For many people, finding a way to create a balance between their professional and personal lives is a serious challenge. If you’re focused on your career or work in a busy industry, it may seem nearly impossible to find enough time to do everything you want and manage all your responsibilities. There are plenty of other people out there who feel the same as you do and feel overwhelmed by all they have to fit into a single day.
You know that if you slack off, you could be out of a job and there’s someone else ready to apply to your position. Keeping work separate from your personal life is hard enough to begin with, thanks to technology making people available around the clock. While this kind of pressure can seem daunting, avoid letting the stress overwhelm you and learn how to juggle your life at and outside of work.
Set boundaries
When you’re trying to develop a work-life balance, the most important thing you can do is create boundaries between work and your personal life. Choose a specific time when you’re done working for the night and won’t read or answer emails or try to finish up work after that time. Do your best to never break this rule. Then, you know that after 7 PM, you’ll never have to worry about still doing work.
Take time to unplug
Related to setting boundaries, it’s incredibly important you take time to unplug from the rest of the world. Various studies have shown that it’s detrimental to stare at a computer or phone screen right before bed, so consider shutting off your electronics an hour or two before you actually plan to fall asleep. Read a book instead, or work on another project that doesn’t involve technology.
Create a routine
Trying to find balance between work and the rest of your life can best be accomplished by establishing a routine. You need a schedule you can follow that helps you avoid overwhelming yourself with work. Schedule your time to work, but then also make a little time each day to spend doing something you enjoy that’s not work related, such as cooking, reading a book for pleasure, or taking a walk.
Start exercising
If you’re becoming stressed out by trying to juggle work and the rest of your life, find time to exercise for a little bit each day. You may feel like you can’t fit one more activity into your already packed schedule, but as you create your routine, you’ll realize you can fit in half an hour of exercising, whether it’s going for a walk, going to the gym, or doing yoga at home. Exercise is great at relieving stress and clearing your mind, so you’ll see positive results from daily exercise.
Find a support system
As you learn to create a work-life balance, find a support system from the people you trust and know care about you. Talk to your family and friends and have them hold you accountable for whether you’re doing work outside of the hours you set for yourself or are avoiding having much of a social life because you’re too caught up in working all the time. Even if you just talk to them about what’s stressing you out, you’ll feel more relaxed and like you can handle it all.