Work-life balance is increasing becoming a mirage in the face of stifling modern work demands. The ever growing competitiveness of the corporate world and, of course, the standards set for success by the society leave little room for employees to have a life outside work.
The result is a crumbling society with so many anomalies hitherto unheard of.
Unarguably, coping with family life/social life and work is seemingly daunting. But it’s something you can work around and bring under a firm control.
Ironically, it is this life outside work that holds the laughter and smiles capable of igniting the latent energy in you and catapulting you to the peak of your career.
This however may never happen!
Why?
Because you always bury yourself in your work, neglecting your loved ones. This is obviously anti-self.
It’s time all of these changed. I mean you can spend lesser time at work and still get a higher productivity. This is how to do it.
1. Set your mind on your goals
Your first assignment is to convince yourself of the importance of having a robust life outside work. Sincerely, work mostly doesn’t last a lifetime but friends and family do. This is a goal you must achieve.
Let your psyche see the positivity of well-wishers around you, as against being in the midst of all sorts of competitors: the peacock, the chameleon, the parrot etc.
Even when you share a bottle of wine with colleagues at work, I’m almost certain you do with utmost cautiousness. How does that compare with the abundant recklessness you exhibit while with family and friends?
Your inner self needs to understand all of this and more. They are the prerequisites to achieving a good work-life balance.
2. Cut out distractions
Now is the time to review your work. You need to evaluate your activities at work, probably, in the last two months. Most likely is that you work overtime or take work home. Neither of these is healthy for a robust work-life balance.
You need to assess how you use your smartphone. It is a major culprit. It distracts you and help you waste time except you use it wisely.
So does the television.
Even magazines and newspapers can become distractions if they are not helping your work. The fact is, you alone can appropriately prune back these things since you alone know what is helping your work and what is disturbing it.
Go on, do the weeding now.
3. Adopt time-saving alternatives
At this point, you have to reschedule your daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly activities. Thank God for technology, time saving has become more than ever easy. Even if you want to further your career through additional qualifications, you don’t need to spend ages in classrooms.
The internet is flooded with online courses. Virtually any course can now be studied online. Today, unlike before, online nursing programs are available. And it’s a matter of time before we have online medicine programs too.
So, even though you’re busy, you can still can pursue your dreams without sacrificing your businesses/work.
You can also use reminders to help you save time. Once you do what should be done when it should be done, you’re sure there isn’t any time wastage.
4. Allot time purposefully
As part of effort to save time and be more productive at the same time, you need to organise you days. And your friends and family must feature prominently.
Plan them into your evenings and weekend.
If you face the ups and downs of this world alone, chances are they’ll break you. Allow your loved ones to give you support.
From time to time, make sure you send them messages, and call them regularly too. Go to park and other places of relaxation with them.
When convenient, visit them and create time to host them in your home as well.