Written by Gurleen Khaira
Work-life balance: everyone wants it but very few have it. In fact, a recent LinkedIn survey found that 70% of people believe that a lack of work-life balance is their largest cause of stress. Unfortunately, the competitive job market combined with high employer expectations has made 65+ hour weeks a reality for too many people. But there are steps you can take to improve your work-life balance.
Be Realistic Give yourself realistic expectations- of course, everyone has to work and there will unlikely be a job where you are able to equally split your time between work and home. Before starting a job, look at online reviews about working hours from current employees, and use this information to create a plan as to how much time you can expect to give to your job.
Prioritize
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the mountain of tasks you need to do. But take a moment to create a list of your work, and use this list to prioritize. Not everything needs to be done immediately, so take a moment to consider the importance/urgency of each task. Even better, try to display this information using a color code so by simply looking at your list, you know what you actually have to do straight away.
Create a plan As well as having a plan for your work activities, consider having a personal plan too. Consider your hobbies and things you would like to do, and create a plan where you do one or two things every week. This means you work and get to do what you enjoy, which can make you feel that you have a good work-life balance.
Separate work from home Now, working from home is becoming an increasing phenomenon, but that does not mean your home has to become the office. Consider having a separate work phone, or mute work notifications after a certain time. Make sure that you are not thinking of work in your ‘free time’ because otherwise your free time also becomes work time.
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