Maintaining a work-life balance — especially when your home is now your office — can prove extremely difficult. Living and working under the same roof can cause some blurred lines, but a good work-life balance can enhance employee health. Here are some tips on how to create a healthy balance.
Reduce your working hours
A study examined the relationship between parental stress, psychological exhaustion and job exhaustion. Results concluded that job exhaustion in the form of long working hours led to poor work-life balance, increased parental stress and low psychological well-being.
Therefore, if employees appear to be struggling with issues at home or work, it may be due to long work hours. As an employer, ensure your staff take regular breaks instead of powering through with their day– even workaholics need a breather!
On an individual level, try and stick to a schedule. Setting work hours — and sticking to them — will allow the down time you need whilst also remaining productive.
Take time to make time
Spend a couple of minutes each day to plan what you want to achieve. Allocate one day a week to plan your full week and schedule anything you need to prioritize such as birthdays, time with family or when your next report is due. Planning your goals has been linked with improved life satisfaction in adults.
Prioritise your time by allocating your tasks into three categories:
- Urgent (e.g. meeting a deadline or a professional goal)
- Important (e.g. working towards personal goals)
- Non-urgent (e.g. replying to messages or texts)
Complete the urgent tasks first and make your way down the list to ensure that the tasks requiring immediate attention have the greatest priority.
Before starting a work project, form a plan and determine the best way to complete the task. Strategic planning enhances organizational performance, which allows for efficient completion of tasks to a high standard.
Manage your mind
When you feel you begin to doubt yourself, take a step back from your work. Sometimes, taking a short walk or spending time with your household members can be just the right retreat you need.
Spending hours glued to the screen can lead to tiredness and we become less focused. Ensure that you stretch every 15 minutes to allow your body to relieve any physical tension. This will then help your mental tension too, and reduce stress levels.
Clean your workspace
When working at home, creating a productive workspace can be difficult. A tidy workspace will create a tidy mind, leading to enhanced performance. Furthermore, your workspace should be comfortable, otherwise it can cause some health risks and problems. For example, prevent repetitive strain injury with an ergonomic keyboard and use a suitable chair paired with a support stand for your laptop to improve posture.
Overall, the key to improving your work-life balance lies in planning. Ensuring your week has a balance between work and play will help to relieve stress and enhance productivity. Sometimes this balance can become difficult to achieve during stressful times at work. However taking a quick walk or having a 5-minute chat with your peers can reset your brain; this will allow you to function to your optimum potential, allowing you to find a healthy balance and improve your well-being.
Written by Fay Maddock
Fay is a Clinical and Health Psychology graduate, currently completing a masters in Psychological Research. She has assisted in collecting data to determine whether an anti-bullying programme can reduce rates of bullying in primary schools across the UK. Furthermore, she has completed a dissertation regarding predictors of motivation and wellbeing within undergraduate students. Her particular interests are in the area of mental health and neuropsychology.
