Work-life balance is a term that often gets thrown around in the context of culture change, but what does it really mean and how can you achieve it? In this article, we will explore some of the benefits and challenges of finding a healthy balance between your professional and personal life, and share some tips on how to set realistic expectations for yourself and others.
Work-life balance is not just a buzzword, it is a key factor for your well-being, productivity, and satisfaction. When you have a good balance, you can enjoy the rewards of your work, while also having time and energy for your hobbies, family, friends, and self-care. A good balance can also reduce stress, burnout, and health problems, and improve your creativity, motivation, and performance. On the other hand, when you have a poor balance, you may feel overwhelmed, exhausted, frustrated, and unhappy, and your work and personal life may suffer as a result.
First, let's define what work-life balance is, simply said, it is a state of balance in which someone prioritizes the demands of his/her career and the demands of his/her personal life - family included - equally. Some negative causes when it is wrongly managed are: constant overwork; neglected personal life; burnout; and, lack of self-care, strained relationships. Some recommendations to have workstress under a healthy and managable control are: accept that there is no ‘perfect’ work-life balance; embrace the way brain works; prioritize health; set blocks of time for different tasks (end work at a certain tiem). Remember, there is just one life and without a doubt, it′s purpose is to be enjoyed along with the lovely ones. Good luck!!!
I do not believe in work-life balance. If you are in a journey of growth, you will always be out of balance. The key is to 1st understand your values and evaluated how you are living them out (or not). 2nd, prioritize your activities/actions according to those values. In your journey, you will make priority shifts in different seasons. Right now, to look at my life, you would think it is out of balance with all of the travel that I am doing in the work I do. But, in the bigger picture, I have made a priority decision that this is a season dedicated to this intensity of work based on the impact it will have and with the agreement and support of my wife. It requires me to be very intentional in my time with my wife during this season.
From my perspective it is getting more and more important for many people. However, think it is important that work-life balance differs greatly per person and it is not just the amount of work/hours versus time off. Also balance can be off for some time and be ok again afterwards. So many variables that can impact balance. Important that people and leaders understand how to address and talk about it in a way that people can own their own balance. If the balance is too long off, it can have consequences at work and home.
One thing I found helpful was not to bring work home and not to work on the weekends. I learnt not to be hard on myself as a sole provider for my household just because I wanted to be ahead of my deliverables so I have time on my hand to do home making and other family responsibilities. So I chose 'me and family time' over keeping to meet my personal deadlines after work. I enjoy engaging with family more and daily remind myself to slow down so I don't experience a burn out. Choose you and your family. Keep a journal of daily choices you make to out a smile on your face and that of your family. Work will always be there, you can't replace family with work and you enjoy work more when you enjoy a happy family.
Work life balance is not about the amount of time you spend in each different aspect of your life. It’s about how much you genuinely enjoy each of those parts of your life, without compromising any other part. If you truly love your work, then one person’s “balance” for them may well be doing 12 hour days and being happy to check emails at the weekend. That’s fine. As long as then when you spend time with family / friends around that, you are 100% present and not half on line and half in the room. There is no rule of thumb, and everyone is different, but it’s about quality over quantity every time.
Work-life balance is not a one-size-fits-all concept, as it is determined by various factors that may be different for each person, such as personality, values, goals, preferences, responsibilities, and circumstances. For example, your workload and deadlines, work environment and culture, communication and boundaries, support system and resources, flexibility and autonomy, and habits and routines can all influence your balance.
The one thing I found very helpful throughout my career was not to talk about work-life balance, but to search for the answer to the question: Am I doing what I love to do AND/OR do I love what I’m doing? And sometimes I may have lost sight of that myself, but as this question was always there I managed to get back on track rather quickly - sometimes making difficult and challenging decisions. And as a result now, at the age of 70, I dare to say ‘I’ve never worked a day in my life, I simply lived a life searching for my gift(s) and sharing them with others’. Feeling very grateful for that!
There is a need to understand what you want in life and where you are on that journey. Working long hours is not an issue if you feel it is contributing to your future success. Work/life balance needs to be taken into perspective over your career. You may work more at the beginning of your career to have a far better balance later on.
