Achieving a Good Work-Life Balance

Work – Life Balance : The Holy Grail

So this #wmhd the theme is work-life balance.  Can this really be achieved and am I the best person to comment on this as I have been known to work late into the night and well over my weekly hours each week!!!  But that was then and I have been working really hard to ensure that I get more of a balance in my life, with two young kids, elderly relatives and a physical challenge usually on the horizon there is plenty outside of work to keep me occupied.

So here are my top tips :

Use what you know about yourself

We tend to know ourselves quite well, what makes us tick, what makes us stressed, what helps de-stress.  Use what you know about yourself whenever you can to influence your work pattern/environment.  If you find this difficult get some support e.g. a coach or mentor!

Protect time for yourself

Especially if you have family to look after; its easy to get to the end of the day and realise you have run out of time to do anything for yourself.  I have a number of things I like to do for me each day including mindfulness and regular exercise, I even watch TV occasionally!

Set yourself a personal challenge

Exercise is good for you but it you don’t have a goal to aim for it can be more difficult to motivate yourself to do it.  Try setting yourself a challenge, enter a race, do a park run, walk the 3 peaks, play golf around the world!  It doesn’t matter what it is but have something to aim for, even better, involve a friend.

Set realistic targets

Everyday at work I identify the ONE thing I have to get done. Yes just ONE.  It may not seem much and I often achieve much more but to keep stress at bay prioritise the most important thing you must get done and if you achieve that then you feel in a much better place.

Don’t sweat the small stuff

Yes maybe you could have been more diplomatic, you could have been clearer, you could have written it better, the car journey was irritating…there are literally hundreds of things in a day that challenge and annoy us but most of it is incidental and won’t really have a major impact on our lives.  Let it go. There are plenty of really important things to worry about!  But make it something that is within your control to change.  If you really can’t let it go get some support.

Practice makes perfect

It’s not easy this looking after yourself business, it takes practice so do it.  Practice each and every day.  If you don’t achieve it today try again tomorrow and the day after, don’t give yourself a hard time about it.  It’s the only way to succeed.

Oops, nearly forgot – HAVE FUN, at least a little, every day.

Ruth Kettle