Creating a healthy work-life balance is essential to your success as well as your overall well-being. It is important to remember that you can be successful whilst still having the time to see friends and family, sleep and eat properly, enjoy your hobbies, as well as not constantly worry about work when you are in your personal time.
Create a separation
If your employer offers you a work phone ensure you utilise the opportunity and keep your devices completely separate. What is on your work phone and what you do on your personal phone should never interchange. This way, when you are in your work zone, you can silence your personal life and vice versa. I tend not to use my personal phone in the office as it creates numerous distractions which means that I am less productive.
Switching off on weekends
I often get asked how to switch off at weekends and the answer is, I don’t take my work phone out with me as it is time I get to spend with my family. I keep it in my work bag to prevent me from checking it. The evolution of tech has brought with it the desire to respond to digital communication instantly, if you see a notification appear on your phone you automatically feel the need to respond. This is where you reap the rewards of having separate work and personal devices. If you receive an email notification on your personal phone during your downtime, you’ll end up replying or at the very least, the content of the email will be playing on your mind. Essentially, this means you’re working 24 hours a day.
Advice on striving for the perfect balance
Create a plan each day of the tasks you must complete so that as soon as you sit down at your desk you know what you need to do. Setting daily goals and ensuring you hit them will give structure to your week. You’ll know what you need to do and manage your time to complete it. Then, at the end of the day, you’ll know you’ve hit your daily target and be ready to switch off when you get home. Without this structure, your work life can become chaotic and spill into your personal time.
Time out during the day
It is incredibly important from a mental health and productivity perspective to have time off during the day. Whether it’s going for a walk, going to the gym, or leaving the office for a coffee, having a break will make a massive difference in avoiding daily burnout and help you achieve peak concentration.
Taking a break each day has been instrumental in my success, my least productive days are those that I spend glued to my desk swallowed by work.
Helping you switch off
Having a hobby gives you something to look forward to and helps you switch your focus from work to personal. I look forward to my time at the gym and when I get in the zone, I can switch off from work completely.
Being able to switch off from work during downtime can be challenging but implementing the above will help you utilise your productive work hours as well as give you the ability to switch off during your personal time.
For advice on how to create a healthy work-life balance, reach out to Nicky Harris at [email protected]
