5 min read
Alyssa is a hard-working media manager at a start-up company. She is passionate about her perfect job, clocking in 60 to 70 hours a week doing what she loves. However, she also gets the nagging feeling that she is missing out on family dinners, downtime with her friends, hobbies, etc. especially when working from home is becoming the new norm. She tries to switch on her “life mode” to enjoy her self-time, friends, and family when she is not working. But she just feels too exhausted to have the energy to enjoy life.
Have you ever felt like Alyssa? Working excessive hours without necessary rest time becomes normal. Even if you love what you do, working long hours and not having time for yourself eventually take a toll on your health, productivity, and relationships. In fact, a recent study from Harvard Business Review shows that working excessively without your personal life causes emotional exhaustion, burnout, loneliness, and the absence of happiness.
So how can you succeed in your career while making time for yourself and your loved ones?
Here we explore the true meaning of work-life balance while many of us are working from home today and the tips to achieve a realistic work-life balance.
Why work-life balance is important
Simply put, work-life balance is the state of harmony where a person fulfils both the demands of their career and the needs of their personal life. Instead of dividing your time evenly between work and personal life, in an interview with the Business News Daily the career expert and Amplio Recruiting CEO Chris Chancey said, work-life balance “is more about having the flexibility to get things done in your professional life while still having time and energy to enjoy your personal life.”
Maintaining a good work-life balance benefits both employers and employees. Hubstaff CEO Dave Nevogt shares that reaching the balance has numerous positive influences, including less stress, lower risk of burnout, better work performance, a more loyal and productive team, and a stronger sense of community. This also explains why building a harmonious work-life balance is vital to maintain not only our physical and mental well-being but to pursue our career success.
How to achieve a harmonious work-life balance with Year Glance
So how can you keep a balance between work and life?
How do you separate your work life from your personal life if you’re working from home?
Here are five tips to help you to perform the best at work and still have time for yourself and your loved ones.
1. Find purpose in your work and daily activities
Seeking a sense of purpose from what you do every day helps you find real career fulfilment and live a meaningful life. Healthdirect Australia suggests spending time thinking about your values and passions. Ideally, if you find a job that you are passionate about, you would feel like you never need to work again. But in reality, not everyone is able to follow their passion as a career. In this case, instead of thinking about your work negatively, find positive values of doing your job. For example, you can gain your financial independence and maintain a social connection with your colleagues. Try to find a deeper meaning in doing a single activity. However, if you feel truly unhappy in a toxic work environment, then it is time to find a new job.
To bring purpose to your everyday activities and make better decisions, Rose Hoare from CNN Business demonstrates that setting long-term goals with a big picture helps. And Year Glance is made for you to visualise the big picture and flow of your year.
2. Set boundaries and work hours
Setting boundaries between work and personal life and keeping a consistent work schedule avoids working overtime regularly and burning yourself out. One HubSpot manager suggests being transparent with the boundaries you set with your manager and your team to enable you to reach a work-life balance. One way to do this is to show your availability, schedules and progress on your company’s shared calendar. Year Glance can help you create a transparent overview of your work to ensure a smooth team collaboration in the workplace and provide more balance between your work and personal life.
3. Create your specific workspace
Working from home has become mainstream. Building your dedicated workspace like in an office can help you concentrate your mind to work more productively, according to founder and CEO of FlexJobs, Sara Sutton Fell. Try to create a ritual spot to get your job done. Get dressed as if you are going to work, turn off your social media notifications, put your phone aside, and set the timer for your work hours. This helps to avoid distractions, get into the mindset of work quickly, and increase your work productivity. Along with your designated physical workspace, you can build your digital workspace using Year Glance to balance your workload.
4. Set goals and prioritise your to-do list
To build a better schedule for your work and life, you need to have a broader vision to set your everyday and long-term goals and identify your priorities. Which things are more urgent and important to you? To help you schedule events and prioritise your to-do list, using a calendar tool such as Year Glance is a great way to manage your time and boost productivity. You can sync your Google/Outlook calendar or Plutio system with your Year Glance by a simple click. In this way, you can not only visualise the year to set your eventual aims but view your daily, weekly and monthly goals to rank your activities properly.
5. Schedule time for self-care and breaks from work
Your overall physical and mental wellbeing should be prioritised first and foremost. Use your planning tool such as Year Glance to help plan your time to take care of yourself. For instance, set your lunch hour, breaks, or daily happy hour to practice the acts of self-care. During your self-time, block out any work-related activities and focus on yourself with positive activities; meditation, yoga, Pilates or other types of relaxing exercise, maintain a healthy and regular eating habit, call your family or friends, read your favourite book or do your other hobbies.
Year Glance helps you achieve a harmonious work-life balance
It is easy to forget to make time for yourself when you feel swamped with your work. The key to having a sustainable and happy life is to manage your time effectively and keep your work-life balance. These five tips also show how Year Glance can help you boost your productivity and create a harmonious balance between work and life.
So don’t hesitate to try Year Glance today. You can get started with a 14-day full customisation trial for free. We have also created a short video to help you maintain a work-life balance. And if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us and follow us on the socials. We’re always here to help you!