Conquering the Art of Work-Life Balance
In the ever-changing landscape of modern careers, achieving a healthy work-life balance has become more crucial than ever. This elusive symmetry is not just about managing time; it's about managing energy, priorities, and, most importantly, managing self.
We need to be mindful of the myth that there is a one-size-fits-all model. Work-life balance is personal to each individual, and it even varies over the course of one’s lifetime. For example, what you may find that helps bring balance for you early in your career, may be different later in your career. It’s important to understand and appreciate that work-life balance is fluid and not stationary.
Here are three tools for moving toward better work-life balance that you can start using today:
Unplug to Recharge
Let’s be real, technology keeps us connected to everything. Unplugging from it is vital. Set up technology free spaces at your work and/or at home. This gives you space to recharge your mental battery, create great connections with friends and family in conversation, and it will also boost your creative and innovative mind.
Choose quality over quantity
Delegate, delegate, and delegate! As a leader, you have been told (or maybe you think it’s best) to do things yourself. That is furthest from the truth. You can free time for yourself by delegating tasks to others. You can then use this time to focus on things you enjoy and find your passions. Great leaders who have great work-life balances, understand the great power of delegation.
Just say ‘Nope’
Learning to say ‘nope’ to tasks that literally drain the life out of you can be liberating. Especially when these tasks don’t align with the mission and vision. Someone once told me a long time ago, “saying ‘yes’ to something, means I’m saying ‘nope’ to something else,” and most of the time, it’s affecting our own wellbeing.
As a leader, it’s important to understand these points for yourself. However, it’s just as important that you know that you play a role in the work-life balance of your employees. Research shows that organizational cultures that embrace and value employee work-life balance, see better overall morale, lower turnover, and higher productivity. Mental health days, flexible hours, and a supportive and belonging organizational culture are all examples of investments into the greatest asset at the organization – its people.
Conquering the art of work-life balance is about setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care. Work-life balance is a continuous and flexible journey that requires that you have self-check-ins from time to time. Remember, life is not all about work, it encompasses so much more. It’s up to you find it.
