Establishing a healthy work life balance is so important, both to help you thrive at work and also to protect your mental health and remember that there is a life outside of work! You’ll be more motivated and productive in work as you can avoid workplace burnout, as well as happier and more fulfilled out of work, so making this a priority is really important. We’re here with a few tips to help you set healthy boundaries in place. Start making this a priority in your life and you will soon see the benefits!
Have a Little Routine to Establish End of Working Day
We all need to work an extra evening here or there when things are really busy, however, you shouldn’t make it a habit to work outside of your usual working hours. In order to help you create separation between your working day and your evening, especially if you work from home, then you should establish a short routine to help you unwind and get ready for the evening.
This could be something as simple as putting your laptop away, getting changed into something comfortable and going for a quick 10 minute walk. You might like to exercise in the evening, so do a quick stretch, hot yoga session or head out to the gym. Perhaps putting on some music and cooking your evening meal helps to create that separation. Whatever switching off looks like to you, be strict with putting a little ritual in place to help your mind switch off and the unwinding begin.
Make Sure You Take All Your Holidays
Another really important component of a healthy work life balance is to take all of your holidays. Taking time to go and travel, spend time with friends and family and generally reconnecting with yourself and others is so important, to help your overall mood and motivation when you are at work. It can help you to recharge and come back to work more refreshed. We all need a break and you don’t want to look back at the end of a year or 10 years and regret not making the most of what you’re entitled to.
Living your life outside of work can transform your mental health, as well as help to prevent stress related illnesses. It can also help you to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to your job, to help benefit you inside and outside of the office. Whether it’s for trips abroad, putting on your favourite festival outfits and dancing the night away, or random days off with friends and family, make sure that you use up your holiday allowance.
Prioritize Your Personal Life in Midweek
Something else you can do to create a healthy work life balance is to priorities your personal life midweek. Many people write off the weekdays, just in case something crops up with work or to help them relax after work, however it can be so fulfilling to make the most of the weekdays too!
This is a great opportunity to have friends round for dinner, to go out to fun and interesting events, or also to start a hobby. Going and playing a team sport or spending time with fun and interesting people can really widen your perspective on life. Waiting until the weekend to start living your life can really put things on hold, so make the most of the weekdays and you’ll soon start to feel the benefits.
Explore Flexible Working
Another good way to help you establish a better work life balance is to explore flexible working. This is all about finding a way of working that suits your needs, without being restricted to classic office hours. Perhaps you have children and starting and finishing an hour later would make life much easier in order to do school drop offs, or maybe you benefit from exercise in the morning and could do with an extra hour in the morning to make the most of it.
Speak to your work about flexible working, as often it will make no difference to them but can make a big difference to your day. Many businesses will have core hours where everyone works, such as 11am to 3pm, then outside of those hours people can work flexibly.
Set Boundaries
Last but not least, you should set clear boundaries when it comes to your work life balance. Things like not discussing work on your lunch hour (with the exception of emergencies), not being contacted on vacations, learning to say no to prevent you from taking on too much that isn’t your responsibility, prioritizing your health and not being afraid to unplug, can help you to set boundaries. It’s so important that you protect your mental health, as it will help you to also make the most of your work life too, as you will give your full attention to your working hours and then take the much needed rest you need.
