Posted by Everything begins with a strong desire and a commitment to make a difference. To survive and ensure that there is sanity in both the personal and professional life of an individual, there needs to be a concerted effort to achieve the ever-elusive work- personal life balance. In today’s “do more with less” competitive reality, how can we manage both careers and families, and still feel satisfied with both?
All that is required is the determination to try and break old habits to begin making baby steps towards balancing both lives. Here are tips that help you start managing time at work and that which you’re your personal life.
- Everything begins with a plan.
Sit down, make a list of tasks that needs to get done in both the office and in the home front. Prioritize everything that is office-related, set up realistic timelines and strike away whatever has been completed for the day. This will also help you identify areas of concern and thereby help them get sorted out faster. Do not neglect all that needs to be completed in the domestic front; have this also organized systematically.
- Learn to prioritize.
This is perhaps one of the most crucial steps that most of us tend to miss, and this step plays a huge role in achieving the much-needed balance in work/personal life. Now that there is a list that gets drawn daily having to prioritize them based on which takes precedence does not become too tough to handle. Work with your daily task list to first include time-consuming tasks so that those get knocked off the list early. Do what works for you, simply ensure that you don’t fight against time and end up late at work while being hassled about your inability to complete your tasks. Remember your personal life include aspects such as health, fitness, relationships, and extended family are priorities as well.
So sometimes if there are some incomplete tasks on a day, it can fall on top of the list for the next day. Ensure that you balance pending tasks the following day, this could be official or personal.
- Set up boundaries.
This goes hand in hand with prioritizing what’s important- some of us tend to try and finish up everything on our list even if it can be pushed back a little. Boundaries are essential to ensure that you do not get carried away doing all that is on hand. Do away with distractions and stick to a specific schedule wherever you are, and these will indeed lead to increased productivity and a better grip in handling work commitments.
- Learn to say a NO.
Which one of us does not need wanting to be liked and to please the people around us? We often get ourselves into trouble by making plans or taking on additional work simply because we want to say yes. This while we are all aware that we are hard-pressed for time and it will be a disaster if it has been taken on. Deep down we know we don’t have the time to make it happen but for some reason, we still say yes. But NO, saying a NO can be liberating too. Try it!
- Surround yourself with charged and positive people.
Clear out all negative aspects of your life, both at office and home. At work, if there lurks around someone hell-bent on shooting down anything you say it is a good idea to stay away from such people. Observe resources around you who are efficient, make time to interact with them to imbibe all their good practices. Striving to achieve the right balance between work and personal life is influenced by many such changes that you make to your personality.
- Always stay energized.
Exercise and be fit- it is the best medicine to develop the right physical and mental mindset. Get out every day and find a particular time of the day to get some exercise and energize yourself.
When mistakes happen or when you fall back into a predictable pattern, acknowledge it and be aware that you took a step or two backward, but make sure you let go of the negative feelings and start over again. Take breaks now and then and allow yourself to start again to work on mistakes that have been committed earlier. Never beat yourself up.
- Never underestimate the power of communication.
There may be occasions wherein you are unable to deliver requirements, and such events will, therefore, warrant a detailed explanation for what went wrong. While this can help at work, on the domestic front gaining empathy from family can happen only when information or challenges faced are communicated as and when needed.
To conclude- Always remember to be proud of the work you do. If you had a good month and managed to balance your work and life, reward yourself. Life deserves to be enjoyed.
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