Work Life Balance Tips
These work life balance tips will be useful if you find it easy to slip into the habit of doing too much of one thing and not enough of another.
Try out any of the following ideas to help you regain a sense of balance between what you have to do and what you want to do.
Remind yourself what you want more of
Balance starts with knowing what you want, but it is achieved when you actually do it.
Solution? Remind yourself every day.
Create an anchor point to keep your on course and to limit the 'anti-balance' habits that start small, but grow so quickly unless checked.
Clarify what your roles actually require
What’s expected of you at work? What about your commitments away from work?
Clarify your obligations and develop a laser sharp focus. What you have to do gets done sooner so you can do what you want to do.
As the old saying goes, "‘Assume' makes an ass out of u and me".
Plan something to look forward to from time to time
Every so often plan and arrange something fun. A weekend away or a night out –- something that will make you savour the anticipation of doing it
This is one of the best work life balance tips I ever learnt -- apart from being something to look forward to, it makes me appreciate who and what I have chosen to commit to.
Schedule something to look forward to
Unlike Tip #3, this is a regular commitment to something you enjoy for yourself.
Why schedule it?
Because otherwise you won’t do it. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but it does need to be regular and good to do.
Getting away from your regular commitments often stimulates creative ideas, too.
Have an evening routine
There are certain things that have to be ready for the next day, so put them into a routine. You don’t have to think about it when it becomes a habit.
In our house, the best thing about this is the impact it has on the next day. When it gets off to a good start, things seem to flow smoother all day long.
Clean your teeth earlier
This work life balance tip is probably the least known!
If you eat late and go to bed later you may struggle to get going in the morning.
Solution?
Clean your teeth an hour earlier than you usually would and you’ll find that your evening winds down well.
This is useful for the next of these work life balance tips...
Get up earlier
Learn how to wake up early and you'll get more done.
Start small though. Set the alarm to go off five minutes earlier and then do everything five minutes before you usually do it.
Try it for one working week and see what that extra five minutes does for you. If it works, increase the number of minutes.
Delegate at work… and at home
When you know how to delegate work well, you do your job and not someone else’s.
Bottom line?
You’re more efficient and you meet your obligations quicker. Once it works at work, why not do it at home?
Communicate
So important, but so easily avoided. Who has the biggest impact on your work life balance?
Talk to them.
Don’t email, phone or write.
Talk to them in person. Explain what isn’t working, clarify what would, and see what the effect is when you go straight to the person who matters.
Cut a commitment
Step back for a moment and consider your commitments. You took each one on for a reason.
Look closely at each one and ask yourself “Do I want to keep putting time, money and energy into this?”
Most you probably will, but some may be outdated habits you could do without. If that’s true for you, cut one or two commitments. It’s not easy, but it’s almost certainly worth it.
Know what matters to you
Cutting your commitments frees up more time on an ongoing basis, but each day still means making thousands of small choices about what to do with your time.
Use the time management matrix to help decide what’s important.
Think 80-20 with regard to home and work
The Pareto Principle is great for a better work life balance. Why? Well, it means you do more of what matters, so your work is more effective as well as efficient.
Set up systems
Whatever time and effort you put into creating and refining systems will repay you many times over.
Schedule in blocks of time each day to improve the way you organize your life and work. Start with something simple, such as ten minutes spent ‘file weeding’.
Systems work if you use them.
Keep working at it
Balance doesn’t stay forever, so perform a regular audit of your work life balance. This will help you to highlight those habits that have become counter-productive.
Keep a journal, ask others, or take some time out to give it some thought -- it doesn’t have to be complicated, just done, on a regular basis.
* * *
Even if you do one thing about each, or any, of these work life balance tips they’ll have a real and positive impact on the way you live and work.
Give them a go!
Do you need to get a better balance in your life?
Click below to check out the
Time Management Success
e-book!
- Home ›
- Work Life Balance ›
- Work Life Balance Tips