How to Achieve a Better Work Life Balance
- Four Steps To Help You Improve Yours
Do you want to improve your work life balance? Whatever time you invest to do so will pay you back many times over. You’ll feel less stress and greater satisfaction in the way you’re living and working. Here are four steps you can take to feel a better sense of balance, along with an invitation for you to share YOUR ideas. Analyze things now What’s your current situation? There are two ways to do this: - Objectively. Do a workload analysis to get an idea of how many hours you’re working. Keeping a time management log will help you determine if you’re a workaholic or if you’re at risk of employee burnout. For a whole life perspective try this
wheel of life
exercise.
- Subjectively. Ask the people in the part of your life you feel is lacking to tell you what they think of your work life balance. You may be shocked by what you hear, but it’s probably got at least a grain of truth in it. You can, and probably should, include asking yourself!
Build up a more accurate reflection of your current habits – developing self awareness this way puts you in a better position to do something about those issues you want to tackle. Clarify what you loveOnce you know what your days and weeks consist of and you’ve given (and been given) some thought to what’s out of balance, ask yourself this crucial question: "What would I love to do more of?"More of the same? Keep doing what you do. But I guess you want more time for some things and less for others - that’s why you’re reading this, right? Make a list of the things you want to be doing more of. Time with family and friends? Balancing work and family is an art in itself. Exercise? A hobby? Whatever it is, be clear about what you want more of - when you are, the only question is 'how?' Read on… Learn to limit and build boundaries This is right at the heart of good time management. Setting limits is hard at first, particularly if you’re not used to doing it, or you tend to work the wrong side of the Pareto Principle. But the more you do it, the easier balancing becomes. Solution? Start small. Pick just one boundary you can put in place. Could you timebox 15 minutes each day for something or someone you love? How about going home from work at set times on set days, starting with one day a week? Once you’ve built one boundary, make another…and another. The same goes for routines. Look for ways to schedule more of what you love. Fence off a regular date to, say, enjoy a meal, rent a movie or be with someone special. This tends to work best divided into weeks, so use a weekly planner to ensure you ‘pay yourself first’. The cumulative effect of all this adds up. You become more balanced because you feel you are. Increase efficiencyMost people could do what they have to do, to the same degree of quality, but quicker. We’ve all got habits that cause us to drag out our work. The result? Less time to do, be or have what we love (which could and, ideally, should include work itself). How to do that? By gradually learning time management skills and how to get organized so that you waste as little time as possible, particularly if you have a results only work environment. This goes for anything that isn’t directly related to your work, or doing what you love. It’s tempting to think that multi tasking is an efficient use of time, and it can be when used well. But maximum efficiency is achieved when you work at work and leave it there when you leave your workplace. Final thoughts...Work life balance can always be improved. Circumstances and situations are never the same for long. The ebb and flow of work, responsibility and desire for what we want are constantly changing. Make it a habit to periodically review your situation and adjust accordingly. As with all time management issues, it’s impossible to ever ‘achieve’ a good work life balance. Rather, it’s about adopting a kaizen approach to the systems, structures and habits we use to make us feel we have a healthy balance between work and life.
How Do YOU Manage Your
Work-Life Balance?
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There's Too Much to Do!
I'm not systematic, or naturally very organized about ensuring my work all gets done, but I cope better with the feelings of stress and anxiety ...
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