As I write this, I have 2 major deadlines to meet this week, whilst trying to juggle work and having some semblance of a life. At some point, I think everyone’s struggled with maintaining a good balance between work, study and life, so I wanted to share my top 10 tips for achieving a better work life balance.
10 Tips for Achieving Better Work Life Balance:
1. Figure out what’s important – you might have a lot going on but not everything will be important. Take a step back and figure out what’s actually important now and prioritise accordingly. As new things pop up, make sure you re-prioritise.
2. Break it down into smaller doable tasks – once you’ve figured out what’s important, break it down further into smaller, doable tasks. Lists are great for this and ticking off each task will also help you feel more motivated and that you’re making progress.
3. Be realistic about your time – when you’re planning out what you’re going to be doing for the day, make sure you’re realistic about the time you’ll be spending on each task. Travelling between appointments? Make sure you pop that time in.
4. Let people know when you’re busy – whether its work or study, it’s helpful to let people know when you’re going to be busy and need some interruption free time. People should come to understand over time and give you space to get your work done.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – people are often more than happy to help if you ask. While you’re super busy with work and study, you might not have time to do simpler errands such as picking up someone from the airport or cooking a meal. This is where partners, family and friends may be able to help.
6. Expect the unexpected – as much as you plan, Murphy’s Law says that something will come up when you’re least expecting it, or something might not turn out how you thought it would be. Just being aware of this means you’ll be less inclined to freak out when unexpected things happen. Building in buffer time during your day can also help and if all goes smoothly, you’ve gained extra time to do as you like!
7. Don’t forget to take care of yourself – yes, you’ve got a million and one things to do but if you’re racing at full speed all the time, you’re going to crash and burn! So make sure you schedule in some ‘me time’ and do something you enjoy. Having a good night’s sleep also works wonders.
8. Take purposeful breaks – while you’re working, it can be tempting to procrastinate. However that enjoyable feeling that you get from not doing what you should be doing is usually short-lived and often replaced by guilt. Rather than getting off track, take dedicated breaks as a guilt free reward for spending a certain amount of time working or completing a task.
9. It’s okay to say no – we all lead busy lives but if you’re starting to stretch yourself too thin and you’re finding it difficult to keep things together, remember that it’s okay to say no.
10. Know that no one’s perfect – realise that you’re going to have awesome days along with those days where nothing seems to be going right. That’s okay because nobody’s perfect! Everyone’s different and work life balance also means different things to different people. Don’t be too hard on yourself and remember, tomorrow brings a new day and fresh start!
Do you have any work life balance tips to share?