If your work has been eating into your personal time lately, you’re not alone. In fact, the vast majority of professionals report working well over the standard 40 hours a week, overtime often made all too easy by 24-hour access to technology. Unfortunately, this can often have damaging effects on your health, happiness and personal life. If you’re looking for ways to improve your work-life balance but aren’t sure where to start, there are a few things you should know. Having it all can be possible! To learn more about four simple ways you can get to a happy medium, read on.
1. Limit Screen Time
Part of the reason it’s easier than ever to overwork is that with all-hours access to laptops and smartphones, it’s tempting to check work emails or answer phone calls even after you’ve left the office. To help curb the effects of taking your work home all the time, try setting limits on how much time you spend using work-related technology once you’re off the clock.
2. Manage Negative Relationships
If your workplace has a toxic culture or your boss micromanages and is overbearing, limiting interactions with them as much as possible could go a long way towards balancing your life. Try to diplomatically excuse yourself from negative conversations and politely turning down invitations from toxic coworkers. When you surround yourself with positive people, you’ll take on a more positive attitude as well.
3. Forget Perfection
Part of the reason you may be spending too much time working and not enough time on personal things could be because of pressure to achieve perfection. Remind yourself that your goal should be to do the best you can, not necessarily to achieve some standard of perfection. Cutting yourself some slack will help you avoid burnout.
4. Exercise Regularly
Finally, neither your work life nor your home life will be the best they can be if you’re simply not in good health. Taking simple steps to care for your health every day can make all the difference in your energy levels, no matter what task you’re taking on. For instance, it’s important to schedule in at least a half hour of exercise daily. This will boost your endorphin levels and put you in a great mood!
Spending too much time at work can have detrimental effects on your personal life, contentment and overall health. Thankfully, with a few strategic tweaks, achieving an ideal work-life balance is possible. Try these four tips and you’ll be on your way to excelling at work while still enjoying your personal time!