Tips To Help You Maintain A Better Work-Life Balance

Tips To Help You Maintain A Better Work-Life Balance

1. Understand the meaning of balance.

I want you to do something unusual for me right now…Stand up straight with your feet separated shoulder-width distance apart. Are you still standing? I hope so! I’m sure you have not lost your balance, even though your right foot is taking on more weight than the left.Interestingly, if you also do this same exercise the other way around, you will still get the same result.Now, this goes to show you that “balance” doesn’t necessarily mean “equal”. Most times, either your personal life or your work life takes on more weight depending on what’s happening at the moment.And that’s OK.Once you’ve understood the true meaning of the word “balance”, we can then move on to the next step.2. Figure out your point.

2. Figure out your point.

You need to ask yourself… what’s the point?What’s the point of doing what you’re doing?According to.“the point cannot be productivity. This is because productivity only calls for more productivity, and it’ll suck you up until you have no blood remaining in your system.”Productivity, if it only precipitates productivity, will produce productivity, which will still only produce productivity, and so on.On a similar note, the point can’t be work, work, work… it will keep on producing more work until your day ends with a much longer to-do list than when you started.And if you follow this model, there will be no more life remaining to balance with your work.Being aware of the point is possibly the most critical thing you can do for your business. Identify why you’re doing what you’re doing.Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the goal? What am I working toward?
• How will I know when I get there? What will it look like?
• When I get there, what happens next? 

3. Get rid of perfectionism.

Most workaholics develop perfectionist habits at a young age when demands on their time are limited to hobbies, school, and maybe some after-school activities.As a kid, it’s a lot easier to maintain that habit of being a perfectionist, but as you grow up, life becomes more challenging.As your family grows and you climb the ladder at work, your responsibilities increase, and perfectionism skyrockets. In her book,  Marilyn Puder-York states that, “if the perfectionism habit is left unchecked, it can become destructive.”

Therefore, one of the keys to avoiding burnout is to get rid of perfectionism, says Puder-York. “As life gets more expanded, it becomes very hard, both psychologically and neurologically, to hold on to that habit of perfection.”The best option is to strive for excellence and not perfection.

4. Know your expectations and boundaries.

One of the toughest challenges of balancing work and life is knowing when it’s OK to quit working.Let me tell you, if you really want to maintain a proper work-life balance, then you have to set clear emotional and physical boundaries for yourself.But that’s not all…You need to set good boundaries within your personal relationships, too.For instance, I work from home and have this cute little home office. Now, once the door to the office is shut, my family and friends know that I’m busy and shouldn’t be interrupted.Doing this ensures I’m maintaining a healthy respect for both my work and my life; these are called boundaries.You can even think about boundaries as “rules” if you like. They exist for you to maintain a proper functioning system.Even if you live alone or have no one else distracting you during the day, you still need to set up good boundaries for you to manage your work-life system effectively.Things to ask yourself:

• How many hours will you be willing to work in a day?
• What rules are required for the benefit of your work?
• What rules are necessary for the sake of your life?

If those rules, boundaries, and expectations will affect some people, let them know about it. Let them know about your commitments, and ask them to keep you accountable.Making commitments about work-life boundaries will bring tremendous clarity to your day.