Today’s competition has turned us into workaholics. Many people seriously believe that achieving a true balance between work and personal life is impossible if we want success in our career or business. There is nothing wrong with wanting to work hard. We've all heard the popular advice that if you want to be successful, you have to work hard. All of us want to give our families a good home and a comfortable life. But while taking care of their financial needs, we neglect their emotional needs,
We cannot deny that work isn’t separate from life — it’s a part of it. For some people, it’s not a fun part of life, but for others, it’s a passion. Either way, it’s a part of our lives, good or bad. But no matter how hard we work, it's important to find a healthy balance between our work life and personal life. Achieving true work-life balance is not easy. Actually it is a challenge for everyone. But, for the sake of our peace and well-being, it's something we really need to make happen. Here are some useful tips that can help us to find the balance:
1) Work Smart:
Many people work mechanically without properly applying their intelligence. Being successful in today's demanding and fast paced work environment has led many to believe spending long hours at work is the main contributor to increased productivity. But this is a false assumption. Being at work doesn't necessarily mean that work is actually getting done. The trick is learning how to work smarter.
Stephen Covey tells a story about a woodcutter whose saw gets blunter and blunter as time passes and he continues cutting down trees. If the woodcutter were to stop sawing, sharpen his saw, and go back to cutting the tree with a sharp blade, he would actually save time and effort in the long run. It is very useful to remember the analogy.
2) Learn To Delegate
Effectively delegating tasks we don't have to do ourselves can go a long way in helping us to achieve a better work/life balance.
3) Eliminate Time Wasters:
We may be able to find more time for our family if we make a conscious effort to limit the time we spend on the Television, web and social media sites, making long personal calls, or chit-chatting. We often get sucked into these habits that are making us much less efficient without realizing it. Take stock of activities that don't enhance your career or personal life, and minimize the time you spend on them.
4) Schedule time blocks in work:
Scheduling time throughout a week for all the things that are important to us will ensure that we get everything in and that work doesn’t overwhelm the schedule. But it is better not to over-schedule, filling up every free minute, because no schedule is kept to the minute. Better to have space between our time blocks than to have to skip something because the previous block ran too long.
5) Make dates with family and friends:
Instead of just saying, “I want to spend more time with my family and friends”, it is better actually making dates with them. That might mean romantic dates with your spouse or significant other, or non-romantic dates with your friends or kids or other family members. Plan to be with them on a regular basis to do something together. It doesn’t even have to cost a lot of money — it could be something simple like taking a walk in the park or playing games with them or cooking dinner for each other or watching a good movie with them. We do this because if there's nothing on the schedule, time tends to get frittered away and the weekend may end without us spending quality time together
6) Make dates with yourself:
Often we make time for our family or other loved ones, but we neglect ourselves. Schedule time for yourself, doing something you love doing by yourself like reading, playing. And set aside a separate time for exercising or meditation or yoga. Just make the time and don’t miss that date! Research has shown that making a little time and space for you is really important for your own happiness and will have a ripple effect to those around you. And it doesn't need to be much. For example just 10 minutes of mindfulness practice a day or 20 minutes of exercise can make a huge difference in your energy levels, your emotional state and your coping ability. Or fitting in some time for a hobby or leisure activity that you enjoy or find meaningful - even it is just an hour a week.
Even during a hectic day, you can take 10 or 15 minutes to do something that will recharge your batteries. "Take a bath, read a trashy novel, go for a walk, or listen to music," a researcher says. "You have to make a little time for the things that ignite your joy." And it will surely help to boost your energy level and ability to concentrate.
7) Examine your life regularly:
Often our lives become derailed from the track we set it on, and as a result we don’t realize where our lives are going until we really examine them. Or we can get so caught up in a routine that we don’t realize we can change it. Regular self reflection will help us to change. So set a separate time for self reflection and think about how your life is going, how you’re spending your time, and decide whether you need to make changes. Then schedule time to make those changes immediately — or make the changes right away if possible.
8) Love your work or find a work that you love:
Discover and decide what you love and you could make a living doing. Be imaginative. Every possible passion or hobby can be turned into a business or a job or a new career in one way or another. Explore the possibilities and find what suits your talents and capacities. Or see the positive aspects of your work and start loving it.
9) Take Rest
On the seventh day, even God rested. For workaholics, the day of rest never comes. There is always one more email to read, one more phone call to take, one more critically important trip to the office that can't wait until Monday. Most of the workaholics will be compelled to take rest in the hospitals. Some of them may never return to work. May we have wisdom not to join their list!
- N.GANESHAN
(Published in our bank’s 150th edition of house magazine “Vijaya Vikas)
