Whether you’re at school, a full-time member of the workforce, or someone with a part-time job, nailing your work-life balance should be a key priority! After all, there’s a reason that work-life balance has been such a hot topic for so many years: getting that balance right can make employees happier, mentally healthier, and much more productive.
To help you start your workforce journey on the right foot, we’ve put together a guide to setting up healthy habits and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Trust us, if you follow our tips, you’ll be crushing this whole ‘balance’ thing in no time!
What is Work-Life Balance?
In short, work-life balance refers to how we divide our time between personal and professional (or even academic) tasks, but really, it’s so much more than that! When this balance is thrown off, and we dedicate too much time to work and too little to our personal lives, it can lead to high-stress levels, burnout, and a lack of job satisfaction. Conversely, if too much time is being spent on personal tasks, it’s pretty likely that our work or school performance will suffer.
Having a healthy work-life balance means dedicating just enough time to both facets of your life and not letting a prioritisation of one affect your performance in the other. Is it an easy thing to master? We’re not going to lie to you, it really isn’t, but it is doable. All you need is a plan of attack, some self-awareness, and dedication to making it work!
Why Work-Life Balance is so Important:
There are multiple ways in which improving your work-life balance can improve your overall quality of life. For example, having more time for yourself allows you to invest hours into your nutrition, fitness and your self-care regimen. It’s also known to increase productivity, decrease stress and heighten your commitment to work or school! However, if our balance is thrown off, it can have opposite effects.
While employees and employers alike regularly confuse long working hours with heightened productivity, this is rarely the case. In fact, studies suggest that after we clock a certain amount of hours at work, productivity decreases, and the potential for mistakes goes way up! What’s more, extra long hours can also lead to health issues like impaired sleep, depression and impaired memory. This doesn’t just apply to those of you in the workforce either: if you’re overdoing it with your studies, the same goes! So, you should trust us when we say that an unhealthy work-life balance is not something you want to put up with!
Assessing Your Work-Life Balance
Before determining what strategies you need to implement to improve your work-life balance, you should start by assessing your strengths and weaknesses. After all, self-awareness is a key component of personal growth!
To figure out whether your work-life balance is healthy or toxic, check out the red and green flags below. If you relate to mostly greens, you’re already doing super well, but if you’re relating to the red flags, it might be time for some serious changes!
Work-Life Balance Green Flags
- You Take Your Full Lunch Break Every Day
While it can be super tempting to skip lunch every now and then to get more work done, it’s probably not the best idea. Taking time out to have a break, eating some nourishing food and chilling out will get you through the afternoon slump and ensure sustained productivity!
- You Have Time for Hobbies
If you’ve been meaning to grind for a new player pack on FIFA or finish that crochet project but can’t seem to find the time or energy, your work-life balance might be a little off. You should always be able to make time to do the things you love; this is something work shouldn’t get in the way of!
- You Feel Able to Nurture Your Relationships
Be honest: how many unread messages are sitting in your social media inboxes right now? Or, alternatively, how many hangouts have you cancelled lately? If the answer is 0-5 for either, you’re in the clear. Anything more might mean that your unbalanced lifestyle is leading to neglected relationships, which really isn’t great.
- You Feel Rested When Starting a New Workday
When you’re walking into work in the morning, do you feel refreshed and ready to go, or burnt out and ready to leave? The latter could be a sign of an unhealthy work-life balance. After all, you shouldn’t be dreaming of home time from the second you arrive!
- You Leave Work/School Related Stress in the Office/Classroom
Leaving stress behind when you go home is a major green flag! While it’s not super easy, it’s important to separate your personal and work concerns so work-stuff isn’t following you out of the office. Otherwise, you’re buying a one-way ticket to burnout!
Work-Life Balance Red Flags
- Neglecting Your Personal Life
A huge red flag for your work-life balance is letting your personal responsibilities pile up because you either lack the energy to deal with them or simply don’t have the time. If your dishes are stacked in the sink, you’re having food delivered more than you’re cooking, or you’re a few loads behind on washing, it’s time to make a change.
- Lack of Self-Care
We all love a dedicated self-care day, but you should also implement daily self-care habits to keep you feeling great week in and week out! Regardless of your preferred strategies (perhaps a skincare routine, journaling, mindfulness, exercising, etc), it’s always important to make time.
- Burnout
It’s pretty common for both workforce members and students to experience burnout every once in a while, unless you’re a true work-life balance superstar, but it shouldn’t be your default setting. Minimise your burnout by implementing some of our work-life balance strategies!
- Strong Feelings of Stress or Sadness
When you’re super busy, you might find yourself regarding feelings of stress or sadness as the norm, but trust us, they shouldn’t be! Even though occasional negative emotions are totally normal, you should be feeling happy most of the time, and if you’re not, there are definitely steps you can take.
- Guilt
If you’re overworked, taking some time to do something for yourself can illicit some pretty nasty feelings of guilt. However, this shouldn’t be the case. Employers don’t hire people to work 24/7, and they shouldn’t expect you to forgo your own happiness to get a project done early. Remember to prioritise yourself!
Strategies for Improving Your Work-Life Balance
Now that you’ve determined whether you’re sitting on the healthy side of work-life balance (or veering towards toxic productivity), it’s time to start implementing some healthy habits. Regardless of whether you related more to the red or green flags, there’s always room for improvement, so jot down some notes, formulate a plan, and unlock the best version of yourself!
Setting Boundaries
Setting boundaries is a key aspect of establishing a healthy work-life balance. You need to dedicate time to work and time to your personal life and then ensure that there’s minimal crossover going forward! It’s almost impossible to do this perfectly, so be kind to yourself, but make sure you’re still doing your best. Trust us, you’ll thank yourself later!
Time Management
Time management goes hand in hand with setting boundaries. If you’re a stationary fan (and who isn’t?) this is a great excuse to invest in a new planner. That way, you can write down all the things you need to do, give each task a specific time slot, and ensure there’s enough free time left over to do what you love!
Go Out for Lunch
If you’re prone to eating lunch at your desk, going out for lunch is a great way to force yourself to take a break. You could even enlist a couple of other workaholics, too; that way, you’ll be able to socialise (and you’ll be less likely to scoff down your meal and rush back to work)!
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a great tool for those who find it difficult to switch off. It’s all about being present in the current moment rather than worrying about the past or the future (AKA, you’ll need to leave those work worries at the door)!
Find a New Hobby (or Rediscover an Old One)
Making time for your passions is never a waste. In fact, by taking time to do the things that bring us joy, we’re less likely to become super-stressed or experience burnout. So, regardless of whether you’re picking up a new hobby or restarting an old one, it’s a worthy way to spend your time.
Want to make these work-life balance hacks part of your daily routine? Check out guide on adopting healthy work habits to make them stick!
Go Forth as a More Centred You!
Now that you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses and picked up some tried and tested strategies to develop a healthy work-life balance, you’re ready to get started! If you want to take it one step further, you can even check our career advice blog and discover all the other ways to get workplace-ready!
