11 Ways employees can maintain healthy work-life balance

Work-Life Balance : Career vs Health or Career & Health

11 Ways employees can maintain Work-Life balance: In the world today the aim of good education is a successful Career. And to keep being successful it is important the one keeps learning. Learn, adapt, unlearn, relearn adapt… this is not a one-time transformation, it is a continuous process. Career life is life on a treadmill, always on the move, always functional and always moving forward, and truly so, if you want to achieve the targets that you set for yourself, you need to work, better than the others, have to have that competitive edge, be above the rest, beat the competition and so on and so forth… we all have heard this or similar things in our career lives, whether you are at the beginning of the career, or in middle management or even at the top level, we have observed and grown to believe in the need of continuous improvement and growth.  Success is addictive and at times there are people who do not realise the price they are paying for remaining successful in their career lives. Chasing career targets puts health at the backseat. I have seen many a close friend who have compromised with the health without even realising it. Look around and you will the rise in lifestyle diseases like sugar, High or Low blood pressure situations. I am from the old school of thoughts, in our times it was the heat stroke that would trouble the young ones, the hearts were strong, not anymore it seems, you see a lot many youngsters suffering from heart attacks. Career is important, and so is health and we have only 24 hours in a day, so let us discuss what best we can do to ensure that we neglect neither health nor career. Let us look at some small steps we can take to ensure balancing work and life . career and health.

Step 01 Understand what is work Life Balance : 

Work (Employment) and Life (Personal time) are two separately distinguished domains, for a harmonious and stable life one must consciously and cautiously divide the time and energy between both domains and never ever overlap. So, the first step is to define and set boundaries for separating work and life or employment and personal life. This may sound little out of the way for many, but if you and a colleague from work are having family dinner to build community ties or network then it is NOT  personal time unless you are really friends beyond work too. Many organizations have employee interaction days, family days and such other celebrations, sorry but this is NOT your family time or me time, it is office time . So, the first step is to  clearly identify the actions as Employment related and Personal and put boundaries. You may end up saying no to few office gatherings, might even miss the grapevine discussion but its worth it when you see the bonds in the family get stronger and you connect with the family. Peace has a price and to get away from non-value adding activities is an exceedingly small price to pay to create work-life balance.

Step 02 : Set priorities. – work life balance 

It is normal for people to set target related to work, promotions and even saving, but when it comes to health, we tend to ignore till the need arises. Whereas health should take priority over every other thing in life. Irrespective of your age, ensure that annual health checkup becomes a routine for everyone in the family. Health and wealth and Prevention is better than cure, we have heard it, preached it and now it surely is the time to put it to practice. So annual preventive health checkups should be part of routine to ensure work life balance.

Step 03 : Focus on your health – Work Out.

Physical activities put your head and heart coordinated, this is not new. We must always remember that human body is made for physical work too. Take out time to either play a sport, workout at the gym, do yoga or even take walks, but regular physical activity should be the way of life. Each day take out at least 60 minutes for physical workout. Move all the joints, work on every muscle group, use all your limbs, walk, run, jump, do deep breathing exercises, laugh your lungs out, do whatever gives you pleasure, but ensure working out one hour a day to maintain work life balance.

Step 04 : Time Management. – look for work life balance

Declutter your life, take away the non-value adding part, delegate if needed, step aside and give opportunities to others, help instead of supervising. Enjoy what you are doing, find purpose, and do what pleases you. We live in an ever-changing world and there is no dearth of opportunities to earn a decent living by doing things which may not seem to be a run of the mill employment. Time is limited use it judiciously. Make it a point to take out time to do things which make you happy. Work towards ensuring work-life balance. Check this for some time managment tools.

Step 05 : Set Calendar – Maintain work life balance 

In one work get organized. Plan your month, week and days in advance, plan holidays in advance, set your calendar and put me time on it. Take out time for family, friends, and yourself.

Step 06 : Set time for a task – decide work life balance 

11 Ways employees can maintain Work-Life balance: Setting challenging timelines and wanting to complete a project on the target date can become overwhelming and end up causing stress, therefore it is always a good idea to set a time limit for completing a task and for any reason if it cannot be completed within the  stipulated time, its best to take a break and start afresh with new time line instead of dragging and trying to do too many things at a time.

Step 07 : Rethink commuting to work. – find work life balance 

Now a days work from home is an option given by many companies, consider it if possible. Set yourself a time limit for commuting to work. Commuting is not always amazingly comfortable, be it in public transport or chauffeur driven car, I have yet to find someone who loves the traffic and driving long distance to work every day. See if you can reschedule work hours to beat the traffic, or even work from home or in a hybrid way. Control the commuting time and build on work-life balance.

Step 08 : Be kind to yourself. – Ensure Work Life Balance

Setting high targets and putting all that you have to achieve it is a very fine way to thinking and living, but to take a break and reset your goals is equally important. It is all right to realign and focus and be little more realistic. I am not advising to lower your expectations; I am only asking you to reconsider the cost associated with achieving the goal and ask yourself is it worth it? There is no point in beating yourself up endlessly and living a stressful life, it is far more sensible to reset and restart and aim for something which you can achieve without spending all that you have. Think and be kind to yourself.

Step 09 : Communicate boundaries. – set work life balance 

It is easy said than done, we may set boundaries, but it is meaningless unless we communicate the same to

Step 10 : Find a cause , a hobby.

See where your heart is, do something which you like, travel, adopt a pet, work for a cause, find something which makes you happy. Spend time on your hobby, give yourself this me time and build a work-life balance.

Step 11 : Find a Mentor, ask for help.

It is always advisable to find a mentor if needed. Give and take feedback on the way you spend your time. Talk to someone. Focus on spirituality if that suits you, read a book, in all cases it is advisable to find a mentor, a guide or a friend to help you in your journey to create work-life balance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 : What is work-life balance?

Work–life balance relates to the time spend on employment versus time spent on self and family.

Q2 :  How to maintain work-life balance?

Declutter your life, set time limits, prioritise, focus on health, family, ensure that work and private life does not interfere over overlap each other.

Q3 : Why do we need work-life balance?

For lowering stress level and leading a healthy physical and mental life, it is important that one maintains proper work-life balance.

Q4 :  How to measure work-life balance?

Look at time for commuting to work, time spent on after work meetings and calls, overtimes, overall Time spent at and for work versus time spent outside work.

Q5: What are the five most important steps for maintaining work-life balance?

Declutter life.

Plan your day.

Set time limits for tasks.

Set and communicate boundaries.

Ask for help if needed.