It can be a struggle to balance work with other areas of your life, often described as work-life balance. Learning new ways to handle things will help you achieve that important balance. Below are ideas to help you bring your work and life into balance.
Manage Your Time. Avoid procrastination. For many people, most of the stress they feel comes from simply being disorganized and procrastinating. Learn to set more realistic goals and deadlines, then stick to them. You’ll find that not only are you less stressed, but your work will be better.
Set Realistic Expectations with Yourself. Set realistic expectations with yourself that allows for quality work. If you think it will take 1.5 hours to do something, give yourself two hours. Try the following:
- Step 1—Give yourself increased time frames to get things done.
- Step 2—Increase the amount of gentleness and compassion you have for yourself and your limits.
- Step 3—Slowly increase your expectations of yourself so you have room to grow and succeed.
Talk to You Employer. If you are feeling overwhelmed. Find out if there is a way of modifying your hours, shifts or job duties to temporary adjust for your current situation.
Slow Down. Life is simply too short, so don’t let things pass by you in a blur. Take steps to stop and enjoy the things and people around you. Don’t make plans for every evening or weekend, and find some ways to distance yourself or take breaks from the things that are causing you the most stress.
Share the Load. Even though you may feel you are the only one capable of doing something, it is usually not the case. Get your partner, family or friends to help you with personal and family responsibilities. Taking care of the household, children or parents should not be the responsibility of just one person.
Take Charge. Sometimes it is easier to allow yourself to feel overwhelmed rather than to take charge and develop a prioritized list of things that need to get done. Develop a list, set priorities and then enjoy the satisfaction of crossing things off the list.
In the end, the key word is balance. You need to find the right balance that works for you. Celebrate your successes and don’t dwell on your failures. Life is a process, and so is striving for balance in your life.
Behavioral Health Systems is the parent company of Safety First. BHS offers Mental Health and Substance Abuse benefits to employers along with Employee Assistance Programs.