Learning how to find a balance between work and life is important to everyone. Those who find that they have too much on their plate at once, often go into panic mode and end up not getting anything done. Consider these 3 tips to getting your work and life elements in alignment.
Regular Breaks
It is important that you take breaks from work. You need to take regular short breaks, ideally 15 minutes or more each day, and ensure that these breaks don’t become long enough to feel like work stoppages. But all in all, breaks are shown to not only help you relax a bit and have more time to yourself but can also greatly improve productivity if used correctly.
Here are a few things you can consider doing while on these short breaks to make the most out of them.
- Exercise
- Meditate
- Social Interactions
Exercise is fundamental for anyone trying to become more productive and have a better overall life quality. That being said you don’t have to do anything too complicated, even just some pushups or a light jog can release the right amount of dopamine you need to feel refreshed and get into a better mood, helping you to work more.
Meditation is another great option that can really boost your productivity. Meditating daily can help you think things more clearly and can get you to really focus on the tasks at hand while reducing the chance of burnout and improving your overall mood.
Social interactions are also not to be overlooked. Being able to stop working for a few minutes and chat with a friend or with your family, can greatly reduce stress and improve concentration when you do get back to your tasks.
It’s not always possible to take 15- 30 minute breaks throughout the day. When this is the case, take advantage of microbreaks, which can be anywhere from several minutes to several seconds. Microbreaks still do provide a powerful opportunity to physically and mentally relax and reset before jumping back into your work. Even just a 40-second microbreak every 15-30 minutes can work wonders for increasing productivity and achieving a healthy work-life balance.
Let go of Perfectionism
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we can always do things perfectly if we just do it ourselves. If we do not let go of these tendencies we will likely burn out frequently and end up not being able to accomplish any of the things we are aiming for.
It’s easy to say but if you really are a perfectionist you understand how hard it is to let go of that feeling that nothing is ever good enough. So how do we let go of perfectionism and create a healthy work-life balance?
Create more realistic goals and expectations. That’s easier said than done but, the first thing we must understand is that you don’t need things to be perfect to continue making progress. This is a misconception that many perfectionists have. Remember, it’s better to strive for excellence than for perfection.
We also need to challenge our inner critics more often.
We cannot let our motivation be the cause of our demise. It’s important to use healthy rewards and positive feedback to reach your goals rather than allowing your inner voice to affect your emotional wellbeing.
Turn down the volume on the negativity, and allow positivity to propel you on the road to a happy work-life balance.
On that same note, practice not holding others to your same standard. When everything you do is “perfect” it’s easy to fall into the trap of expecting others to execute the same way you do.
The sooner you can adjust your expectations, the quicker you’ll get rid of your headache and begin to create a better Work-life balance.
Become more productive
We oftentimes spend too much time doing things that don’t really help us when it comes to actually growing our businesses. And think of it like this, the sooner we can get our work in order, the sooner we can have time to relax and spend time with the ones we love.
The best way to become more productive is to limit time-wasting activities. If you find yourself spending too much time scrolling through emails or simply doing any simple task. You might want to consider outsourcing.
Outsourcing will help you improve the efficiency of your business while giving you access to talented and skilled workers from all around the world and also save money while doing it.
Also, it will allow you to have fewer time-consuming tasks on your plate so you have enough time to really achieve a balanced work-life.
Outsourcing can be hard at first, that’s why here at DoneMaker we have made it as easy as can be. Simply choose a task that you need done and wait 24 hours. This way you can have enough time to build and expand your business while also being able to live a happy and fulfilled life with the ones you care most for.
If you want to learn more on delegating business projects click here.
Another very important thing to keep in mind is the 80/20 Rule
What is the 80/20 Rule?
The 80/20 rule is the principle that 80% of your outcomes result from just 20% of your inputs. Put another way, 20% of what you do results in 80% of your outcomes. This really comes down to focus. Usually, during the first 20% of the work we do when we start a project, we are super motivated and concentrated. This yields us 80% of the results we are looking for, keep this in mind.
CONCLUSION:
The key to achieve a healthy work-life balance really boils down to taking control of your habits and time management. We must remember to take time off for ourselves and focus on our mental and physical health. Even if it’s for a few minutes at a time! This way the time we do spend working we make sure we are at 100%.
We must also remember that it’s not about obsessing over the details, it’s about getting things done.
Remember the 80/20 rule and try to work less but focused on the important tasks.
And lastly, make sure you are doing everything you can to improve your productivity and make the most of the time you have. Consider outsourcing parts of your daily tasks so you can fully focus on the more important tasks at hand.
If you want to learn more about how outsourcing can help improve productivity check out our blog!
