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Balancing your professional and personal life is challenging but is crucial for success. You may often find that your work takes precedence over everything else in your life. While it is good to strive and be motivated in a professional sense, you face the risk of negative consequences for your mental and physical health when you set aside your well-being.
Creating a balance between work and life integration improves your physical, emotional, and mental health. Balance also helps you tend to the areas of your life that need attention daily.
THERE IS NO PERFECT WORK-LIFE BALANCE
When you hear work-life balance, you might envision an extremely productive day at work and then spending the other half tending to your needs. Though this might seem ideal, it is not always possible. Don't strive for the perfect schedule; instead, create a realistic schedule. A realistic schedule accommodates the fact that you might need to focus more on work some days, while on other days, you might need to focus more on self-care and hobbies. Remember, balance happens over time, not each day.
When you create a rigid schedule, you set yourself up to give up on that schedule upon the first missed task or goal. It is important to remain fluid and consistently assess where you are with your goals and priorities. Sometimes your family will need you; sometimes, your work will need you, and a good schedule to provoke balance is one that allows you to be open and redirect your needs on any given day.
KEEP GROWING PROFESSIONALLY
Although work is essential for providing financial support and security, it can be much more draining if you dislike what you do. Frankly, if you dislike what you do, you will not be happy about going to work. However, while circumstances might not allow you to leave, pursuing other professional goals and exploits that you love provides a horizon line and motivate you to not only endure your day but excel forward. Finding a job that you enjoy that's not draining allows you more time to enjoy things outside of work because you are not typically stressing or dreading the workload.
PRIORITIZE YOUR HEALTH
Your health and recovery are always the primary concern. If you struggle with anxiety, depression, or substance use, take time to manage your feelings. Practicing mindfulness, meditation, exercising, and seeing a therapist allows you to get in touch with your feelings. In a way, taking time out to focus on your health allows you a breath to reduce stress and even gain some perspective on things. When you have a particularly rough day, don't be afraid to call out of work to take a day for yourself. Overworking prevents you from getting better.
Prioritizing your health will also help you become a better employee and person. You will become more productive both in and away from the office. Managing your health needs does not need to consist of radical or extreme activities; it might be as simple as allowing yourself 5-10 minute breaks throughout your workday to take a breath and let your thoughts wander.
IT'S OKAY TO UNPLUG
Our smart devices have become so integrated into how we spend our time both personally and professionally. However, this also means that we always have access to our work and other distractions. Cutting ties from the outside world from time to time allows you to recover from weekly stress, and it gives you space for other thoughts and ideas. Using the free time to read, write or sit outside allows you the opportunity to decompress.
Think of your brain like a hard drive in that it is constantly storing and processing information, and when overloaded, it can bog down the entire system. However, when you take the time to run a disk compression, it allows your computer memory to compress and release unnecessary information that takes up room on the system. Your brain does a similar compression during sleep, and it also does when you allow it a break from taking in more information to sort through and organize the thoughts already stored in your memory.
SET BOUNDARIES AFTER WORK HOURS
Setting boundaries in and around your workday can prevent you from burnout. Make it a rule that when you leave the office, your work will stay there. If you work from home, as soon as five hits, stop what you are doing and leave your work as you would if you were in the office. Consider having a separate computer or phone so you can shut that off, too. If that is not possible, use different browsers, emails, or filters for your work and personal use.
Whenever possible, try to give your weekends off, or if not, possibly find a portion of the week where you can take a day or two for yourself. Let your co-workers know your schedule, so they understand that they will not be able to reach you at certain times unless there is an emergency.
Balance over excess is always the key to achieving and sustaining any personal and professional endeavors. At START UP RECOVERY, we aim to help individuals who might be at a personal or professional standstill break through the glass ceilings to achieve the best success and harmony. We will help you continue to expand upon your network, introducing you to other individuals as motivated and enthusiastic as you are about your recovery and success. The relationships formed at START UP are beneficial to you on a career level and a personal level. We will help you find the transformation you have been searching for to propel you forward in life and recovery. If you are ready to find success, balance, and overall harmony, then the time to act is now. Remember, success happens upon taking the first step to getting help, so get help today. To find out more, call START UP RECOVERY at 310-773-3809.