Summary
- A good work-life balance
- How do I know if my work-life balance is unhealthy?
- Helping yourself
- How your workplace can help
A good work-life balance
A healthy work-life balance will mean different things to us all. It’s not so much about splitting your time 50/50 between work and leisure but making sure you feel fulfilled and content in both areas of your life. A healthy balance could be:
- meeting your deadlines at work while still having time for friends and hobbies
- having enough time to sleep properly and eat well
- not worrying about work when you’re at home.
This can be challenging if, for example, we also have caring responsibilities, a demanding boss or health difficulties.
How do I know if my work-life balance is unhealthy?
It can be easy to normalise working long hours or being under extreme stress, especially if we’ve been doing it for a long time or all our colleagues are in the same boat. Our assumptions and habits around work can become deep-rooted unless we take a step back once in a while.
It’s not always possible to make changes at work: if you’re on a zero-hours contract, you might not feel comfortable speaking up, for instance, or you might need to work long hours to earn enough money to pay your bills. But for those who can make changes, recent research,Work-life balance is a cycle, not an achievement,suggests regularly checking your work-life balance by following five steps.
- Pause. Ask yourself: what’s currently causing me stress or unhappiness? How is that affecting my work and personal life? What am I prioritising? What am I losing out on?We often don’t take the time to reflect on work until there’s a major life event, such as the birth of a child or the loss of someone close to us. But just pausing and thinking about your priorities can help you discover whether the way you’re living and working is right for you
- Pay attention to your feelings. Now you’re more aware of your current situation, how does it make you feel? Are you fulfilled and happy or angry and resentful? Being aware of your feelings can help you decide which changes you want to make
- Reprioritise. Think about what needs to change. For example, you might want to ask yourself if working long hours is worth losing out on family time or whether working weekends is worth losing out on your social life
- Consider your alternatives. Is there anything at work you can change to meet your new priorities?
- Make changes. Maybe that’s asking for flexible hours, making sure you use all your annual leave or not checking your emails at the weekend, for example
