These days work-life balance can seem like a myth. With all that’s going on around us, and all the work we are doing from home, it can seem like a foreign concept. Some don’t believe this is even a concept that can be achieved. Whichever camp you are in, and regardless of the desired outcome, finding a way to balance your day is a benefit everyone can get behind! I like to call it, work-life balance.
The pandemic has put most of our lives in the precarious position of working from various spaces within our home. All while trying to connect with our clients or staff, over the virtual spaces of Zoom, RingCentral, phone calls, and emails galore! As frustration and stress increase, we bite our tongues or snap at our teams, related or not, and try our best to move the ball just a couple inches forward each day into unchartered territory. Does work-life balance actually exist? Not sure, but here are 10 tips you can apply to your day to help, or at least alleviate some of the cortisol rushing through your veins on the daily.
We all spend an enormous amount of time trying to get better at the things we don’t do well. We spin our wheels trying to overcome our weaknesses at tasks that are just not our forte. This valuable time could be spent doing the things we are great at instead of being wasted trying to be better at something we are just not good at! Outsource and delegate what you can to someone who is great and preferably loves that type of task. If social media is not your jam, hire someone or a company that loves doing that. Free up that time to do the meaningful things you love to do.
Emotions can surge like a roller coaster when we are stressed. You can thank your brain for that chemical dump. Our bodies are programmed machines that give chemical responses to things in our environment. Learn to understand your machine and it will help you control your responses. My advice is to pattern those responses and you will learn to predict the roller coaster.
When life changes drastically – i.e. working from home, around others that don’t respect the boundaries of the quiet working environment you are used to – we must adapt! Instead of fighting this change, yearning for the “old days”, fall in love with your new normal and make it work for you. To do this you must own it, create a structure around it, and dive into that new life. This includes setting your “working hours”.
As we know and are seeing, our brains don’t like change. Start with addressing your morning routine. If you are used to waking up, going to the gym, then showering followed by a breakfast smoothie, then off to work, alter it slightly. How about you wake up, go for a walk or run, shower, and then grab a smoothie before you head to your quiet corner of the house to start work. If this is impossible because of kids/family running around, start an hour early so you can complete your tasks in the quietness of a sleeping household.
There are many things we do at home we would never do at the office. We don’t do laundry at the office, nor do we do dishes at the office, and we certainly do not “Netflix” at the office. Figure out what tasks and conversations have invaded our workspace, and our home time and eliminate them. This is hard, especially going the other way, where our work creeps into our “off the clock” time, but believe me, it’s worth setting the boundaries!
I get the fact that our work is a direct reflection of who we are and it needs to be done “right” before you will ever let it out into the world. However, as a coach, customer, and business owner, I would rather have a B+ product delivered than an A+ product never actualized! Stop over stressing and over editing, its perfection is irrelevant if it’s late.
Are you an introvert and you refuel by sitting quietly with a book and a cup of tea? Or, are you an extrovert and you refuel by being around people? Whatever your jam is, make sure you schedule that into your calendar. If you are running on empty, you’re no good to anyone. Find a book or a weekly zoom group about birds, or whatever you like, and do your thing.
This is similar but slightly different than the above. Refilling is about our energy levels; self-love is about kindness to ourselves. As we stress and push ourselves outside of comfort it strains our bodies. We need to work off or out all those stress chemicals. Take a walk, run, virtual yoga, HIIT class, or another type of exercise. Soak in a tub, garden, whatever it is you like to do to release that stress.
Our minds are jam-packed with thoughts all day! “I need to do this or that, I’m doing great, I’m doing awful” are often thoughts that run through our minds. Managing your thoughts, feelings, goals, frustrations can be a daunting task. If you need help, hire a coach to guide you through this process. They can provide you with the tools to master your mind and keep you focused on the important tasks needed to steer your ship in the right direction for success!
Whether it be for a moment or a few days, unplugging can help re-center ourselves. An easy starter pack to unplugging is through mediation; quieting the mind for even 10 minutes has significant health benefits. If possible, unplug on the weekends. Our brains take in an enormous amount of data every day, that it has to process and regurgitate to us the useful information. Give that bad boy a break on occasion, because it needs a vacation too!
Even if you simply take one out of this list and apply it, adding an additional one each week you will find some benefit. Be patient and be kind to your mind and body. It may not like change but adapts faster than you think. Work-life balance is a very individual thing. So, apply good habits and it will prevent the bad ones from forming by default!
