by Grace Barone
Work-life balance. This concept seems so easy, yet so hard for many working people. Recently the price of living has been quickly increasing, meaning people are working more and doing less. This is why many people are trying to figure out how to balance the responsibilities of having a job and having a life. In this blog, we'll discuss how people can manage and maintain a healthy balance of personal life and work life.
Figuring out How to Balance Your Life
There is a lot that goes into being a human. It's honestly kind of a lot of upkeep if you want to be living a "good" life. Of course, living a good life means something different to everyone, but there are probably a few main points that everyone agrees with. Staying healthy, being happy, and having money. At a glance, those three things seem pretty basic and easy to achieve. If you really think about it though, being able to have all three of those things at the same time can be a little hard to maintain.
Staying healthy sounds easy enough. Just make sure you go to bed early enough, go to the gym a few times a week, and cut back on take-out. To stay happy, maybe you like to paint. So, you join a painting class that meets every week. Obviously, if you want to have money, you need a job. Maybe you're doing really well in the job department and you just got promoted. But the pay increase came along with more responsibilities and longer hours.
Now you find yourself coming home from work later than usual. This new position is causing you a lot more stress. You're so exhausted when you get home, that you don't have the energy to cook. Let alone go to the gym. Your evenings now consist of Doordash and starting at various screens. You haven't picked up a paintbrush in months because you just don't have time. You now find yourself in a void of discontent because is this really your life? All work and no play? Now you understand what really made Jack a dull boy.
If this scenario is sounding familiar to you, you're not alone. More than 60% of employees in the U.S. feel like their management of work and personal life is not balanced.
Managing Work and Home
This doesn't have to be how your life ends up. Making sure you're managing your work life and home life may not always be easy, but if you make a point of making proper time for both you can manage a healthy balance of both. Having a career is very time-consuming, it's not uncommon for people to make working their number one priority in life. This, of course, is because you need to be somewhat financially stable if you want to be able to eat, have a car, have a place to live, be able to buy yourself and your family things, and maybe go on a vacation.
Work can sometimes end up coming before anything else. The issue that happens with this is, you're working so hard to make the money you need, that you either forget the reason you're working so hard, or you're working so hard, that you don't even have time to do anything else. This is not healthy. Yes, you should take pride in your work and be passionate about what you're doing. But it shouldn't be all-consuming. Not to mention, the recent trend of working remotely has blurred some of the boundaries of work and personal time.
Business Owners and Their Part
Both employees and business owners should know what a healthy work-life balance looks like. If you're a business owner, you should make sure your employees have the ability to make time for life outside of work. There has been an epidemic of staffing issues throughout every industry. Being short-staffed can sound like a death sentence to someone trying to prioritize their personal life more. Working at a job with demanding hours, no flexibility and intimidating hire-ups will cause major resentment and burnout. 95% of human resource executives say that burnout is one of the leading causes of employee turnover. There are many things that leaders can do, to ensure a healthy work culture is maintained during times of being short-handed. This will help any business owner with their efforts of allowing for a work-life balance for their employees. Which will simultaneously help with high turnover rates and being continuously short-staffed.
Achieving the Perfect Balance
Here are some tips that will help you maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Set Boundaries:
Establish clear boundaries between work and personal life. Define specific working hours and stick to them, allowing yourself to disconnect from work responsibilities during non-working hours. If you have set hours at your job make sure you're not doing too much over-time. Of course, if you need to stay late to help clean up or finish a project, or you're saving up and could use a few more hours here and there, that's one thing. But, if you're consistently staying hours past your scheduled work times, set clear boundaries with your job about your working hours. This is especially important if you work from home. Just because your workspace and home space are the same doesn't mean you constantly need to be working.
Prioritize Self-Care:
Make time for self-care activities, such as exercise, meditation, hobbies, or spending quality time with loved ones. Taking care of your physical and mental health helps reduce stress and promotes a healthier work-life balance. You don't need to go extreme for it to make a difference in your mental health. Going for a walk and getting some fresh air throughout the day, reading your kids an extra book at bedtime, taking a bubble bath once a week. Little things can really make a difference and help combat burnout.
Learn to Delegate:
Delegate tasks at work and at home when possible. Sharing responsibilities with colleagues can help lighten your workload, freeing up time for other activities. Your fellow employees should be your teammates. One person should not be responsible for so many different things that they can't manage at one time. Proper delegation of responsibilities and tasks based on employees' strengths makes the work day much easier, and in turn, makes it easier for someone to go home and still have enough mental and physical energy to do something regarding their personal life.
Unplug Regularly:
Create designated periods to unplug from electronic devices, especially outside of working hours. Avoid checking work emails or messages during personal time to ensure mental relaxation. You can also just put your phone on do not disturb, or silence specific apps or notifications. You're not helping yourself balance your work and personal life if your mind and attention are still on work when you're supposed to be focused on your home life. Again, if you're working remotely this is especially important. Make sure your work computer is closed when you're at home not working.
Plan and Organize:
Efficiently plan and organize your day to make the most of your time. Utilize tools like calendars, to-do lists, and productivity apps to stay on top of tasks, avoid procrastination, and create space for leisure activities. Organizing your life like this will help you make time for everything. When you accurately plan your days or weeks, you ensure that nothing gets moved down the priority list and you're giving your work and your home equal attention.
Assist your Small Businesses Efforts in Work-Life Balancing
If you're a small business owner, having a work-life balance can be even harder for you. Your life is your business and your business is your life. One way you can help your own efforts of having a healthy work-life balance is by arming your business with modern and state-of-the-art tools. Having an up-to-date POS system can give you extra confidence that your staff has the tools to make the work day as efficient as possible. Nowadays your POS system can automate your inventory, help with marketing efforts, and even do your sales tax automatically.
If you're interested in updating your POS system to make the work days less stressful, visit getvms.com or fill out the form below. We can help your business accept every form of payment and customize your device so it fits the exact needs of your specific business.