Too often the lines between your personal life and work life become blurred. It always seems to benefit the latter too.
Since remote working has boomed and is continuing to rise (though there are many benefits to it), the struggle between your work and home life has probably gotten worse. It’s very normal to want to balance these out, though the concept likely seems quite elusive.
While you may never master it, there are some things that you can do to really help even things out and improve your overall mindset.
Take a look at these tips for balancing your work and personal life.
1. Be strict with yourself
With many negative ideas around working long hours (such as that it’s still seen as a desirable quality), it can be easy to slip into the habit of working more.
Though this may be necessary now and again, with big projects due or deadlines looming, it’s certainly not okay to do all the time. It throws you completely off balance and can lead to you feeling like you don’t have a personal life.
Setting yourself limits, either daily or weekly, and scheduling in time for just you is vital for promoting a better work/life balance. Setting boundaries with your workplace, like not replying to emails at the weekend or letting them know you won’t be available in the evenings is the best way to start with this.
2. Double up
The opposite of setting boundaries is doubling up when it comes to tasks. While this may seem counterproductive when taking into consideration tip number 1, when done in moderation it can benefit you.
Too often do we see two very similar tasks separate because one is for work and another is for your personal life. However, it can save you time and give you a bit of your balance back.
Have to meet someone in the same part of town you need to collect a purchase? Why not do both? Have to wait for a parcel but can’t miss an important group meeting, you could ask to attend it remotely and kill two birds with one stone.
Even the things you use can fit into both your work and personal life. Something like a Laptop for Business and Personal Use is a perfect example of this.
3. Take big breaks
While this might be easier said than done, it’s so important for creating a good balance in your life between personal time and work.
So many of your years are spent working, and though you may have the odd day off or holiday away, it’s great to take a long break if possible.
Speaking with your boss and working out a way to use your scheduled time off to squeeze in a big break every now and again can really be the boost you need and give you that feeling that you’ve got your personal life back.
Long breaks can be the perfect antidote to those work blues so many people get when they feel their professional life is taking over.
