One of the most important balances of all…work life balance. There is more to life than work.. WHAT? Whether you are an employee or a business owner you need to have a work life balance. Oftentimes, work takes over. The desire to succeed professionally sometimes has you setting aside your own well-being. So the question is, how can you improve your work/life balance?
First, let’s accept the fact that there is no perfect balance. It’s not about striving for the perfect schedule, it’s about striving for a realistic one. Understand that there are days when you can’t have that perfect balance, you have to work late or take off early, or there are certain times of the year that may be busier than others. That is okay but don’t let go of yourself and get lost in your work life, instead try to achieve this balance over time, with gradual changes over extended periods.
Next, it is okay to unplug! If you are not available 100% of the time for your customers/clients/employer, they’ll understand. It is alright to have some sort of follow-up or autoresponder letting folks know that you are currently unavailable. We try to make ourselves available most of the time but when it’s time to stop the work and spend time with family and friends it’s okay to spend your undivided time with them, have something in place that lets everyone know you will get back to them.
Furthermore, resting physically and mental is important to your well being. If you are working all hours of the day, you are more likely to get burnt out with what you are doing. We’re all human and must have time to physically and mentally recharge. One thing we joke about over here at Legacy Frontline Team is: if you want something done, plan a trip! One thing that I like to do if I am trying to relax is turn off my email notifications. I know, it sounds awful but it is needed sometimes. I am confident that if it is something very important/urgent I will get a text or a phone call. It is okay…Shhhh, don’t tell anyone!
Finally, if you find yourself on overdrive, ask for help. If you don’t have time for that “life” part of this, make it aware to your peers, co-workers, partners, bosses that you need help and are having trouble managing everything on your plate. If you operate anything like us, very rarely will you hear us say “No”. You need help, you need us to do something, you want us to handle something time consuming, the answer is almost always “Sure!”. It’s okay to set some boundaries and sometimes the best thing you can do is offer to teach somehow how to do it. It could save you time in the long run. One thing that we have found helped us operate at full capacity is having automated systems in place. It can help you too, give us a call and we’ll point you in the right direction!
If you are reading this then I am assuming you are trying to draw that line and balance between work and life. One thing that we would suggest is writing out your priorities in order, then your wants and needs. IE: You need to work to make a living. You want to spend time working on a hobby. Try to even that out as much as possible, and remember it will never be perfect. 🙂
Thank you for reading!