5 Tips to Improve Your Work-Life Balance
As a busy mom, wife, entrepreneur, and employee, I constantly find myself jumping from task to task making sure every area of my life is maintained. Finding the time, energy, and focus to complete all the items on my list can be overwhelming, and oftentimes, nearly impossible.
While achieving a work-life balance may seem unreasonable, there are ways to boost your productivity and overall fulfillment. Below are five tips to improve your work-life balance.
Prioritize
If you’re feeling the need to make some changes to improve your work-life balance, begin with a solid list of priorities. Take inventory of what’s most important to you, and make sure those items make it to the top of your list. Without having a clear understanding of what your priorities are, you can find yourself spending a lot of time on things that don’t matter, leaving little to no time for the things that do.
Schedule
Once you’ve established your list of priorities, make sure those items on the top of our list find time on your schedule. If you’ve never time blocked before, this is a great trick to not only see where you’re spending your time but also where you can make changes. Time blocking keeps me accountable and ensures that whatever I schedule I have time to complete.
Set office hours
If work is taking up more time than you’d wish, try establishing strict office hours. Whether you work from home or have returned to the office, setting office hours can help keep you and your co-workers accountable and ensure you stop working when you’re supposed to. The work will always be there when you return, but the opportunities to do other important tasks in your life may not.
Build boundaries
Creating boundaries is essential both inside and outside of work. Boundaries help mark limits in your life. So, whether you build boundaries in your work to ensure you don’t work over 40 hours per week or you build them so your co-workers know not to reach you on the weekends, creating boundaries can help you improve your work-life balance.
Let go of the guilt
One of the biggest things keeping us from achieving a healthier work-life balance is guilt. If you’ve ever felt bad that you’re not spending time with your family because you’re working, or felt horrible that you’re not working while on vacation with your family, you’ve experienced guilt. If you’re like me, then you take on the responsibility of the world, and often feel bad that you’re not doing something to the best of your ability. The best way to let go of guilt is to be present. When you’re working, be present on your work. When you’re with your family, try to keep your focus solely on them.
