More than 60% percent of the US employees believe that their work-life balance is not aligned, as out of sync. As the work demands continue to escalate, it has become difficult so here are some tips to balance work and life together. Unfortunately, we are living in a culture where productivity sometimes can take a toll on our own wellness.
Have you ever felt like you’re cooped up in an endless whirlwind of career responsibilities, emails, deadlines, with your personal life getting ignored in the backend? So, you’re not alone in this.
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Let’s get rid of this cliché saying “work hard, play hard.” Perhaps, it is high time to put emphasis on working smartly and living to the fullest. Wondering, how to make this possible? Then, join us to explore tips that balance both your work and life side by side in a productive manner, without disrupting your wellness.
What is Work-Life Balance?
The term Work Life Balance refers to an equilibrium state of managing personal and work-life commitments at the same time period. Basically, it is giving equal importance to both your career and personal stuff without losing your mental peace or getting burnout.
Unfortunately, it is challenging to equilibrium profession and life equilibrium smoothly due to a number of factors. It may include long working hours, increased duties, family-life and increased responsibilities at home.
The Statistical Overview
Individuals who work in a toxic environment and are not able to enjoy their work-life tend to develop disorders like depression and anxiety. According to a study, those working for more than 55 hours per week are 1.66 times more prone to experience depression. Whereas they are 1.74 times more likely to get into anxiety
Another research found out the top-most side effects of poor work life balance may negatively impact the family relationships(with 48.8% respondents), difficulties with emotional, physical and spiritual being( with 37.8% respondents).
How to Achieve Work & Life Harmony?
Here are some ways mention in the following sequence;
- Taking Time Off Between Work: Taking short breaks during work will help you in dealing with stressful work. These breaks can be utilized by light physical movements such as some desk exercises or a walk will be good for you in this regard.
- Volunteering Time Off: Volunteering and taking out sometime for charity is a great source to socialize with our surrounding, helping to build interpersonal relations. It helps in providing a mental break from duties.
- Proper Planning: Proper planning and tips are required to maintain a balance between work and life. It helps to prevent stress and allows to save time, thus properly planned tasks will not jumble up altogether.
- Encouraging a Healthy Lifestyle: The essential component to achieve a great lifestyle equilibrium is to encourage healthy mental well-being. Physical activities like exercises will promote overall wellness and eliminate stress too.
- Time Management: Time management holds a great significance in the context of balancing work and life. Setting a proper schedule for both your career and personal activities will be helpful for you to have your life in an equilibrium state.
- Encourage Hobbies: It is really important to prioritize the things we love to do or enjoy mostly. As all of us have hobbies such as reading, cooking, dancing, baking, painting and vice versa. In our day-to-day hectic workload we often miss feeding our own souls, so it is necessary to take some time out for our hobbies and encourage this habit while working.
- Time-to-Time Feedback and Work-life Balance Surveys: Conducting surveys and taking feedback helps the employers to track the wellness of their employees. Furthermore, it will create a harmonious workplace environment which also increases job performance and agility.
- Maternity and Paternity Leaves: Allowing your employees to take paternal and maternal leaves, which also helps your organization to grow. This will ease your employees and they’ll achieve a good harmony.
- Child Care Facilities: It might be a challenging situation for your employees who have small children below five. This can be a very tough time for anyone who is working and managing personal responsibilities at the same time frame, so employers must arrange some facilitation for these professionals by providing them child care spaces within the organization premises or nearby settings.
- Allowing Remote Work: Employers must allow flexibility in the working options for their employees. The most convenient option is to work remotely from their comfort spaces while fulfilling both their personal commitments without missing out on their job duties.
- Team-Building Exercises: Preparing team activities will promote the team members to engage with each other, as it will help to build personal-professional stability in the lives of your employees.
- Unpaid Time Off for Personal Reasons: There are times when your employees need leaves due to personal needs and emergencies. Therefore, it is considerable to allow them by offering unpaid leaves in their difficult times.
- Designated Quiet Space: In an office setting, there must be a quiet space for the recharging of your employees. This designated space is a place that should give an inviting and relaxing atmosphere to the individuals to release their stress and take a moment to relax. Thus, helps them to get back on their working track being more focused and calm than before.
