Maintaining a work-life balance includes making sure that your work and home life are on an equal playing field and are both as good as the other. What makes a good work-life balance will differ from person to person, as everyone has different things that make them happy. Splitting your time between the two is only part of the mission, as you need to make sure that you are fulfilled in each field.

Creating a healthy work-life balance will help us improve our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as make us better at our jobs and have a successful career. Reasons like increased work responsibility, working longer hours and increased home responsibilities can all play a factor and negatively affect our work-life balance.

In this article, we will explore how you can achieve a healthy work-life balance and feel fulfilled in both your home and work life.

Time management

Having good time management might be the best way to achieve a healthy work-life balance. Reviewing a typical week or month in your work and home life could be a good use of your time so that you can see your ups and downs throughout that time. Prioritising the more important tasks for the start of the day so that you can have a more relaxing end to the day could be something that benefits you.

Time management is also important for home life as you should ensure that you use your time wisely and make the most of your personal time. If a particular home task or activity is very enjoyable and makes you feel fulfilled, you should give yourself more time for it per week or month. For example, you could create a healthy habit of going to the gym daily.

Create boundaries

It’s very important at work to set boundaries with your colleagues to avoid any burnout. This isn’t because you don’t get on with your colleagues, but rather because everyone needs their own space to have a healthy work environment. This can also make you get on better with your work, which can lead to you doing better in your career.

You should also avoid any work related chats outside of working hours to fully separate yourself from work responsibilities and help you enjoy your free time. Using separate phones, browsers and emails is a good way to enforce this.

Find a job that you love

It should be everyone’s aim in life to find and secure a job that they love. Life can be made a lot easier and happier if you have a good time while being at work, as you can better avoid any stress or anxiety. There could be several things that make you love your job, such as your colleagues, passion for the role or flexibility.

There are multiple benefits to having a job that you love, such as increased motivation, increased productivity, more confidence, better career growth, greater job satisfaction and a happier everyday life.

Having a job that you love can also help you enjoy home life more as you won’t be thinking about going to work the next day, as it would simply be part of your healthy work-life balance.

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Prioritise health

Whatever you do to balance your work-life, you should prioritise your physical, mental and emotional health. Doing things during work hours to help you relax and feel less stressed can go a long way to improving your working life. The same goes for your home life too.

If you struggle with anxiety, you should fit in wellness sessions whenever you can, even if this involves taking a break during work, leaving early or skipping something you had planned in your free time.

You should also focus on your mental health when at home. There are multiple ways to do this, including meditation, or yoga, exercising, and other team sport activities. People are opting to change their appearance more than ever, so if this is something that can improve your mental health and work-life balance then you should embrace the option.

Take time off

Everyone needs some time off work, whether that be for a planned trip abroad or to take a day or two to relax in front of the television. This can help you both physically and mentally recharge so that you can return to work fully energised, which can help your performance. 

According to a study by the US Travel Association, 55% of employees reported having unused annual leave at the end of the year. You must take off every day allocated to you so that you have days to re-energise.

If you have used up all of your allocated time off, whether it be due to taking time off to recover from tip rhinoplasty surgery in London or a collection of holidays abroad, you can still take off sick days if you aren’t feeling well or up to going to work. While it’s important to not overuse these sick days, it can benefit your mental health and wellbeing to take the occasional sick day off work. Bereavement or compassionate leave should also be taken if necessary to help you recover from any potential bad happenings.