How to Achieve a Healthy Work/Life Balance

Most people strive to have a healthy balance between work and their personal life. We want to have a job we enjoy and are passionate about but also have time for the things that make us happy outside of work. Work/life balance can be hard to achieve, especially in today's economy where it seems like everyone is working harder than ever before just to keep and excel in their job.

Signs of poor work/life balance:

Constantly thinking about work.

Even if you're not at your desk, you find yourself thinking about the next project or task to complete. You have a hard time leaving work at work, especially at night and on the weekends. Sunday scaries, anyone?

Disengaging with friends and family because of work.

Friends and family notice that while you’re physically present, mentally, you’re somewhere else — at work.

When you have a poor work/life balance, you tend to disengage with your loved ones because you’re busy, stressed, and burned out—a condition in which you are suffering from a lack of energy, loss of motivation, and mental fatigue due to excessive work hours or stressful situations. Loved ones may not be able to see you as often as they'd like, or when you do spend time together, it's less enjoyable than it should be because you’re stressed out from work.

Snapping at colleagues or loved ones.

You may feel stressed about the number of tasks on your plate, causing you to feel irritable, and those around you are bearing the brunt of it.

A decline in productivity.

You constantly feel like you have too much on your plate and not enough time to get things done, which has led you to burnout. You’re less productive overall because some days it’s really difficult to motivate yourself to complete your work.

Lack of sleep.

Not getting enough restful sleep is a sign of stress. Long hours spent working or laying in bed at night thinking about everything you have to do tomorrow is another indicator of poor work/life balance.

Not enjoying activities you used to love.

You’re starting to notice that you just don’t feel like you anymore. In the same way that lack of exercise can make you feel sluggish and tired, lack of time spent doing things that are enjoyable can cause stress and anxiety on top of a host of other negative symptoms, such as depression. You may find yourself dreading activities that used to be fun because you don’t have the energy anymore to engage in hobbies and other relaxing activities.

Don’t give up hope yet. There are some things you can do to help yourself achieve a better balance in your life:

Define your work hours.

Defining your work hours is the first step in getting a handle on your life. You need to set boundaries for yourself, or else you'll find that all of your time becomes filled with work and no room for anything else.

If your boss asks you to stay late and finish up a project at the end of the day, it’s okay to tell them that this isn’t possible for you because it would require you to work outside of your set hours. They may not respond favorably at first, but if they truly value your work ethic and capabilities as an employee, they should respect your boundaries.

Defining your work hours will give you space to relax, hang out with friends and family, do things that interest you outside of work (like reading a book or going for a run), and give yourself enough time at home so that when it comes time again to go back into the office—which will hopefully be on Monday morning—the transition won't feel too jarring.

Set boundaries.

Setting boundaries is an important step in achieving work/life balance. As mentioned above, defining your work hours is one way to have healthy boundaries with work.

When you're already overwhelmed at work, it can be tempting to take on more and more until you're working all hours of the day. However, this is not a good idea—and it will only cause your stress levels to increase over time. You should have a clear understanding of what your workload looks like so that if someone asks for help or asks for additional work from you, you can politely say no. Don't worry about hurting anyone's feelings by saying no; you have to put your well-being first.

Take breaks.

You should not work yourself to the point of exhaustion if you want to avoid burnout and stress. Taking breaks can help reduce these symptoms by giving your mind a rest and reset from stress. Physically step away from your desk for ten minutes to stretch, take a walk, or journal.

Or maybe you need to take a break from all things work and focus on spending time with friends and family instead. When was the last time you used PTO or took a mental health day?

Don't put pressure on yourself to be perfect or the best at what you do.

We all have an inner voice that tells us how to live our lives, but if you're a perfectionist, that voice is an incessant nag. It's constantly telling you to do more, be better, and never settle for anything less than perfect. Unfortunately, this type of attitude can prevent you from achieving a healthy work/life balance because it makes it difficult to stop working on something when it's good enough (or even pretty darn good).

If this sounds like something that resonates with your experience, here's something to work toward: give yourself enough grace to be a human who makes mistakes and isn’t perfect. Perfectionism is actually a form of self-sabotage—you will always find a reason why what you do isn’t good enough.

Make sure you have time for your hobbies and loved ones outside of work.

Remember that your career isn't the only thing in your life.

It's important to have hobbies and spend time with loved ones. To do this, you'll need to make time for them in your daily schedule. Work/life balance is all about being able to manage your work, relationships, and other responsibilities without having to sacrifice one for the other.

If you don't currently have any hobbies or interests outside of work and home life, think about activities you might enjoy and give them a try.

If all else fails, look for a new job.

Consider the toll that being in a stressful environment has on your mental health. Perhaps by now, you’re recognizing that the demands of your workplace don’t match your priorities in life. If you value healthy boundaries, like time off, a reasonable amount of work, or sleep, but you work in an environment that expects you to be on call 24/7 or to manage a high workload, it might be time to look for a new job.

The truth is that a healthy work/life balance can be challenging to achieve.

It requires constant vigilance, discipline, and self-care. It's easy to get caught up in work, but it's important to remember that life doesn't end when you leave the office. If you can make time for yourself and take care of your health, it will be much easier to succeed at work.

If you’re tired of the hustle and grind and want to create more balance in your life, contact me today to schedule your first therapy session.