Timini’s relationship with the woman of his dreams is about to end in tears because he’s too busy to attend to her needs and offer quality time even when he works from home. What Timini is yet to get the hang of is having a work-life balance. “You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home (personal) is in shambles.”
What Does Work-Life Balance Mean?
Well, you might proceed to ask, what does work-life balance mean?
HRZone defines work-life balance as the level of prioritisation between personal and professional activities in an individual’s life and the level to which activities related to their job are present in the home.
One of the perks of having a remote job is the flexibility that comes with it and the opportunity to maximize time. But, it’s sad to know that many still struggle with how to effectively get good work done without affecting personal and family time.
It is not a strange scene to find a tech bro sitting within the confines of his workspace at home, tapping on the computer for hours and neglecting quality time with others around them. Many even refuse to take breaks and naps for themselves with the excuse of “I’m busy with work.” The issue here is that the problem doesn’t lie with the employer but with you as the employee.
Traditionally, working a 9-5 job gives room for clearly defined work hours. But, bringing the job home and being a remote worker requires a more intentional effort in ensuring that one doesn’t excel at work at the detriment of the home.
3 Work-life Balance Importance
As important as work can be, living a healthy life is much more important. This is why it is essential that every working adult finds ways to strike a balance between excelling at work and in life.
So, how important is work-life balance?
1. Reduces stress and burnout to the barest minimum:
The more one engages in working like a horse in a race, the easier it is to burn out. Research by Mental Health Foundation shows that in the UK, 74 percent of people have in the past year, felt so stressed that they become overwhelmed or unable to cope.
Chronic stress, one of the leading death causes, needs proper tackling by creating an efficient work-life balance. You can achieve this when you don’t take more jobs than your capability.
2. Work-life balance leads to fewer health complications:
Less stress means better health. Having to sit all day in front of the computer does more damage than we think.
So, you need to create a work-life balance schedule which enables you to take breaks in between work and engage in other self-care activities (eating a balanced diet, exercising, taking naps, etc.) that improve both mental and physical health.
In doing this, visits to the hospital for health complications will reduce, which assures a longer life span.
3. Increases productivity and fulfilment:
When you get stressed or burned out from having to work all day, there’s hardly room to step back and think creatively. This hampers your capacity to be productive at work.
Also, your fulfilment in life is deeply affected as work has cost a lot of people their families and relationships because they have to make ends meet and outshine their counterparts in the tech ecosystem.
Bothered on how to go about maintaining a work-life balance?
I’ll be sharing a few work-life balance examples and tips.
- Take breaks in between work hours.
- Engage your breaks productively by talking with friends, hitting the gym, taking naps, etc.
- Ensure proper planning of the work-life balance schedule and maintain strict adherence to the time.
- Maintain proper time management.
- Do not let work hours spill into personal time.
- Practice meditation.
- Create a healthy work environment
Who says you can’t be a pro at work and in your personal life too? All you need to do is find a work-life balance schedule that works perfectly for you and stick to it. Trust me, it’s perfectly worth it.
