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How to Maintain Work-life Balance: 10 Tips

Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns have changed a lot in our lives. It has changed the way we interact with people, how we go shopping, our kids’ education, as well as their school life, and most importantly — our work routine. 

Nowadays, there are many people around the world who are working from home. There are no commutes, no chit-chats, no lunch breaks to your favorite cafeteria; just you and your laptop. 

This work-from-home routine may sound comforting, but it could become your worst nightmare if you don’t know how to balance your work and personal life to keep them separated. So, if you are also finding it hard to deal with such a situation, here are 10 of the most useful tips on how to maintain a work-life balance. 

Set a Daily Work Schedule

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This is one of the most important tips you need to work on if you want to maintain a healthy work-life balance. If you are habitual of showing up at work every day at the same time, it wouldn’t be hard for you to dedicate specific hours in your day to the office and other work-related tasks. It is like training your mind as if you are at your workplace. 

This would help you to stay more focused and be attentive, so you can deliver as per your boss’s or client’s expectations. Set up daily reminders and alarms, so you won’t forget about your daily work schedule. It might take some time for you to get habitual of your work routine at home. 

Prioritize Your Time According to Tasks

Have you ever thought about making a to-do list of the tasks you have to get done for the day? Well, it is the best way to keep yourself organized and streamlined with your work process. This way you could also sort out the tasks according to their importance and prioritize your time effectively. 

The very first task you need to get done with is the urgent and most important one, then you can easily get done with other tasks one by one, keeping in view their priority. This entire process will also enhance your productivity, helping you perform efficiently. 

Focus on Time Management

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Time management is the key to a better work-life balance. If you lose track of time, you might lose everything. So, whatever task you work on, make sure you have specified a particular time frame for it. It might be hard for you in the beginning, but you would eventually get a hang of it. It would make your work-from-home routine easier and manageable. 

You would be required to tend to professional commitments as well as personal responsibility. If you master the art of time management, you would be able to juggle between household matters and some of the most difficult work-related tasks of your life seamlessly. 

Use Professional Chatting and Video Conferencing Software

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For a better work-life balance, you should rely on technology and the blazing-fast internet in today’s world. Yes, being connected to the digital world could save you a lot of time. For instance, if you have some help related to a project, you can always get in touch with them online. Chat with them or get on a video call. 

A lot of big firms do regular meetings to discuss their agendas and other matters like this. If you’re doing a business of your own, you can create a virtual workspace on Slack and connect with all your employees. Many of the functions of this software are free to use. 

You can take your clients on Skype calls to have your business-related discussions, instead of meeting with them in person, which would definitely be a lot more time-consuming. 

Take Regular Breaks

No matter how much you are involved in your work, you should never forget about taking a break after every hour or so. Get your eyes off your computer screen or whatever thing you are using for work. Get up from your workstation and walk for a few minutes. You can also get your water bottle refilled or look outside the window (if the room where you are working has one). 

These short breaks may look like nothing to you, but they actually get your mind refreshed. Just like you refresh your Windows PC every time you are on the home screen. Disconnecting yourself from your work just for a few moments every now and then will actually make you feel good. 

Be Physically Active

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You can take little breaks during your work but once you are free, you can do a lot more than that to keep yourself healthy and energized. Staying physically active is one of the most important tips to maintain a work-life balance. A lot of people prefer yoga because it is how they also meditate. You can pick any exercise you like. If you are a fan of running and jogging, you can always rush to your nearest neighborhood park or a track. Or if you are too lazy to go out, you can work out using a treadmill. Weightlifting, strength building, or aerobics; do whatever you like. All the different types of physical exercises not only keep you active but also make you feel more motivated and energetic. 

Don’t Be a Perfectionist

Stay home, stay calm, and don’t be a perfectionist. Yes, you read it right. If you keep running after perfection, it would never let you feel satisfied with the quality of the product you are producing or getting from your employees. 

You would always want things to be better. We must all agree to the fact that there is always room for improvement and achieving a 100% level of perfection would be extremely difficult, especially if you and your coworkers, team members, or employees are working from home. 

Try to give your 100% at work but once you get done with a task and you know that you have given your best shot, then be satisfied with what you have achieved. We all keep learning new things our entire life. 

Do a Job You Love

If you have gotten bored with your job, it would be even more difficult for you to properly manage your work-from-home routine. Even if a company is paying you really well, you may still not be able to focus on your work at all if you don’t like it. This is why one of the best tips on how to maintain a work-life balance is to do a job you love. 

It is never too late to switch your company or position. You can always tell your manager or any other concerned person that you want to switch your role or are looking forward to getting transferred to another department. If your job excites you, your work routine would become a lot easier and more conveniently manageable than ever before. 

Set Goals and Try Achieving Them

Along with physical activities, another thing that will keep you motivated is the sense of accomplishment. This is why one of the best things to achieve a better work-life balance is to set goals and milestones for every task you are working on. If it is a tough and time-consuming task, divide it into smaller and easily doable parts. 

Reward yourself every time you achieve a goal. This would also make your work more interesting and enhance your productivity, inspiring you to perform in a better and more efficient way to achieve the desired results. Dividing your tasks into a step-by-step goal achievement process would also allow you to better assess your progress against your set priorities and required work objectives. 

Prioritize Your Health 

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Have you been neglecting your health lately? If yes, then you’re not alone. The fading line between work and personal life routine has put working professionals and corporate individuals under a lot of stress. Having their phones and laptops all the time with them, it seems like they are working 24/7. It could lead to a stage called burnout, which is widely affecting the mental health of millennials

So, to avoid such a harmful situation, you need to prioritize your health from day one. Try your best to overcome stress and anxiety. Along with your mental and emotional health, also take good care of your physical health by eating healthy and exercising regularly. 

There you have it — the 10 most useful tips on how to maintain a work-life balance. By using the aforementioned strategies, you would be able to manage things in your life in a better way. You’ll have more time to spend with your family and at the same time, you will have the strength and energy to give your best shot at work. 

What do you think?

Written by Spencer K