Whether you’re a newbie around the office, or have been contributing to the same company your whole life, those work-related stressors can creep their way into your personal and social life, making it difficult for you to maintain a balance.
Too often we tend to bring our work stress home, which can lead to burn out and misunderstandings with our families and friends. Avoid going home in ‘work mode,’ and keep yourself grounded with these 10 tips for the ultimate work-life balance:
1. Prioritize your tasks.
You’ve got a million tasks at hand each with a different, sometimes overlapping, deadline. Looking at your to-do list, it may seem like a lot for one person to accomplish. Take a seat and start prioritizing your tasks based on ease and urgency, so you can breeze through your work just in the nick of time.
Categorize your to-do list by order of urgency: from Extremely Urgent, Important, Not a Concern, and Not Urgent at All. Then prioritize tasks based on how fast you can do the work per category so you can check easier tasks off your list quickly.
2. Set aside time for your mental health break.
One of the most important parts of your day should be your mental health break. Take 20-30 minutes for yourself, and dissociate from your work for a while. Put priority on your mental health break, especially when you start to feel overwhelmed at work. Sometimes, a short break is all you need to recalibrate your focus.
3. Maintain a comfortable workspace.
Anyone can agree that it’s difficult to focus on your work properly when you’re in a stuffy, cold office. Maintain a comfortable workspace with ergonomic furniture, personalized decor, and proper cleaning schedules.
If you find yourself left with little time for office cleaning, you may want to look into a cleaning service to fully scrub your workspace spotless. You don’t have to compromise any more of your limited time when you can work with a cleaning crew to clear and organize your workspace.
4. Find time for your exercise routine.
Two things that keep us happy and healthy – diet and exercise. While most jobs provide an hour-long lunch break for employees, it is important for you to find time to exercise as well in order to keep your body healthy, and your mind sharp. Spend time in the morning jogging around the neighbourhood, or set up an exercise corner for you to come home to.
5. Manage your finances.
Understandably, after crunching those numbers for your company all day long, you’re in no mood to calculate your own finances. Well, those finances aren’t going to calculate themselves! Create a schedule for managing your financial health, which you can do weekly or monthly depending on your needs. You can find programs to assist you for easy management.
6. End your day with meditation.
Reset your mental and emotional mindset by ending the day with some calming meditation. You can find online apps, like Headspace, that will lull you to sleep with ASMR-inducing guided meditations. Sit or lie down and free your mind of any stressors that happened during your day, and get back up tomorrow well-rested and refreshed.
7. Get full hours of sleep.
Going into work with only 3-5 hours of sleep everyday is nothing to be proud of. In contrast, not getting enough sleep is indicative of a burn out, and can lead to early memory loss and dementia. Your brain needs enough rest to thoroughly process all the information gathered throughout the day. You’ll need at least 6-8 hours of sleep per day to function properly.
8. Open your schedule to structural changes.
Big promotion coming soon? With that upgrade in your salary comes additional work that you’ll need to focus on. You have to be prepared to open your schedule to structural changes. You may be too stressed to stick to your current schedule. Talk with your family or roommates about structural changes around the house, especially when it comes to chores.
9. Limit your social media scrolling.
Studies show that the average person spends 2-3 hours on social media per day, but we all know we tend to scroll past those numbers. Turn off your notifications during the day to limit time wasted scrolling through social media sites, especially when you end up opening the apps first thing in the morning.
When you open social media apps once you wake up, you tend to lose a significant amount of time that you could have spent doing productive and sustainable activities like exercise, reading, cooking, and generally getting ready for the rest of the day.
10. Find support in your network.
Last but not the least, you need to find support in your network to keep up with your workload. In a healthy way to balance your work-life, create a support group with your co-workers, or talk it out with your spouse on how you can best support each other on your own endeavours.
Oftentimes, we have the tendency to shut out our work from our loved ones, particularly when things get too overwhelming. However, it is important to note that everyone needs support, and finding support in your current situation can alleviate some of the stress that weighs heavily on your mind.
