Many people find it difficult to strike a healthy balance between their work life and their social life. Often people find themselves getting to the office earlier than needed and putting in extra hours in order to get their work load done, resulting in leaving the workplace after everyone else has gone. If that doesn’t sound obsessive enough many people struggle to leave their work at work and often end up bringing their work home in the evenings and at the weekends, which can seriously effect the time that they have left to spend with family and friends or simply just relax and unwind in their own company.
Essentially, it all comes down to better time management, we have compiled a short list of tips to help you improve your work/life balance:
1. Use Your Commute
Public transport is a good opportunity for professionals to reply to any important emails so that you’re ready to get started on your work as soon as you arrive at the office. Alternatively, utilize this time to unwind after work to help you take your mind off the stress of the office and help you relax at the end of the day when you get home.
If you do not require public transport to get to and from work and you live within a close enough proximity to walk or cycle to work use this time as your daily exercise and save costs of gym membership and time in the evenings that could be spent with friends or family. Regular physical activity and developing good eating habits will boost energy levels and increase alertness, helping you to be more effective during your working day.
2. Prioritise Work Tasks
Work can be unpredictable at times. Especially if you work in an office environment where phone calls/meetings are a regular part of your day and can often run overtime taking up allocated time for other tasks. Allowing yourself daily or weekly deadlines can give you a target to work towards and help you be more productive and allow you to leave work on time each day. The majority of people these days are using smart phones or smart devices, use this technology to your advantage set yourself reminders, being organised can help you by having a structured plan in place to follow and reminding you what you need to be doing and when you need to be doing it.
3. Schedule Your Life Outside of Work
Inserting work meetings in your diary is a daily norm – it enables you to keep track of things during those sometimes chaotic hours at work. The same can be applied to your home life. If you structure your social commitments in the same way that you structure your work commitments you’re more likely to attend them. Next time you meet a friend for a coffee, instead of saying “let’s catch up again soon”, put a definitive time and date into both of your diaries.
Making the most of your weekend can also be tricky if you do not have any plans in place. Many people find themselves returning to the office thinking “where did the weekend go?” It’s important to get plenty of rest over the course of the weekend but it’s also your time to engage in things that you love outside of work. This is important so that there is a clear difference between your work life and social life and it doesn’t become monotonous.
Try to double up on activities too – make your exercise routine social by arranging to meet a friend at the gym or inviting one of your friends to go for a run or a walk with you.
4. Share the Load
At work, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or swamped with work speak to your manager. The likelihood of the matter is that there may be other people in your team or maybe even in a wider department that would like to take on more responsibilities that you might be able to share your work load with. Always remember to keep your manager in the loop with everything that you are working on so that they are always aware of how many tasks you’ve got going on at any one time.
We totally understand that some of our tips and tricks may seem like common sense but you would be surprised at how many people tend to throw their social life out the window and out their work before everything else.
Try them out yourself for a couple of weeks and see if it pays off.