Recalibrating Your Work-Life Balance

Don't forget yourself while juggling all of life's balls!

Aug 28, 2009 Nina Gass

Today's fast-paced life has made it more difficult to strike a balance between professional obligations and a commitment to family, friends, and even ourselves.

Between heavy work schedules, family obligations, and personal requirements, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do it all and be everything to everybody. Those women that work in the corporate world struggle to divvy up personal time while those who telecommute or freelance from home find it difficult to separate work and personal time.

While it would be nice to morph into Wonder Woman and use superpowers to get control of the daily tasks—let alone any curveballs that life throws out—a work-life balance can be possible to achieve by reprioritizing and reorganizing time

Consider these tips:

  1. Write down what you do every half-hour – from the time you wake-up until your head hits the pillow. This will help you better visualize how you currently spend your time. You may not realize how much time is wasted in sending text messages or reading Internet gossip when you could be finishing up your work faster and signing off the computer to spend more time with the kids. Seeing it on paper may help you make better decisions on how you spend your time.
  2. Define your major priorities. What do you want to make sure has your attention each week or day? Don’t leave any very important things off the list, such as getting at least eight hours a sleep per night, spending at least 30 minutes of quality playtime with your children each evening, or setting aside time to exercise. Try to limit your priorities to 5-7 items and have at least one of them be something whose sole purpose is personal enjoyment.
  3. Compare how you currently spend your time with how you know you should utilize your time in order to achieve your priorities. Cut down on those “time sucker” activities, such as television, Internet, telephone, excessive work hours, and commuting.
  4. Choose one “time sucker” activity per month to reduce or eliminate. Substitute this with a less time-intensive activity and/or one of your priorities. Be patient. It usually takes about a month to make repetitive activities a habit.
  5. Schedule personal events, such as a date night, manicure or massage, girlfriend getaway weekend or mommy and me trip, in order to ensure that you stick to achieving that personal time. Otherwise, you may find excuses to not take the time for yourself and your family.
  6. Set office hours, especially if you work from home. While it may be attractive to offer a 24/7 availability, it is not healthy or productive in the long run. Clients will understand that you need time to rest and recuperate in order to deliver the level of quality and productivity they have come to expect from you.

In the long run, recalibrating your work and life balance will improve personal and professional relationships as well as enhance your overall well-being.

The copyright of the article Recalibrating Your Work-Life Balance in Women’s Health is owned by Nina Gass. Permission to republish Recalibrating Your Work-Life Balance in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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