5 Tips to Help You Maintain a Work/Life Balance
Kordel Eberly
For years, we’ve all been hearing about how important a work/life balance is. So much so that it’s almost become a cliché. However, with the continued constant access to technology and more people working from home, we suspect that “balancing” work and life has become more challenging than ever!
Most of us understand the personal cost of not balancing work and life – stress, fatigue, poor health, depression, strains on relationships, etc. However, many employers fail to see how much their employees’ poor work/life balance is costing them.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine , “Work-life imbalance is associated with decreased job satisfaction, productivity, and eventual burnout.” Harvard Business Review reported that the psychological and physical problems of burned-out employees cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion in healthcare spending in the U.S. every year. The Review concluded, “The true cost to business can be far greater, thanks to low productivity across organizations, high turnover, and the loss of the most capable talent.”
Improve Work/Life Balance With These Five Tips:
Unplug
Technology is wonderful and has made our lives so much better in so many ways, but it has also made employees accessible 24/7. A 2019 Statista Survey found that 43% of white-collar workers check their work email every few hours outside their regular work hours, and only 24% said they never check their work emails outside of regular work hours. And that doesn’t take work-related phone calls and text messages into consideration.
EVERYONE needs some downtime, so take control of your life. Learn how to turn technology off sometimes. Find time to devote to family or activities that you find relaxing or enjoying – uninterrupted by work. If your employer expects you to be available 24/7, have a discussion with them to see if you can come to a compromise. If you’re an employer, understand the importance of downtime and make sure your employees understand it as well.
Take Care of Yourself
Some people are just naturally nurturing, which is great as long as they also remember to take time to nurture themselves. If all you keep doing is giving and giving and never take time to care for yourself, you will run out of energy to care for others (and possibly make yourself sick).
Eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, and make time for relaxation and fun activities. If you don’t take care of yourself, who will?
Exercise
Technically, this is part of taking care of yourself, but it’s so important that I’m listing it separately. Exercise is crucial to good health and helps reduce stress. It pumps feel-good endorphins through your body, lifts your mood, and can give you more energy to do all the things you need to do. Carve time out of your busy schedule to exercise a few times every week. Block out time on your calendar, and give it as much priority as meetings.
Examine Your Habits
Habits are powerful! According to Charles Duhig, the author of The Power of Habit , 40% of our actions every day are a result of habits, not decisions. Some habits are good, and some are not. Just because you’ve been checking your work email the moment you wake up every morning for the past five years doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do or that you have to continue doing it.
Examine your habits to determine if they are good habits that you want to continue or if you would be better off changing a few of your habits to create a more balanced life.
Learn to Say No
Some of us are conditioned to say yes to any request, whether it’s from a co-worker or a friend, whether we have time for it or not, and whether it’s our responsibility or not. We feel guilty saying no.
However, if you want a balanced life, you need to remember that it’s okay to say no. And guess what!? You don’t even have to give a reason in most cases; you just need to say no respectfully. Once you learn to stop saying yes out of guilt or a sense of obligation, you’ll have time to do more activities that are meaningful to you.
Make Technology Work for You
Let Eberly Systems take responsibility for your company’s I.T. off your plate! We’ll even share technology that can help you create a better work/life balance. We offer I.T. solutions and managed services that provide highly qualified I.T. support at a fraction of the cost of an in-house team.
Give Eberly Systems a call today at 610-374-4049 or f ind us online !