- Workation: Workation acts as a morale-booster in your organization. It will relax your employees without losing their productivity. It is a combination of work and vacation, as it gives your employees the flexibility to profession from a remote setting. It welcomes them to return back with a refreshed look clearly seen through their body language.
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Importance of Personal & Professional Equilibrium
Maintaining a work-life balance is important, if maintenance is not proper; it may eventually lead to negative consequences. So, it holds a great importance in almost all areas of life such as:
It Impacts Your Mental Health
A study from Mental Health America and FlexJobs found that 76% of individuals believe that they face mental illness like anxiety and depression as a negative impact of workplace stress. Therefore, they have also found out that having flexible working options will result in good life satisfaction. While inflexibility in profession is two times more at risk of developing poor mental well-being.
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It Effects Your Physical Health
If an individual faces stress at the workplace, it may also negatively impact his/her physical health. The Balanced work-life solution holds sheer importance as it may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and other musculoskeletal illnesses too, as it was also proved through the report of CDC . This report also showed what other diseases can be developed due to work-stress. Which may include cancer, ulcer and impaired functioning of the immune system.
It Influences Your Job Performance
A stressful schedule may impact your job performance bringing out negative consequences. The job performance and work quality will suffer due to hectic long working hours and simultaneously the employees will face burnout.
Work, love, and play are the great balance wheels of man’s being. — Orison Swett Marden
It Distant Your Relationships
Getting fully absorbed into work by compromising your family time will eventually impact your relationships. It will ultimately lead to a less enriching and satisfied life. Due to stress, you may lose the connections with your loved ones. A UKG survey showed that 71% of people said that family life is affected due to work-stress. While 62% believed that their relationships are negatively impacted.
How to Change Behaviors to Promote Healthy Work-Life
You can promote a healthy balance between your work and life by shifting towards certain tips. Take your first step by setting boundaries in a clear manner. For instance, avoid checking mails soon after your working hours end, which helps you in distinguishing between your work time and your personal time.
Another effective step which you can take is time management that helps you in the prioritization of tasks, taking breaks and delegate when required. Practicing Mindfulness is another key to improve your attention and make you feel relaxed. It also increases chances of improved productivity in managing personal commitments and professional career. Meditation or yoga comes under mindfulness which fades away all your work-stress.
A Flexible Workplace In Achieving Harmony
A flexible workplace environment comprises flexible options that will help them to achieve a balanced work-life. The flexibility may have remote employment options and a flexible schedule. It will allow the employees to easily manage their personal and professional commitments and reduce the chances of burnout. Employees can have better control over their time and have higher job satisfaction.
Advantages of A Balanced Lifestyle
Here are some of the benefits you will have at workplace with a balanced lifestyle;
A Decrease in Employee Health Problems
Those professionals with a healthy work-life integration will face lesser psychological and physical health problems. But, Individuals who work more than 3 hours than the usual work schedule are at higher risk of 60% to develop heart diseases.
Enhanced Employee Mindfulness
Employees who follow certain tips to balance their work and personal life; will inculcate mindfulness towards their organizational behavior. As they feel relaxed and focused which helps them gain control over their assigned tasks. The organization will reach their desired goals by their driven energy towards their career. While, individuals working under extreme pressure are prone to develop mental and workplace stress.
Time is what we want most, but what we use is the worst. – William Penn
Increased Employee Engagement at Job
An increase in the employee engagement is seen with the organizations, where employees have a maintained equilibrium of work and life. These are the motivated and sparkling gems of any working organization, as it help in improving work life balance there. But on the other hand, poor equilibrium will bring out negative outcomes like sick leaves, fatigue and absenteeism that creates hindrance in performing their work responsibilities.
Decreased Employee Burnout Rate
A balanced work-life may decrease the rate of burnout in the employees. This eventually increases the productivity of their work. Likewise, employees having an overload may experience burnout and disturbs them mentally and physiologically.
Conclusion
Balancing personal life and work equilibrium holds a great influence on both the employers and the employee. It will not only lead to a better and progressive lifestyle, but also increases professional satisfaction and productivity. The employers must be a concerned authority in this regard, by encouraging on stuff like flexibility, breaks and wellness initiatives to help in regulating the good work-life balance of their employees and reach to their maximum potentials by thriving.
