but it is an important need for both the employee and the employer. For the employee, it prevents over-exertion, burn-out, and stress-related issues. For the employer, it facilitates employees that have a higher productivity rate and low absenteeism.
Here are three ways to create a better work-life balance.
How To Create a Better Work-Life Balance
1. Organize and prioritize your tasks.
We all have deadlines we need to meet and milestones we need to accomplish. When the tasks that contribute to these are overwhelming, however, this leads to long hours and no time to prioritize your personal life.
Instead of approaching your workday with the mentality of ‘Let me continue working on my overall project’, go into more detail and ask, ‘What mini tasks can I accomplish today that will positively contribute to my larger goal?’
If you have an app that you are working on, for example, instead of working on it every day without structure, plan out your week with daily tasks that will help you meet your goal and deadline i.e., ‘On Monday, I will code the welcome page for external users. On Tuesday, I will work on the drop-down options.’
Once you have accomplished your mini tasks for the day, end your workday - if possible - and return to your personal life. This practice ensures that while you are still progressing with your work, you aren’t over-extending yourself daily and still have time to focus on non-work activities.
2. Limit your engagement with work during your personal time.
With readily available devices such as laptops and phones giving employees access to work without being in the office or online, there is no longer a divide between our work lives and personal lives. This means that an employee can never fully unplug from work or completely focus on their personal priorities.
To avoid this, try and limit your engagement with work-related activities during your personal time.
Do this by creating boundaries for yourself. For example, challenge yourself to take a non-working lunch break, or schedule your workday in a way that allows you to only be online and available from 9 to 5, or better yet, attempt to be fully offline on vacations.
These boundaries are not there to make you inaccessible to your colleagues. This practice simply ensures that you have dedicated periods where your personal life should be your priority.
3. Take time off.
According to Thrillist, 55% of paid time off went unused in America in 2022. The reason why? Employees believe that by not taking time off they are proving their dedication and work ethic to their companies. What this is doing, unfortunately, is preventing employees from reaching their full potential.
Vacation days exist to recharge an employee. When you do not take time off you are increasing your chances of getting burnt out and deprioritizing the demands of your personal life.
If you wish to prove your work ethic and prevent yourself from being over-consumed after your return, try and get ahead of your work before your vacation.
Hand in all your deliverables, inform those that you work with about your days off, and try and get ahead of work that you know will start when you return.
These tasks will ensure that while you’re on vacation you are fully able to unplug and that your company knows that you are still a hard worker, you just need a break.
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