The Ultimate Resolution - Finding A Work-Life Balance
As the year comes to a close there’s often a sense of pressure to come up with a resolution or a list of resolutions to better yourself in the New Year. Many of these resolutions revolve around fitness, weight loss, exercise and diets. While there’s nothing wrong with committing to a healthier lifestyle and getting in shape, this year we are taking the opportunity to focus on a bigger-picture resolution that can help set you in the right mind-set for success, physical and mental. Finding the “right” work-life balance.
Finding Your Work-Life Balance
Finding the right balance between your work and your personal life is easier said than done. Regardless of your profession, whether it’s in an office, on-the-go or freelance it can be tough to find the right balance. When we overwork ourselves we tend to blur the lines between our work and personal lives. Doing so can take a toll on not only your mental health but your physical health as well. So what can you do?
Prioritize. Prioritizing your time with the most urgent and important tasks first can help give you direction. Even better, make a task list.
Set your schedule. Decide on the hours you will be working and the hours you will not be working. While certain times things will have to fall outside of these timelines, do your best to stick to them.
Schedule personal time. Just as you would schedule an important meeting, consciously set time aside for you.
Set a workspace. When you make your workspace work for you, you are setting yourself up for success and also training your mind to be “on” when you are in this space.
Take breaks. Working 8 hours straight without taking a few minutes to breathe is not optimal for anyone. Whether you work for yourself or for a company, take the time throughout your day for a breather.
Sleep. You always hear it, but it is true! Without enough sleep, both your work life and personal life will suffer. Making time for yourself also means making the time to take care of you. Set yourself up for 7-8 hours of sleep a night, sometimes more or less depending on your age-group.
Take care of your body. There’s nothing wrong with committing to a new diet, but what we want to stress is that you find the right lifestyle that works for you. Eat foods that make your body feel good and give you more energy. The more energy you have, the more productive you’ll be in both your work and personal lives. This also includes fitting in some physical activity that you enjoy doing. You may not be an avid gym trainer, but find a form of exercise that doesn’t feel like “work” to you. Whether it’s taking a jog or finding a lunch-time yoga class, put the effort in to find the right fit.
There’s no perfect solution, but making the conscious commitment to improving your work-life balance is the first step. It’s easy to get lost in your everyday schedule but we hope these tips will help you find a balance that works for you in the new year. From our family at Sarrica Physical Therapy & Wellness, to yours, we hope you have a great New Year’s celebration and lots of success in the New Year!
