How to reach a healthy work-life balance that includes lots of self-care

Saying “yes” only when you mean it, helps build your integrity. Coworkers will learn when you say something, they can trust your words represent your true thoughts. You need to create some space between you and your job, or between yourself and some colleagues. Saying “yes” to everything at work can be tempting. By making yourself available, taking on extra tasks, or staying late, you can often make yourself stand out more. Being too accommodating, however, might also lead to more stress and even worse, a burnout. On top of that, you will also have less time to spend with your partner or your other loved ones. Learning how to set healthy boundaries at work might take some practice, but establishing them early may help you avoid uncomfortable situations down the line.

 

Working a full-time job, while maintaining relationships with friends and family, can be overwhelming sometimes. If you’re stretched too thin, ask yourself if there’s anything your partner or a loved one can help with. Maybe it’s groceries or laundry, every little bit helps! If you’re worried about being a burden, consider this: your partner would much rather be asked to help than feel helpless when you’re stressed. This also applies to your job. Working hard is one thing, but you can’t do everything by yourself. Your colleagues would rather help you out than create a situation of chaos where no one wins. Teamwork makes the dream work! Working together more often also creates a better bond with your team and can even lead to real friendships. Take time together to wind down from a busy day by doing something fun after work or go on a lunch date outside the office.

 

We know scheduling sounds more like a work thing, but it can be useful in your personal life as well. You can set aside a designated time to talk about “the hard stuff”, work-related subjects, … and try to stick with a specific time to end the conversation. Your partner or your family don’t want to associate time together with nonstop stressful topics. So, when the timer goes off, it’s time to close off that conversation and do something you enjoy!

 

Feelings and work don’t seem like they go together, but when you think about it: they’re bound to intertwine at some point. It’s important to be able to express yourself at work and be a listening ear to colleagues who do the same. This creates trust and togetherness in the company. It also ensures that you’re not carrying any emotional baggage on top of your work responsibilities. (mental) health is wealth!

 

When you leave the office at the end of the day, you should also leave the mental space of work. Regular self-care rituals can help reduce stress and boost a healthy work-life balance. Self-care activities can be anything from exercise, meditation, to games or hobbies that calmly redirect your attention. Develop a ritual or regular activity for when you arrive at home after a workday to transition from work mode into a more relaxed state of mind. For example, you could take a warm bath, go for a run at the park or watch an episode of your favorite show. Regardless of what your ritual is, it can help you further relax and forget about work.

 

This advice also applies when working remotely. Although remote working brings lots of positive lifestyle benefits, it can also be more difficult to disconnect from work when your office is your living room. Separating work and personal life is becoming such an issue that people are questioning if they’re working from home or living at work. We are living in a digital age which makes disconnecting difficult as all channels of communication are always on. It’s important to create a ‘shutdown ritual’. The 'out of sight, out of mind' theory is a great way to disconnect from your workday. If you see your laptop around the house, you may automatically think about the work you still have to do. Simply hiding work related items can prevent that to-do list trigger. Unplugging combats stress, which can be detrimental to your health and productivity if left unchecked.

 

Remember the goal of anything in life is balance. When you take care of your needs first and show up with your full presence and heart for your family, friends or partner, that is more than enough for them. And it’s the same for work, all you can do is your best, which may not look the same every day and that’s ok. Even if you love what you do, your job can still be a source of stress. At the end of the day, it can be hard to leave stress at the door, and for many people, it can negatively affect their downtime. When you have a good work-life balance, it helps you be more present in your personal life as well as attentive and productive professionally during your work hours. Leave work at work where it belongs for your own mental peace and well-being.