Work-Life Balance is not a destination – but rather a cycle that needs to be managed over time
The evidence that working long hours can be harmful to employees and employers exists. Why is it that we still struggle to move past our ingrained habits when it comes to long work hours? How do you free yourself from this unhealthy habit and move towards a life that is sustainable and provides a healthier balance between your work and personal life?
A Harvard study performed on approximately 200 individuals found that most of the individuals found their jobs to be “demanding, exhausting, chaotic, and they seemed to take for granted that working long hours was necessary for their professional success”. However, approximately 30% of men and 50% of women in the study consciously resisted working long hours to maintain a healthier work-life balance. The study revealed a common mental process amongst the group who consciously managed their work-life balance. The mental process followed lead to this group of professionals changing the way they worked and lived a more fulfilling life.
Achieving a balance between your personal and professional priorities comes down to asking yourself some tough questions to increase your self-awareness, and then taking intentional steps towards making this change. The important thing to remember is that work-life balance is not a destination but rather a cycle that needs to be managed over time. It isn’t something that has a one-time solution for, it requires continual on-going re-evaluation and adaptation.
The cycle to managing your work-life balance has 5 steps:
1. Pause and Re-evaluate.
Take a serious look at where you are at in your life, and ask yourself:
- What is it that is adding to my stress levels, the unbalanced in my life, or is resulting in a level of dissatisfaction?
- How are those circumstances impacting on my performance at work?
- How is my personal life being impacted?
- What am I prioritizing most at the moment?
- What am I sacrificing?
- What am I losing?
It is only after asking yourself these questions and acknowledging your truth, that you can begin to make the changes you need to make, that will result in a greater work-life balance and start your journey to de-normalize the habit of working long hours.
Some professionals are fine with working long hours however one still needs to consider these questions and acknowledge the trade-off’s you are making. It is now more important than ever to focus on better work-life balance especially with the increase in the number of people who are working from home, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend of work-from-home is likely to remain to some extent into the future, as companies have adapted and continue to adapt to what is proving to be a productive and employee friendly practice.
The additional stress of thinking about whether you will still have a job tomorrow has put greater pressure on people and their perspective of what’s necessary in order to keep their job. This has resulted in many cases of people working longer hours than they previously did, despite the time savings in travel to work. Whilst we are not saying don’t put in the hours to help secure your future, we are saying monitor this and ensure that it does not have a negative impact on your personal and family life. It boils down to consistency, and not in the perfect sense, but more in the continuous re-evaluation of creating balance. Continued long working hours is not sustainable and will negatively impact on your life, relationships, and even health.
2. Be aware of your emotions.
Once you have an awareness of your current situation, evaluate how your situation makes you feel. Do you feel energized and satisfied or are you angry, anxious, resentful, or generally feeling overwhelmed? Does your current situation invoke negative emotions?
Being aware of your emotional state is essential to recognizing what changes you may need to make to gain a better work-life balance.
3. Adjust your Priorities.
Once you have reflected on your emotions and increased your self-awareness, you should be able to better put things into perspective. With this new-found perspective you will be better equipped, motivated and energized to make the necessary changes, based on your newly adjusted priorities.
Important questions to ask yourself are:
- What are my real priorities in life (work, family, relationships, social, spiritual, health, financial, civic)?
- What am I currently sacrificing and for how long am I willing to sacrifice? Why is it that I am prioritizing my life this way?
- If you prioritise work over family – Is it necessary and healthy?
- What do you regret and what will you regret if you continue the way you are?
- What am I no longer prepared to sacrifice?
Work and personal priorities can change rapidly, and it is because of this rapid change that one often needs to take a step back and re-evaluate where you are at. It is important to realise that there is more to us than just our professional personas or lives. We are also spouses, parents, children, friends and family members, and all have varied interests and hobbies.
Your work is but one part of your life, not your whole life.
4. Consider your options.
Improving your situation will take time and reflection. Consider what are your options and alternatives. For example, in terms of your work life, there are several questions you need to ask yourself, such as:
- What are the components of your work you would like to change?
- How much family time do you have and how much would you like?
- How much time do you have to do things that you like or hobbies that you have?
- What can I automate, do more effectively and/or more efficiently?
- What systems and processes/ways of doing work can I improve on, and how do I achieve this?
- How do I minimize interruptions and maximize output?
- How well do I plan my work and diary?
- How can I improve on my planning?
- In my planning do I anticipate obstacles, and take this into account in my planning?
- What do I need to:
- Stop doing;
- Start doing;
- Continue doing in order to improve on my work efficiencies and effectiveness.
A similar process can be used to address balance in the other areas of your life.
It is important not to let the process overwhelm you but to rather look at it in a positive way that will have a positive impact on not just your work life, but also all other aspects of your life, and ultimately your happiness and wellbeing. It has been proven that the more exhausted an individual becomes the less effective they are. So, whilst one believes the longer hours are a good thing, in many cases it is counter-productive, as all that happens is that the same amount of work is still being done, but it is just spread over a longer period of time, as the individual is performing at a less effective rate due to emotional, physical or mental exhaustion and even burn-out.
5. Implement the changes you want.
Once you have determined what your priorities are, it is time to implement the changes you want. There are various methods of implementing these changes, such as:
- Improving efficiencies in your current job;
- Planning and organizing your work and personal life better;
- Taking time out to focus on your needs and the things that fill your cup;
- Making personal changes where you informally change your behavioral patterns and habits.
- If all else fails, and you still feel that your work dominates your life and the balance in unhealthy, then look for a new job or position with different responsibilities and work pressures that offers a better balance;
What is important to realise is that the combination of changes that you implement, should ideally lead to lasting change, not through a one-time fix all but rather a continuous focus on and change in your habits and self-awareness. You need to continually re-assess and manage your work-life balance throughout your working life.
Finally, remember to stop being so hard on yourself and cut yourself some slack. All we can ever strive for is to take care of ourselves and be the best version of ourselves - do not compare yourself to others and remember, you are not a robot.
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