Ten tips for a better work-life balance, 7 proven tips to help you maintain a better work-life balance
If you
are happy working every hour that God sends you , all right for you. If not, here are some tips on how to
improve your well-being along with your career.
With
the increasingly accelerating economy and changing lifestyles, everyone wants
to give their families a comfortable life. Such thoughts provoke the workaholic
in them. Eventually,
the lines between work and family life become blurred. Even if one achieves fulfillment in
their work, they are unable to maintain relationships or spend time with the
family. One
must understand that an individual can achieve success
without compromising personal time. It's time to learn the balance between
work and life.
1. Get away from the email.
Earlier this year, a report circulated that a
French law prohibited employees from checking work emails after 6 pm. It was not true, but it fit with our
idea that the French were a nation of bums that favored the long lunches, the five-day
weekends and a lot of slapping and tickling while
the rosbifs
were still working
all night But maybe there should be a law against sending
emails from bosses outside of work hours? "It would be impossible to
comply," says Leeds-based life coach Melanie Allen. "But companies should think
about productivity. Is this
relentless checking emails and social networks by employees increases
productivity or just a useless stress?
2. Just say no
If it
is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your bosses, with all due
respect, increasingly weak and incessant demands, and you are the kind of
person who, as a result, overloads, try to take advantage the power of no. Allen advises: "If you tend to
say yes without thinking when they ask you to do something extra, say so. Do not respond immediately. Say that you will ask the person
again, then Use that time to think clearly if you must say
yes or no. If you
want to say yes, fine. But if
you want to say no, say no and keep saying it. Do not justify your actions or make excuses. There is no need to be nasty or rude . " The Mental Health Foundation
recommends that when work demands are too high , you should talk. Your role model here could well be
Eric Cantona : in the movie by Ken Loach Searching to Eric, he instructs an indifferent
Englishman about the power of saying no. Or rather " do not "
3. Work smarter, not harder
There
is a generalized opinion that I should work more and sleep less. Often, Margaret Thatcher takes as a model to follow: she only needed four
hours of sleep and look what she did to the country! These days they call piracy dream: to train your mind and body to need less
sleep. But
that trend is totally wrong, argues the American scholar Matt Might in his
work-life blog. Think of it this way, he suggests: "The equation for work
is: output = unit of work / hour × hours worked . 'Work more, sleep less' people tend
to concentrate too much on the hours worked that are part of the equation. The part of the equation of the unit
of work / hour - productivity - is equally important (if not more ) " . In his advice on the balance between
work and family life, the Foundation for Mental Health advises : " Work intelligently, not long". does it mean in practice? "This implies the priorization tight - allowing yourself a certain amount of time per task -. And not trying to get caught up in
less productive activities, such as unstructured meetings that tend to take a
lot of time. "We've all been there, wishing we were not stuck in the same
room as a bunch of fatuous boasters, or, like Michael Foley expresses in his
magnificent book The Age of Absurdity, "the colleagues who speak at length
in each meeting, in a high and confident tone that seems critical,
independence, but never deviate from the official line . "
Clearly,
however, many of us are not working intelligently, but, and there is no easy
way to say it, stupid. British
productivity remains low, while the number of hours we work exceeds that of
some of our neighbors Europeans . One result of this is the grim set of
statistics set by the Mental Health Foundation: when working long hours, 27% of
employees feel depressed, 34% feel anxious and 58% feel irritable.
4. Leave work at work.
Imagine
that you are about to leave your workplace, possibly to have a cocktail on TGI Fridays, even if it
is really Tuesday. Before
doing so, write a note that lists the pending tasks or any work you have in
mind. "Then
turn off the diary, turn off your PC, store the message and leave it. " Allen advises. "Focus on the image of closing
the diary, saving the message or turning off your PC." If this is not possible, she recommends what she calls a technique
to stop the breath. What
does that mean? "Take
a slow breath and acknowledge that you 're gone. If you can not do it at the door of
the office, when you are going to take a train or a bus and the door
closes, imagine that this is the end of your workday. Or if you are in your car, sit on the
steering wheel for a short time before starting the engine. "
Closure
is an important issue among those who offer
advice for a healthy balance between work and life: the Mental Health
Foundation says that if you take work home with you, you should try to limit it
to a certain area of your home. able to close the door on her.
Messy room
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Simply leave it alone. You do not have time to order. Photography: Sarah Lee
5. Forget about perfection.
The mandate to save work for the day
sounds good, but wait . Surely it is not as simple as that. After work, is Gives account of that he has not done something as
good as he could. You put
your heel and you do it right again. Is it so bad? "Well , " says Allen, "Some people find it very difficult to let things go." I call it 'good enough versus great
enough'. Sometimes,
if you work excessively, you must tell yourself explicitly that what you have
done may not be perfect, but it is good enough. "He cites the example of a
woman who returns to work full time and finds that her partner does not wash
clothes like he used to; simply stack the destroyed shirts
with their sleeves still upside down on the radiators. "But she has to let him go because the
alternative is to take on more work when she's already stressed. What I am saying is, do not put more
pressure on yourself when it is not necessary - at work or at home. " He says Netmums mothers who work on their top 10 tips
for reconciling the life. " Give yourself a rest "It does not matter if your home
is not impeccable and your children do not receive super nutritious food,
cooked from scratch every day."
