It can be difficult to balance work and home life. Sometimes work can become all-consuming. Not being able to balance your life can make some people feel drained and depressed. But fear not! These tips will hopefully help you lead a more balanced life.
Just Say No
One way to avoid doing work outside of work is to not be available 24/7 to your boss. It’s good to help out every once in a while, but if you make a habit of it then people will expect it. Learning how to say no is an essential part of removing yourself from constantly being at work and balancing that with your home life. Even though saying yes is nice to help out a colleague you need to remember that it’s important to say no at times.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Try and think to yourself “what would make my job easier?” Then try and come up with solutions. It’s not about the number of hours you work, it’s about the quality of your work. A lot of people live in the “sleep less, work more” trend, but this is all wrong. Productivity in the UK is at an all-time low even though many countries in Europe actually work less than us. Just shows that all those long lunches, coffee breaks and five day weekends could really pay off.
Leave Work at Work
If you leave work and you’re still thinking about work when you get home, this can be a problem. Try writing down anything work related you have in your head before leaving the office. Once it’s written down it’s okay to forget about it overnight as you’ll have it there the next day.
Forget About Perfection
Yes, you want your work to be of a high standard, but perfection isn’t necessary in many aspects of work. You shouldn’t need to worry about tasks for hours and hours on end, and especially if you’re thinking about it after work.
Think About Retirement
You are likely not always going to have a job, whether you retire, get laid off or the company fails. You need to think of life beyond your job or you may not be as fulfilled with life when you don’t have one. If you have hobbies, then try and focus on them a bit more when you’re not at work. If you don’t have any hobbies then find some! There’s a whole world out there.
Make Them Wait
If someone in your work asks you to do something don’t always respond or do it straight away. Obviously, if it’s urgent then you should. But small tasks that aren’t that important can be put on the back burner.
Set Your Own Rules
The fact of the matter is that no matter what, you ultimately decide how to balance your life. You can make up your own rules to follow. As long as they work for you then it doesn’t matter. These tips will hopefully help you start off on the right path and move from being completely work orientated to split.
