“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”-Cesare Pavese
Long, long ago, employees worked from 9-5, Monday through Friday. Sure, there were occasional exceptions, but most of the time, the boundaries between home and work lives were clear.
Those were the days.
The world certainly has changed, and in many ways has made our lives easier with technological advances making our lives more efficient. But at the same time, the boundaries between work and home are blurrier for many workers, especially if you own your own business and/or work from home. The challenge ahead for many of us is to strike that balance to create the meaningful moments in both our work and home lives that keep us going.
By strict definition, work-life balance is a person’s control over the conditions in their workplace. It is accomplished when an individual feels dually satisfied about their personal life and their paid occupation. It mutually benefits the individual, business and society when a person’s personal life is balanced with his or her own job. The work-life balance strategy offers a variety of means to reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction in the employee while enhancing business benefits for the employer. In our increasingly hectic world, the work-life strategy seeks to find a balance between work and play.
It isn’t easy to juggle the demands of career and personal life. For most people, it’s an ongoing challenge to reduce stress and maintain harmony in key areas of their life. Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that’s best for you:
- Keep a log. Track everything you do for one week. Include work-related and non-work-related activities. Decide what’s necessary and satisfies you the most. Cut or delegate activities you don’t enjoy, don’t have time for or do only out of guilt. If you don’t have the authority to make certain decisions, talk to your supervisor.
- Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Doing one or two loads of laundry every day rather than saving it all for your day off, and running errands in batches rather than going back and forth several times are good places to begin. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic.
- Rethink your cleaning standards. An unmade bed or sink of dirty dishes won’t impact the quality of your life. Do what needs to be done and let the rest go.
- Fight the guilt. Remember, having a family and a job is okay — for both men and women.
- Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music. Unwind after a hectic workday by reading, practicing yoga or taking a bath or shower.
- Set aside one night each week for recreation. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as playing golf, fishing or canoeing. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate you.
- Get enough sleep. There’s nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you’re sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but you can also make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes.
- Read up on it. Some good resources are “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” by Richard Carlson and “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie.
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