Tips for a Better Work-Life Balance
Whether you are working from home or have returned to the office, it can be challenging to maintain a good work-life balance.
It can be tempting to say “yes” to extra responsibilities to be a team player or because you want to move up in your career. However, constantly adding more to your plate may set you up for stress and burnout. Here are some tips to help you balance the work-life scale.
Put Yourself First
You can have a highly productive work ethic while still being good to yourself! Your value as a human being doesn’t rest on your ability to work, and it’s important to remember that you are valuable even when you deserve a break.
It may be a good idea to try some mindful self-compassion. Try to be gentle with yourself, and understand that none of us are perfect, and we are doing the best we can. You could even try out our guided practice here!
Keep in mind that the goal of therapy or even self-care is to guide yourself towards maintaining a loving and compassionate stance towards yourself; much like a loving parent.
Tell yourself it’s ok to unplug
With us connecting to work via email and our phones, it can be easy to fall into a neverending workday. Constantly being available for emails or phone calls may take up more of your time and drain your energy.
A good way to combat this is to set strict work times and rest times. For example, promise not to answer work emails when having dinner with your family, or if you are at your child’s game, wait on those text messages. By setting good work boundaries, you can free yourself from the constant workday.
Similarly, extend this same kindness to others by using the schedule function on emails you write late at night or over the weekend, so they don’t show up in your colleague’s inbox until working hours.
Trick your brain
While it can be hard to leave work at work, especially when you work at home, there are some helpful tricks to play on your brain to maintain the barrier between work and free time.
Work from home? Have a dress code! Some people find it easier to be in a work mindset when they are in “work clothes.” While it may be much comfier to wear yoga pants while you send emails, perhaps dressing up a bit for work or having a specific “work outfit” will put you in the mindset of work. This small dress code adherence can also relieve you when you finally put on those sweatpants at the end of the day.
Whether you work from home or not, Perhaps just doing a minor clean-up of your work area after all your work has finished could help end the day.
Overall, maintaining a good work-life balance can be difficult, but it’s important to remember you are always worth it and if you have children, remember you are ALWAYS modeling behavior for them. So let them see you being kind to yourself
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