How To Maintain a Perfect Work-life Balance?
Striking a balance between work and personal life can be difficult, but it is critical. But how can this be accomplished effectively?
The pandemic redefined the concept of the workplace. Our productivity was no longer associated with a physical office space. Instead due to many of us opting in for remote and hybrid working, workplaces became extremely accessible to us, allowing us to reduce commuting times and work from the luxury of our own homes at a time we preferred.
As a new entrant into the workforce during this period, I thoroughly enjoyed these benefits. However, I was also able to observe a flipside. With remote working, we witnessed the lines between our homes and workspaces blur. For many of us, this meant constantly juggling tasks between home and work, leaving us exhausted and overworked.
Now as we approach the post-pandemic era, our office spaces are reopening, and are facilitating work from home and in the office. I began to wonder, regardless of where we work, how we can move forward and strike a balance between our work and personal lives.
My curiosity prompted me to conduct research, which provided me with valuable information about work-life balance, its effects on us, and the steps we can take to maintain it. These aspects will be discussed throughout the course of this article.
Shortcuts For The Busy Reader
What Is Work-life Balance?
We essay various roles in our lives from employee to parent, child, friend, supervisor etc. As you can see, these roles fall into one of two domains: work and personal. Each of these domains presents its own sets of demands, requiring our attention but not at the expense of the other domain.
It is then up to us to create a balance between personal and work roles such that there is an equal division of time and energy. Additionally, we must be satisfied with our performance to the demands of each role and also ensure that there are little to no conflicts or clashes between the personal and work roles. It is only then we are termed to have created a work-life balance.
It is important to note, however, that there is no template for what an ideal work-life balance looks like. Each person’s definition of work-life balance varies according to their values, goals and their priorities as well. For example, one person may define it as striking a balance between work and family, whereas another may define it as work and leisure activities.
What Are the Effects of Work-life Balance?
When we examine the work-life balance, there is a plethora of research that examines its implications surrounding our health, personal life and work aspects. In this section, we will look at some benefits of work-life balance and the effects of poor balance.
Having a good work-life balance is associated with lower anxiety and depression, better well-being, psychological strain, a better quality of life and satisfaction with one’s family life. A balanced work-life increases your productivity, commitment and dedication to your work. It also is associated with lower turnover intention. These factors help in increasing your engagement as an employee and make you feel more satisfied with your job.
Poor work-life balance on the other hand could be quite detrimental for us. Research suggests that those who do not have an effective work-life balance are more likely to report being depressed, anxious, and having higher psychological stress. They are also more likely to report higher health-related problems and experience lower mental well-being and sleep deprivation. Furthermore, it is also associated with lower job performance, career setbacks and increased turnover rates.
Steps To Maintain a Work-life Balance
Maintaining a work-life balance is viewed as a goal that, once achieved, should never be re-assessed. A balanced life, on the other hand, can only be created via continuous self-reflection and reassessment of our priorities. Based on research, here are some simple practices you can implement at work to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
a. Identify Non-negotiable Tasks
One of the first steps to creating a balance is identifying non-negotiable tasks. These refer to activities or events that are from either the work, family or personal spheres that you are unwilling to sacrifice or compromise upon. These could be in the form of your daily workout session, your child’s weekly sports meetup, dinner time with the family or a monthly employee meeting.
We have all encountered times when work demands can interfere with the time we have set aside for something personal. By identifying our non-negotiable tasks and communicating with our employers, we can prioritise personal events and structure our routine around them, working towards maintaining work-life balance to the best of our ability.
b. Take Breaks Between Work
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" - English Proverb
As the above saying goes, taking breaks from work is an important part of creating a work-life balance. We are all programmed to associate constant and long working hours with no breaks with productivity.
That, however, is not the case.
John Pencavel an economics professor from Stanford University studied the effect of breaks on productivity. He found that when an individual works for more than 50 hours a week, their productivity per hour decreases. He further showed that any additional work after 55 hours, is meaningless.
