Living to work is no way to live. Here are tips on how to find the balance between work and life that will leave you feeling happier and healthier.
By Leslie K. Hughes
Life is all about balance.
A balance between exercise days and rest days.
A balance between eating healthy and allowing yourself to indulge a bit.
A balance between spending time alone and socializing.
However, one of the key life balances that can often be the hardest to achieve is work-life balance.
It’s so hard, in fact, that many people believe the concept of work-life balance is a myth.
This belief has been pounded in people’s heads more over the last couple of years as 58% of the American workforce reports they have the option to work from home at least once a week.
While WFH is great in terms of convenience and freedom, it has caused some people’s personal lives to become enmeshed in their work lives and that’s not a good thing.
Don’t worry – there is hope. I am here to show you that work-life balance is not a myth. It will take some effort on your part, but it is possible for you to achieve this balance.
Benefits of Work-Life Balance
Before I dive into the “how,” let’s chat about why having a work-life balance is important.
Some of the benefits of finding that coveted work-life balance include:
- Reduces acute stress
- Reduces chronic stress
- Reduces anxiety
- Prevents burnout
- Higher productivity
- Healthier lifestyle
- More positive mindset
How to Prioritize Work-Life Balance
One key thing to note is that some days you will absolutely achieve that work-life balance, and on other days it may be more difficult.
And that’s totally OK. The goal is to have balance as much as possible, but no one is perfect.
Speaking of perfection, it’s important to also acknowledge that what work-life balance looks like for you may be very different than what work-life balance looks like for someone else. The only “right” balance is the balance that works best for you given your unique circumstances.
With that said, here are ways to create a separation between work and life that helps you live your best life. Because remember – that’s what we came here to do.
1. Don’t look at your phone upon waking up
Reaching for your phone immediately after waking up is a bad habit that we all fall into. Getting that hit of dopamine first thing in the morning is something our minds and bodies crave.
However, you’re majorly disrupting your brain by doing so.
When you wake up in the morning, your brain is triggered to switch from deep-sleep delta waves to theta waves, then alpha waves, then beta. By skipping the natural and slow, step-by-step progression from delta to beta waves, and instead reaching right for your phone, you’re opening yourself up to stress.
This is especially true if you head to your inbox and find an email that even the slightest hint of negativity in it, i.e. something you forgot to do, a minor mistake you made, criticism from a client or boss, etc. Before you’ve even gotten out of bed, you’re already in a state of stress and anxiety. And you’ll be fighting to get back to a neutral ground all day.
Instead, keep your mornings sacred. Allow yourself to enjoy some of your morning rituals before checking your email.
I like to do the following before even thinking about work:
- Brush teeth
- Meditate
- Set intention for the day
- Make morning drink
With those things completed before work enters the chat, you’ll be able to approach any negative emails with a much better mindset.
2. Take breaks
While I wish that everyone was ready to throw the towel in on the whole 8-to-5 workday concept, I realize that’s not realistic.
In an ideal world, we would all be treated like adults who are trusted to get their work done, regardless of whether it takes us a full 9-hour day or 1 hour. But, since we aren’t quite there yet, it’s important to take breaks throughout your work day.
And you know those days when you have so much work to do that you feel like you don’t have time to take a break? Those are the days that you need breaks the most.
Taking a pause from work is a great way to hit the “reset” button; to take a step back from work in the middle of the day and get back into life.
Here are some of my favorite ways to take breaks:
- Go for a walk
- Grab matcha with a friend
- Call a family member
- Meditate
- Take a workout class
- Read a book
- Do something creative (not work-related)
3. Set a deadline for your workday
On those days when you have enough work to burn the midnight oil, don’t. It’s imperative that you set a deadline for your workday and stick to it.
This means no checking or responding to emails or work-related messages of any kind after your set time. Log off your computer and go do something for yourself.
4. Live by “done is better than perfect”
Those of us who tend to have a life that exists mostly in work mode tend to also be perfectionists. And perfectionists will not consider a task done until it’s done to absolute, well, perfection.
It’s time to toss out those ideas of perfection – perfection is boring, anyway. Instead, focus on getting things done in a time and manner that still allows you to have a life and make your new work motto “done is better than perfect.”
5. Don’t work through lunch
When you’re on a roll with work, it can be easy to work through lunch, but that sets you up for disaster. Your brain needs the fuel from lunch to do its job and if you don’t provide it with that fuel, you’ll reach burnout quicker than you can say “lunch.”
Instead, schedule lunch into your workday calendar like it’s a crucial meeting that you absolutely cannot miss.
Bonus points if you enjoy this lunch with a friend or while reading a book.
6. Accept that your to-do list will never be complete
Ready for some honesty? I think to-do lists are bulls•••.
Now, that’s not to say they don’t work for some people, but they don’t work for me.
Trust me – I’ve tried. For years. But there’s something about that to-do list that causes me stress and anxiety. And that’s likely because it’s almost impossible to get everything on that to-do list done.
So, you have two options:
- Give up on to-do lists and use a calendar instead to schedule your daily tasks (I live and breathe by Google Calendar)
- Accept that your to-do list will never be complete
Find which above option works best for you and implement it to help you reach that work-life balance.
7. Find work that feels fulfilling
I don’t really buy into the concept of “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” No matter how passionate you are about the work you do, there are certainly going to be days when it feels like work.
You can still absolutely love what you do and have days that are challenging and that force you to push yourself in ways that aren’t exactly fun.
You also don’t have to absolutely love what you do. You may not want to turn your passion into your job, or make your job your passion, and that’s totally OK.
What is important, though, is to at least be doing work that fulfills you. It may not be work that gets you out of bed absolutely fired up to crush the work day, but it should leave you feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.
That fulfillment will make your work-life balance feel more balanced.
