Life is a Balancing Act

Trying to balance a full work week, your family, and your mental health can seem impossible; especially with technology allowing employees to be more accessible and the new work from home company culture.

Finding that balance can look different to everyone. It is important to take time to analyze where you are spending your energy and maximize the benefits. Without proper balance, your relationships, health, and overall happiness can be negatively impacted. Here are some tips to help achieve a healthier work-life balance.

Avoid Burnout

Working long hours and putting unnecessary stress on yourself to perform at high levels will inevitably result in burnout. This type of burnout makes it extremely challenging to be productive at any level. To avoid burnout, consider letting go of perfectionism.

Perfectionism comes from the idea that everything you do needs to be perfect before handing it off to someone else. As life gets more and more chaotic, perfectionism needs to be carefully evaluated. Everything you do cannot be perfect and spending unnecessary time/energy trying to be perfect, you run the risk of failing to complete important tasks and resulting in your mental/physical health deteriorating.

Unplug

Technology has made it easy to work anywhere and everywhere; this can be good and/or bad. In an emergency, this can be helpful when addressing those situations as they come up. However, to truly achieve a work-life balance, it’s important to unplug from your technology. Step away from your phone or computer and take a break. This gives you time to focus on your family or an activity that you enjoy.

Take control to ensure quality time is time spent with your family or taking care of yourself. I believe it was Dolly Parton who said, “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

Physical Health

Physical health is an important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and positive mental state. When our calendars fill up, we begin sacrificing time allocated for much-needed physical exercise or meditation. These activities are crucial in reducing stress and boosting feel-good endorphins.

You do not have to jump up and run 5 miles tomorrow morning; maybe start with a few deep breathing exercises on your way to the office or a short walk or take a minute to take stretch your legs in between sitting at a desk for an entire day. Refreshing your mind, body, and soul can do wonders when creating balance in your life.

Prioritize Important Activities and People

Everybody has different things that are important to them. Make a list of things that are important to you and make sure you are being true to yourself and not the wants and needs of others. Once you have your list, prioritize the things that are important and identify/manage the things that often take up too much of your time.

If you find yourself spending too much time on social media, create rules for yourself that dedicate certain blocks of time for social media surfing and stick to those rules. If you find yourself being distracted by different things in your space, try avoiding these distractions until you’ve completed your necessary tasks.

Once you begin prioritizing your time and focusing on things that bring joy to you and your life, the better you will feel overall. When you feel better, your relationships will start to improve as well.

Start small

I mentioned this earlier in this blog, you do not need to start tomorrow and run 5 miles. You do not need to make DRASTIC changes in your life immediately. Just start. Start small and build your way up. Make little choices every day that lead you closer to a work-life balance. When you make big changes, you can become overwhelmed and abandon the idea altogether. Smaller bites out of a big goal can be easier to handle and achieving the small successes will push you to keep going.

What is the point?

The point is you are not a robot. You are a human with wants, needs, and passions. When you find yourself in work mode 24/7 you become overwhelmed, burnt out, and mentally checked out. This can result in a declined mental state and toxic relationships with family and friends. Take care of yourself and find things that bring you joy, reduce stress, and allow you to enjoy a balanced life.