Besides this, taking breaks throughout the day can help you de-stress and recharge for the tasks ahead. They also help in improving mental well being and job performance and productivity. Furthermore, taking a break and stepping away from work can help you gain a new perspective on the assignment that you are working on.
We can try to incorporate breaks into our work schedule now that we understand the importance of taking breaks and productivity. If you believe that you require a very controlled break, the Pomodoro technique may be of assistance.
Using this strategy, you set aside a work window of 25 minutes to complete a task without distractions. After the 25 minutes, you can take a short break of up to 2-3 minutes before returning to your work window. You may take a longer break after completing four working windows.
This method may assist you in streamlining your work, making you feel less overwhelmed and more productive. Furthermore, the breaks allow you to unwind and take some time for yourself before starting the new window, allowing you to strike a balance between work and me time.
c. Create Communication Boundaries
Do you have the habit of checking your work email even when you are on vacation or at weekends? Even if it makes you feel productive in the short term, it could be even more harmful in the long run.
We previously stated that, as a result of remote working during the pandemic, the lines between work and family time have become increasingly blurred. In addition, a recent survey found that 70% of employees now work on weekends, and 45 % work more than they did before the pandemic. This is because remote working not only increases the number of communication channels for employees, allowing for flexible work hours but also makes disconnecting from work difficult.
However, being accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week through technology might make you feel as if you are continuously at work, increasing your workload and making it impossible to stop thinking about work. This can also cause anticipatory stress, which occurs when you wait for a message from work even after work hours and on a day off.
We understand that communication with employees is based on organisational policy and can vary from one to the next; however, as an employee, you can set a non-negotiable boundary regarding work hours.
Setting up an automated email to respond to emails received after hours could be a good first step. These emails could contain information on the earliest you may respond to the emails, ensuring the other person does not need to wait for your response. If you set rigid communication limits, it may appear odd to your supervisors and coworkers, but they will gradually learn to work around it.
d. Learn To Say “No”
We associate saying no with disappointing our employers or coworkers. However, saying no is necessary to establish healthy boundaries.
When you are passionate about your job, setting boundaries becomes critical. Why you might ask? According to research, if you are passionate about your work, you are more likely to be exploited by your employers. In other words, if you are enthusiastic about your job, employers are more likely to allow you to work unpaid, perform tasks that are not part of your job description, and work on weekends.
Although saying no may make us feel as if we are passing up incredible opportunities, it is critical that you only say yes to the experiences that truly matter to you. Furthermore, when we say no, we create a healthy boundary around our work, which aids in maintaining balance with other domains and improves our overall well-being.
Work-life balance is extremely crucial in today’s 24/7 work culture. Although organisational policies play a key role in assisting us in creating a balanced life, as employees we could take a few steps to balance our work and personal lives, for those around us and most importantly for our well-being and mental health.
References Aruldoss, A., Berube Kowalski, K., Travis, M., & Parayitam, S. (2021). The relationship between work–life balance and job satisfaction: moderating role of training and development and work environment. Journal Of Advances In Management Research, 19(2), 240-271. doi: 10.1108/jamr-01-2021-0002 Haar, J., Russo, M., Suñe, A., & Ollier-Malaterre, A. (2014). Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures. Journal Of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 361-373. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2014.08.010 Pencavel, J. (2014). The Productivity of Working Hours. The Economic Journal, 125(589), 2052-2076. doi: 10.1111/ecoj.12166 Taşdelen-Karçkay, A., & Bakalım, O. (2017). The mediating effect of work–life balance on the relationship between work–family conflict and life satisfaction. Australian Journal Of Career Development, 26(1), 3-13. doi: 10.1177/1038416216682954 Yadav, A., Pandita, D., & Singh, S. (2022). Work-life integration, job contentment, employee engagement and its impact on organizational effectiveness: a systematic literature review. Industrial And Commercial Training, 54(3), 509-527. doi: 10.1108/ict-12-2021-0083 |