With the economy booming and the lowest unemployment seen in decades, more workers than ever before are joining the workforce.
There has also been a gradual increase in the number of hours that people are expected to work. Though more people are working, the wages have remained stagnant so people are working harder and longer, and often multiple jobs.
But why do you go to work? Many people put their family first, or perhaps it’s a loved one or a particular hobby. Whatever it is that motivates you each day, it’s important to keep focused on the big picture. It can be very easy to get sucked into a routine where work dominates every aspect of your life.
Here are five helpful tips for maintaining a good work-life balance in the midst of a rapidly evolving modern world.
Physical Health
The most imperative thing to balancing our lives is our physical health. Poor physical health is a strong sign that your work-life balance is out of whack. While it may seem obvious, and like something we hear all the time: it is important to reiterate to ourselves the vitality we can gain from prioritizing our bodies.
Your body is the vehicle for your mind. You wouldn’t drive your car into the ground by never maintaining it or changing the oil, so why would you let your physical health fall into disarray?
Getting enough sleep and nutrition are among the two most important aspects of managing your physical health. A brain that is not properly rested and provided the nutrients it needs cannot perform at its best. Eating a healthy and balanced diet and maintaining a proper sleeping schedule is important.
Mental Health
Just like your physical health, your mental health is important when it comes to performing well on the job. Working too hard and never switching off will have detrimental effects on your mental health.
Exercise can make a big difference. When your body is exercising, it produces endorphins that can contribute to happiness. There is also the satisfaction of knowing that you pushed yourself to reach your fitness goal.
When you put off exercise and you rarely have an elevated heart rate, you are more susceptible to negative thoughts. If you struggle with depression, exercise can be a great tool for managing those negative thoughts and can potentially help ward off depression itself. This means you are free to be the best you possiblely can be at work and at home.
Family Matters
When caught up in “the rat race” of going to bed and waking up and going to work and then going to bed and doing it all over again, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture.
Don’t forget that the reason you are working is so that you can fulfill your responsibilities and have a better quality of life with your loved ones. Sometimes it can feel like you are going home, eating, and sleeping just to wake up and work.
Everything we do, especially work, should be a means of achieving a happy life outside of employment. As such, set a specific schedule where work will take a backseat and you’ll spend time with your nearest and dearest. Time set aside to see your friends and family can make the world of difference — you just have to prioritize.
Unplug from the Digital World
In 2019, most jobs include being either on-call or available around the clock. Even if you are not on call, smartphones can still deliver work emails right to your pocket in the middle of dinner with the family or a movie on date night.
When it comes to relaxing and unwinding, unplug yourself from the digital world completely and find some time to spend in nature or with loved ones without any screens around.
Nighttime is especially important to unplug because the light of the screens of televisions, monitors, and even cell phones can make it difficult for the brain to shut down. Try putting your phone in airplane mode or turning it off altogether past a certain time in the evening.
Organization Is Key
Staying organized is one of the common denominators when you compare and contrast successful people. It is very rare to find someone who is highly successful but is not organized.
Most overachievers who lead successful lives are very organized people. Organizing not just your desk but your home and schedule is key. Everything should be planned out in advance from trash day to the dates projects are due, to meetings, and even household chores.
Being able to follow a strict regimen will help make you productive. Staying driven requires planning. Even just recognizing that your need to plan your work and your life so that work doesn’t take over everything is a great step to self-awareness.
Hopefully, these five tips have provided some useful information for maintaining a positive work-life balance in 2019. As technology takes increasingly larger roles in our lives, it is important to remember to prioritize our health so that our time at work is as efficient as possible. When it comes to time at home and with loved ones, try to keep work interference to a minimum and unplug as often as you can.