6. Do not be a martyr
"There
is also the tendency I find when someone will say, 'I have to do everything
around here,'" says Allen. "Feeling like a martyr gives some people great
pleasure, they feel powerful and busy." And what's wrong with that? "It's worth thinking about how irritating it is
for other people. The
reason why most people are martyrs is because they want the approval of others; "Whether they realize the martyrdom, just doing all the work,
it's exasperating to be close, they could stop behaving that way. "
7. Relieve adrenaline.
Do you
need adrenaline all the time, whether in the gym, in the sack or in the coal layer of paid
employment? "You
really should watch that," says Allen. "You need to ask yourself how
well your life is going. What
often happens is that those who get hooked on adrenaline jump from one race to
another, from one task to another, from work to the gym. How is it so that your family and friends are close? It's not very funny, especially when
you crash, which inevitably you will. "
8. Think about retirement
"Some
people are committed to the work, especially if they are self-employed,"
says Allen. "But
I make you wonder: if work is the only thing you do, then what happens if you
lose your job or if your business fails? I do not underestimate the
difficulties of putting work back into its box in a moment of austerity, but I try to
encourage my clients to think about it this way: for most people there will be
gaps in employment. What
are you doing then? And
what happens when you retire? Sure, you can still work part-time,
which I think is a good thing, but you'll need other interests in life when
work becomes less important. "
Are you
talking about hobbies? Collect
stamps, maybe ? "No, that sounds old-fashioned. But we all need interests that we can
turn to. We all
need something we can trust that does not work. " The Mental Health Foundation believes
that overworked people should try to reduce stress through exercise, relaxation or hobbies. Throwing darts at an image of your
boss is a satisfying way to cultivate all three stressors at the same time.
9. Make them wait
One way
to avoid being always available is to make clear to your colleagues that you
will respond to emails within 24 or 48 hours. "As long as you're reliable to
answer the end, it's amazing how little this bothers people," Oliver
argues. Burkeman , author of Help! How to be a little happier and do a little more. Indeed, but text messages are based
on different parameters: sending a text is expecting a quick and even
immediate response. But
fear not, remember point two, just say no. You should make it clear that you are
not available for business consultations outside of working hours. It is true that it is easier said
than done.
10. Set your own rules
"You
really need to find your own balance between work and personal life, probably
with the help of others," says Allen. "The important thing is to
ignore the homework , the homework that come from other people or from
your internalization
of the
mentality of the the rest. You have to trust your own intuition.
We are
witnessing a generational change in our attitudes
towards work. The
Millennials (those
born after 1980) are more likely than their elders to blur the lines between
work and hogar.Alrededor 81% of
them think they should set their own work patterns. For some, that could involve virtual
meetings (via Skype, for example) instead of actual meetings, the opportunity
to work from home when they want, and, ideally, a non-recrimination clause in
their contract that would be activated when they inform their Boss to push him
when she asks them to work next Sunday.
Well, we can all dream. What is viable is, of course, another issue.
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7 proven tips to help you maintain a better work-life balance
1.
Set the
time to disconnect work: with a lot of competition in the work environment,
everyone tends to work extra hours to finish their objectives and goals. By
making goal achievement a priority, people are likely to waste their good
health and time in office. Set a specific time each night to
leave the office. Having a bus or train to take at a
specific time will keep you in the routine.
2.
Priorities:
focus on your priorities. If you are single and dedicated to
your work, make weekend social life a priority. Do not let
work impose your personal space and get upset over a fun weekend. Work
diligently during the weekdays without loosening. It
deviate from their priorities will result in a failure and
will take a step away from achieving your goals.
3.
Exercise
discipline: the technology at hand, all tend to check emails work and
reply even after finishing business hours. This habit will
keep employees under pressure and chaining them to their work. Exercise
self - discipline changing work emails and calls
to a certain time of night to create a personal moment.
4.
Let
them wait: with globalization, each office has offshore clients with different
time zones of work. This is creating a disturbance in the rest
time. Make it clear to your colleagues and clients that you
will respond to emails within 24 hours and keep your promise. Create
a sense of respect among your colleagues and customers.
5.
Work
smarter: take some time to complete each task. In
this way, he will focus only on important tasks and stop worrying about
unproductive work. People tend to work several hours expecting
good results. In the end, they lose their precious dream that
leaves them irritated, anxious and, at times, depressed.
6.
Concentrate
on yourself: staying healthy is the basic need to keep work and personal life
happy. Take time every day to exercise and eat healthy. A healthy
body has a fresh mind that will help you to function better. Take some time
on the weekends to dedicate yourself to your hobby to rejuvenate and
revitalize.
7.
Take a break:
focus on your strengths and finish your work on time. Feeding
a network of colleagues and clients will help you complete your tasks. After
completing your assignments and working hard to finalize a project,
you need to spend time with your loved ones. Take a break
from work and vacations with your family.