How to Balance Work and Family Life? Embrace the Strategies to Maximize Happiness, Love and Live Well !!
- Each of us has different reasons for working.
- Work fulfills a variety of needs.
- Create a list of the rewards and benefits you obtain from working.
Working Life is defined as relating to the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend with your family and doing things you enjoy: A work/life study revealed that 26% of employees often felt "emotionally drained" by their work.
Work-life balance has been a topic of intense discussion for decades. It’s no surprise, given the wide range of challenges faced by busy professionals. These challenges include:
- Expectations of being “always on”
- Time constraints caused by back-to-back meetings all day
- The constant distractions of communication technology and open-office floor plans
- The pervasiveness of work given our constant connectedness.
Work-life balance is the amount of time you spend doing your job versus the time you spend with your friends and family and pursuing your interests. Work is one of the numerous aspects of our lives which needs to be considered alongside other important concerns, such as our home and family lives, community, and personal well-being.
The unique nature of our lives also means that each of our work-life balances will be unique. For a college student, it might mean forgoing Friday night parties this weekend to revise for next week’s exam. For a parent, it might mean adjusting their work schedule to spend more evenings with their kids during the school year. It might mean setting aside specific days for self-care for a busy nurse or teacher who spends all day helping others.
In other words, there is no universal approach to achieving harmony between work and life – but there are methods that can point most of us in the right direction.
What does work-life balance look like?
The unique nature of our lives and fluctuating responsibilities means that work-life balance and integration look different for everyone. Some examples include:
A stay-at-home working parent who tackles assignments while their newborn is napping
A student who forgoes a Friday night party to study for exams
A lawyer who dedicates extra time to assignments during some periods of the year but who consciously unplugs during others when on holiday
An immigrant who uses their work breaks to study for their citizenship test
A janitor who crafts their schedule to work specific days so that, on other days, they can take care of their elderly parents
Importance of work-life balance
Your work-life balance can improve your overall well-being, including physical, emotional, and mental health.
Studies have found that long hours can lead to serious health issues such as ‘impaired sleep, depression, heavy drinking, diabetes, impaired memory, and heart disease’ . Unfortunately, as such conditions arise, they can also affect our work-life issues, which in turn can exacerbate the conditions themselves, leading to a vicious cycle.
While employers and employees may associate long working hours with increased productivity, many researchers say otherwise. One report by Stanford University and IZA, for example, found that after workers hit a certain number of hours, their productivity began to decrease as the potential for mistakes and injuries increased.
As a result, achieving a healthy work-life balance can reduce stress, improve emotional states, and increase overall productivity and employers’ bottom lines.
- Decide and Set priorities.
You may be juggling a number of roles and goals in your life. You want to be successful at work, enjoy a healthy couple relationship, be an involved parent. You may have goals of furthering your education, maintaining a home, contributing to your community, keeping to a fitness regimen, saving for early retirement. - Plan and Perform things in advance.
Work weeks are when most of us tend to be the busiest. By preparing for Monday’s arrival, you can ease the stress of the week ahead. Keep a family calendar posted on the fridge. - Negotiate with employer and find flex hours or part-time hours to work, if possible.
Flexibility in your work life can bring an incredible stress release to a household. If it’s financially feasible, consider the option of part-time work. - Constitute hierarchy in family and Find a number two and a number three person.
In the workplace and at home, you need to build tremendous supports. With the increased mobility of society, not all families have extended family support. If you don’t have family available in town, seek out the help of co-workers, friends and neighbours. - Value your work and family both . Share concerns with other families.
Share your issues with your neighbours and friends who are facing the same work/home balancing act. You will not only benefit from the mutual support, but can also share ideas on how you manage your busy schedules. - Be punctual, Set Limit after-work and after-school involvements.
While parents have good intentions and want to provide their children with a variety of skill sets, parents can get ensnarled in the unlimited opportunities available for children and can thereby create very busy schedules for both their children and themselves. - Build rituals into your life.
Schedule time to ensure that family time happens. Establish a family movie or games night. Make meal time sacred family time when you sit down together for dinner and take turns sharing the day’s events. - Manage and Take time for yourself.
Taking time for yourself has to be a priority. It’s something you should do no matter how tired you are. Drag yourself out the door to your fitness class, afterwards you will be in better humour and happy that you did something for yourself. Have your one favourite show a week and protect that time. - Make room for couple time.
It’s important to spend time interacting with your partner. Set aside time for one another. On Friday nights, book a baby-sitter whether you have plans or not. Even if it’s just for an hour when you can get away and go for a walk together. - Share your work experience with your children.
Through your words and actions, your children should know that they are a priority in your life, but it is also helpful to let them know that your work is important to you too. - Find time for fun.
Keep in mind that work is only one part of you. We only go around once, so it’s important to enjoy your life and make time for fun. Look for opportunities to enjoy life both at home and at work. Find the humour in things. Laugh. - Be there for important events in precious moments provided to your child.
There will be special moments in your children’s lives that may happen in a football game, a school concert, a speech. Most employers, managers, clients have families too and understand these family situations. Talk to your boss, explain your need to be there, have a plan in place as to how they can deal with your absence.
Interestingly, the same skills that contribute to your success on the job and make you a valued, productive employee are the skills you need to manage your home life and to achieve that healthy balance. These skills include:
- Planning - Setting goals and priorities and establishing a plan of action.
- Organizing - Saving time and energy by making "to do" lists, combining activities and errands, and easing transition times between home and work.
- Communicating Effectively - Building and strengthening relationships.
- Setting Limits - Deciding what you can and cannot do and learning to say "no". Saying "no" is actually saying "yes" to the things that are important to you.
- Delegating - Sharing the load with friends and family, hiring help when feasible.
- Establishing Support Systems - Reaching out to others both professionally and personally.
So, what is work’s purpose? Obviously, we work because we must. The pursuit of financial prosperity is a worthy goal. But work is more than that. Whether or not we have the freedom to easily get another job, seeing the true purpose of work changes our belief. Our belief in work’s purpose changes how we think and feel about. This changes the decisions we make, shifting the very trajectory of our life.
Work contains a thread that we can follow to a life of meaning, of purpose, of connection, and of care. It can be an integral part and of our journey to a life worth living. Or work can lead us to hollow desperation, deadened selfishness, and a life pursuing emptiness.
So how do we do this? Practically, what does this look like? And is this for everyone or a fortunate few?
We know there are three places we find meaning:
- Connecting in relationship.
- Making the world better for others.
- Becoming the best and fullest version of ourselves.
What we value, and our times of greatest fulfillment, fall under these three headings.
They give us a framework for meaning in life – in work and out of it.
Aligning work to its purpose is as simple as maximizing each of the three elements of meaning in our jobs and in our careers.
Comments
Post a Comment
"Thank you for seeking advice on your career journey! Our team is dedicated to providing personalized guidance on education and success. Please share your specific questions or concerns, and we'll assist you in navigating the path to a fulfilling and successful career."