Improve Your Work-Life Balance In 10 Easy Steps

When was the last time you honestly had enough free time and energy to enjoy your weekends or holidays? According to worrisome statistics, over 103 million working-age Americans admit to an unhealthy work-life balance.

Work-Life Balance Defined

A healthy work-life balance means that your work doesn’t negatively impact your personal life and vice versa. If you have a healthy work-life balance, you can quickly leave work issues at the office and momentarily forget about your challenges while at work.

People who maintain an optimal work-life balance tend to perform well at work and enjoy their lives outside their office chairs. You should learn how to plan your time, set realistic goals, and prioritize yourself to achieve this. Fear not; that’s precisely why we’re here.

Importance Of Work-Life Balance

Without a work-life balance, you’ll quickly become overworked and overtired, and your health and personal relationships will take a hit because you aren’t prioritizing correctly. No one wants to sacrifice their well-being and family for their work, right?

It’s okay to admit that no human can be productive 24 hours a day and that rest is essential to function correctly. That’s why figuring out your work-life balance is key.

Tips For Improving Work-Life Balance

We want to help you overcome the challenge of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Here’s a list of tips to help you improve the relationship between your work and personal life.

Look Into Passive Income

Ask yourself – why do you feel the need to work so much? Is it because you want to climb the steps of the corporate ladder? Or is it because you’re not financially stable and feel stuck in a cycle of living paycheck to paycheck?

You work hard for your money. What if we told you that you could earn money effortlessly? Passive income may just be your savior here.

By definition, the money you’d earn from a passive income source doesn’t require much physical or mental effort. With websites like Honeygain, you can make extra money effortlessly.

Honeygain pays you for sharing your unused internet connection – it’s that simple. After downloading Honeygain and sharing unused bandwidth, you can make $40 monthly.

Honeygain definitely won’t replace your 9-5 job, but now you won’t feel so guilty about taking a few hours of work each week, right? Go for a walk while Honeygain worries about the money for you.

Manage Your Schedules

Learning how to plan your work day to increase your productivity is essential. Remember to plan activities after work, like seeing a movie, exercising, visiting a new restaurant, or spending time with friends or family. And if you’re on a work trip in Paris for example, don’t miss out on historical tours remembering the liberation of Paris during WWII, and of course popular destinations like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

Think about it this way – if you’re productive for the 8 hours you spend at work, you probably won’t need to work overtime and will have more free time. And to use that time wisely, it’s a good idea to plan instead of scrambling to fill your time with something last minute.

And no, you don’t need to fill your schedule with activities for every work-free moment you get. Even laying on your couch watching a Netflix show deserves to be scheduled and enjoyed guilt-free!

If you’re struggling to keep tabs on your schedule, we suggest you look into tools like Notion or Google Calendar. More on that – later!

Put Your Feet Up

You deserve to take time to recharge your batteries. And working while you’re sick, injured, or struggling emotionally won’t be productive anyway. Thus, you need to allow yourself to take some time off occasionally.

Every job position has several days to take time off if you’re sick, need a mental health day, are grieving, or are experiencing other problems. You’re allowed to use them – and you should! Planning your time and requesting time off from work should be encouraged and valued.

So, if you’re sick, burned out, or limping your way to the office – respect yourself enough to ask for some well-deserved time off!

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Technology gets smarter every day. A simple Google search can offer many online tools to help you be more organized and productive. Have you considered using these tools to make life easier for yourself?

Here are some of our choices of great virtual tools:

• Plan your time wisely: Notion, Google Calendar, and Remember the Milk.
• Keep your inbox clean: Clean Email, Email Finder, and Sanebox.
• Put your phone away: Honeygain, Forest, and Stay Focused.
• Control your emotions: Calm, Headspace, and The Mindfulness App.

The internet may seem overwhelming, but we encourage you to use it to simplify your personal and professional life!

Discover an Exciting Hobby

Participating in your hobbies during your favorite pastimes can tremendously improve your happiness levels, confidence, mood, and overall well-being. Do you have any hobbies? How about finding a new one?

It doesn’t matter if you enjoy reading books, boxing, swimming, watching movies, making ceramics, going on hikes, or attending theatre plays – filling your free time with activities that bring you happiness and peace is critical to finding a work-life balance.

Having multiple hobbies can make you more enthusiastic about spending time outside work, leading to an improved work-life balance and increased happiness!

Be brave and experiment with new activities to find what works best for you. If you’re nervous about trying something new, invite a friend or a family member. Imagine how fun it’d be to participate in a hobby with someone you care about!

Practice Mindfulness

According to the Mayo Clinic, mindfulness meditation, known simply as mindfulness, is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment without interpretation or judgment.

The Mayo Clinic suggests practicing mindfulness can help relax the body and help minimize sensations like pain, anxiety, anger, depression, and stress. Doesn’t that sound lovely?

In the context of work, mindfulness allows you to pay attention to your feelings and helps you learn how to notice when you might be suppressing a need. It’s hard to return to a task after you notice your stomach rumbling or your head aching.

It’s important to notice what your body tells you; mindfulness is a great way to do that. After you meet your needs, you can return to work better than ever!

Talk To Your Manager

How well do you perform at work? You’re likely doing just fine. But what’s more likely is that you think that you’re underperforming and running behind. And that stresses you out, leading to longer work hours and less sleep.

The easiest way to tackle these anxieties is to talk to your manager. Yes, you may not be friends, but it’s your manager’s responsibility to monitor your performance, and they can let you know if there’s anything you should improve on. 

Your manager might tell you to prioritize your work differently or suggest ways to outsource more mundane tasks. Maybe there’s money in the budget to hire some extra help? You won’t know if you don’t ask!

Work With A Therapist

If you’re struggling to manage your life, seeking professional help can be valuable. No, you don’t have to go to a doctor. A simple conversation with a therapist or a life coach can help you get to the bottom of your issues.

They say that speaking about your problems makes them smaller. That’s precisely what life coaches and therapists are for. Therapy benefits many because people can learn ways to manage their stress, tools to relax, and other ways to improve their lives.

Therapy tends to be expensive, ranging from $65 per hour to $250. However, if your employer offers health insurance, ask around – perhaps a certain number of therapy sessions can be paid for by the health insurance.

Don’t Forget To Unplug

The pandemic taught us that working from home is possible. Sadly, this new skill has caused the lines between being “at work” and “not at work” to cross over.

Before we started working from home, communication between colleagues happened at their mutual workplace during defined working hours. Nowadays, many people still check their work emails after hours and are available.

This greatly messes with the work-life balance. So, after your work ends, turn off your work devices. And keep them off until the following day. Your brain will thank you for reducing screen time and relaxing!

Respect Your Time

Unplugging is closely related to respecting your time. Is your boss paying for all those hours you spend working after work? Are you compensated for coming in earlier or having lunch at your desk?

Yes, your hours at work are worth the money. But your personal hours are also valuable. If you’re able, don’t come to work early and don’t stay after hours. If they don’t pay for your time, don’t spend it at work.

It can be challenging, but make an effort not to bring work-related thoughts home. Your thoughts aren’t work, but they can still cause stress and affect your mental health. 

Take Control Of Your Life

Now that you know how important a healthy work-life balance is, it’s up to you to take control of your life. You’re the only one responsible for your happiness and well-being.

Don’t let this big responsibility go to waste, and prioritize yourself. It doesn’t matter if it’s an additional source of income with Honeygain or taking up a new hobby; you deserve the chance to enjoy your life. Don’t miss out on that!