“There’s just not enough time in the day.” How often have you said that very thing to yourself? If you are experiencing feelings of being overworked and out of sorts with the rest of your life, then you’re certainly not alone. Even though modern technology is supposed to improve our lives, it has also caused our lives to accelerate. You get an email from work and it has to be answered ASAP. You work with a company that has global interests and those emails and texts can come in around the clock. Juggling those demands with the demands of an active family or social live can leave you exhausted at the end of every week. You’ll then approach Monday morning with dread. Keep up this pattern and it could have a serious impact on your health and relationships. If you feel as though you’re spinning too fast, then it might be time to build a better work/life balance.
Here are some helpful hints that can allow you to achieve that balance:
Take Control of Your Schedule
It’s easy for a busy exec to plot out their business day. All the meetings, conference calls and other planning sessions that are entered into the calendar. They must be adhered to. Newsflash: Your downtime should be equally important and should be scheduled accordingly. Mark your calendar for an appointment with friends or family and stick to that just as you would with a business meeting. Recognizing that your free time away from work is as equally important to your 9-5 schedule is half the battle of achieving that perfect work/life balance.
Beware of the Energy Vampires
These are those events or people who can best be described as Energy Vampires. In other words, they suck the very life out of you. Maybe it’s a co-worker who constantly complains or gossips. Maybe it’s doing laundry. Whatever the issue find a way to adjust your life. You don’t have to go to lunch with the “work gossip” every day and you can drop off your laundry for fluff and fold. It all comes back to the issue of making your own down time as valuable as it should be. Don’t waste it.
Prioritize Your To-Do List
Along with our work assignments we also have life assignments. These are all the things we need to do outside of the work week to maintain a standard of living. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t be more practical with your own to-do list. Instead of going to the grocery store every day after work, make one list for one shopping trip that will get you through the week. Guess what? There’s an app for that! If your dry cleaner offers delivery, then take them up on that offer. Need stamps? Buy them online. Find those ways to cut out the nagging errands.
Chill Out
Above all else, don’t devalue the importance of “me time.” Whether that means taking a half hour bath or carving out time to read a few chapters from the current bestseller some of the best balance can be achieved when you give yourself some time alone. Unless you find a positive way to “recharge” your batteries, you won’t be any good at work or at home!
