One of the hottest questions striking the unpredictable and fast-paced business world is achieving work-life balance.
People right from the top-level to entry-level are struggling to manage the desired balance in their professional and personal lives. While not applicable to all, but for a majority of workers, technology, and access to social media, make it difficult for them to disconnect work from their private lives.
Independent studies on work-life balance conducted across the globe reveal, people favor achieving success at work while sacrificing personal happiness.
The question is, how far does this approach help in attaining work-life balance? To our assessment, it disturbs the natural flow of work, affects productivity, causes time loss, and employee burnout.
Does time management help?
Yes, to a greater extent, time management at the workplace allows alleviating busy schedules and supports focusing on meaningful activities. For example, spending quality time with family or friends or taking a break from work to enjoy hobbies. However, it appears simple on paper, but it is challenging for professionals to balance work and life.
In this article, we are focusing on ways to improve work-life balance and maintain productivity in the workplace.
What is work-life balance?
It is a state where personal matters do not affect or interfere with professional interests. It is a division of being productive at work and being happy outside the workplace at the same time. In simple words, it is an effort to maintain a healthy ratio between the two.
Here are a few ideas to attain work-life balance.
Managing time: To take control of work-life balance, keeping track of time allocated for daily activities. Calculate the time required for a particular task. Use a time-tracking application on the mobile phone. It helps to spot time-consuming activities.
Prioritizing: Besides time management, prioritizing, or breaking down tasks helps increase productivity at the workplace. Prepare a list starting with urgent tasks, followed by assignments needing less time. Prioritizing helps in meeting deadlines too. Apply the same method for personal goals and desires.
Justifying expectations: Most workers expect too much from themselves. To meet the right balance of work and life, they should lower expectations. All days are not the same, and stress from personal life affects performance. Recognizing the time taken to complete tasks without compromising quality usually results in free time to pursue personal hobbies.
No to work from home: Based on time required planning work schedule eases leaving work at the office, instead of choosing work from home. Communicating the limits to superiors and coworkers aids them to prioritize their work. Work late if required, but avoid working from home.
Be flexible: Not taking office work at home helps balance work and life. Similarly, being ready for flexible working hours also help maintain balance. Moreover, flexibility does not affect productivity. Using time management tools can help to retain efficiency.
To conclude, balancing work and personal life should not be difficult. All it needs is efficient time management to enjoy professional and personal life too.