Easy Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance
Posted on 15th July 2023 at 15:30
It can be very easy for people to lose track of their work-life balance. This doesn’t just apply to business owners and C-suite executives, as any employee can find themselves prioritising their duties over family time, hobbies, fitness and even a good night’s sleep. There is a way to prevent this from happening though, so we’ve put together three top tips on how to improve your work-life balance.
Use an effective time management system
Managing your time better may sound like an obvious tip, yet so many managers and employees don’t fully optimise their daily schedules. Whether you use a diary and calendar, project management apps such as Monday.com and Slack, good old-fashioned to-do lists and post-it notes or a combination of all of the above, your schedule will never be streamlined if you don’t prioritise tasks first.
Luckily, there’s a time-tested way to do this, which takes the form of four categories:
Urgent and important (e.g. tasks that have a deadline)
Important but not urgent (e.g. tasks that can be completed at a later date)
Urgent but not important (e.g. tasks that can be delegated)
Neither urgent nor important (e.g. any task that doesn’t add value)
When you look at things using this framework, you’ll surely find that there are some tasks that can be left a little while longer, giving you the freedom to focus on the more urgent matters. This allows you to confidently rearrange your workload and delegate where suitable in order to get the main jobs completed in a timely fashion.
Know your mind clock
You’ve surely heard of a body clock, which dictates the pattern of when we naturally wake up, begin to feel sleepy and require food, but you have you heard of a mind clock? Your mind clock refers to the general schedule of when you feel most inspired, creative and capable, as well as when you don’t. For instance, many people find that their mornings are best spent responding to emails and carrying out small tasks, followed by an afternoon of problem solving and more demanding duties. Some people are the other way around, and others have a natural ebb and flow throughout the day.
By identifying your most energetic times of day, you can get more done each week and ensure that you leave the office ready for a relaxing evening or a fun-packed weekend.
Make the most of your spare time
Whatever you enjoy doing outside of work, make sure to put time aside to do it. So many of us like going for walks, cooking delicious meals, playing sports, spending time with the family, reading good books and all manner of other pastimes, yet we can easily lose track of time and miss out on creating valuable memories.
Don’t get us wrong, watching your favourite TV series and scrolling through Instagram can be relaxing, but how about limiting your screen time so that you can diversify your days off? Adding more variety to evenings, weekends and annual leave can do wonders for our mental health, energy levels and sense of fulfilment, resulting in a better work-life balance and a happier life in general.
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We create positive workplace environments that ensure your staff are comfortable, happy and productive. To find out more about how we can help your business to increase workflow, get in touch on 01482 301000 or use our contact form.
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