As a take out from my experience as a Wellbeing Lead in a multinational company, work life balance can be affected by many factors, some of them come from inside the workplace (eg. workload, performance pressure, absence of boundaries), and other factors happen to be outside the workplace (eg. family pressure, health conditions, a competitive talent market overall, financial pressure). In some countries, employees are more prone to negative influences on their work life balance than in others. However, there are always efficient corporate strategies to help individuals find their work-life balance. It typically starts with the employee becoming aware of their wellbeing situation, and actively reaching out for help and resources.
Establish regular feedback mechanisms to keep a pulse on the effectiveness of your work-life balance initiatives. Encourage employees to provide input on what's working and what needs improvement.
Medo da perda ou crer que somente um dos lados da vida é importante, gera desequilíbrio. Ele pode ser visto no workaholic ou em trabalhos excessivos que necessite de extensas e constantes horas de trabalho, também pode surgir por culturas que praticam e valorizam o 24/7, e você se permite continuar por acreditar ser sua única op??o. Por outro lado, alguns pensam que dedica??o ao trabalho igual a si mesmo ou a família, é uma equa??o burra de enriquecer as empresas dos outros e acabar com a própria vida, mas n?o é sobre as empresas que trabalhamos, é sobre ser útil, deixar legado, realizar propósitos, construir uma carreira profissional que gere alegria e satisfa??o diariamente. Equilibre, mas goste de tudo que faz e curta a trajetória.
Before you can set realistic expectations for your work-life balance, you need to have a clear picture of your current situation. To do this, ask yourself how you feel about your work and your life, how much time and energy you spend on each aspect of your life, what sources of stress and satisfaction exist in your life, what trade-offs and consequences come with your choices, and what gaps and opportunities for improvement exist in your balance.
Work-life balance is a chimera. Everyone is searching. Rarely does one find someone saying I’ve got it. 1. The balance is very personal. For one, golf 4 times a week, and some work for livelihood. For another, 48 hours of money earning work, and quiet evenings with the family. Relevance is the only measure here. 2. It will happen when one let’s go and rather focus on outcomes and impact. Meaningful Contributions to one’s roles is the only measure : as an employee, a family person, as a member of community etc. 3. Think of the life one wants, not work_life balance. Otherwise it’s a either or thinking. The mental model has to be an ‘and’ one. Good work & family & personal time and so on. Not any one at the cost of any other.
Work-life balance is a misnomer because work is a part of life. A subset can never be balanced against the whole set. In every job, there are parts that you love and parts that you hate. When hate parts become more than the love parts, you start experiencing imbalance. In any case, when desire for more money trumps pursuit of mastery and growth, one embarks on a slippery slope of imbalance.
In my experience, our demanding work cultures have made achieving a healthy work-life balance a little difficult. As a result, I help individuals, teams, and many organizations shift their focus towards a newer concept - work-life integration. This approach recognizes that work and personal life are not separate entities, but rather interconnected. Understanding the concept of work-life integration helps prioritize our tasks. Instead of viewing work and personal life as two separate entities, work-life integration encourages us to view them as one holistic entity. As a result, we can prioritize our tasks based on their importance and urgency, rather than compartmentalizing our time between work and personal life.
In the words of Sudghara, “there is no such thing as a work life balance, the balance has to be within you”. Work life balance can be misconstrued as a time framework. The amount of hours you work in a day. Personally I believe it’s more about self awareness, boundaries and energy work. Knowing when to bring it, knowing when to rest and knowing what fills your cup up. My cup, is a decaf, soya latte, a signal to take 5, take a deep breath, and a cup of self love. It really can be that simple. ??
Con espacio a equivocarme, las personas que aman (tanto lo que hacen, como sus familias, su vida, su estado existencial y sus circunstancias profesionales y personales), viven en un “continuum vital” que les permite darse al 100% presentes en cada situación. Esto les permite vivir en una libertad interior y emocional que favorece su desempe?o allá donde estén.
Once you have assessed your current balance, you can start setting realistic expectations for yourself, based on your needs, wants, and priorities. To do this, define what work-life balance means to you and what you value most in your life. Then, create SMART goals for both your work and personal life. After that, plan your schedule and activities according to your goals and priorities. Additionally, track your progress and adjust your expectations as needed. Finally, celebrate your achievements and reward yourself for all of your efforts.
I feel in the first instance, setting realistic expectations is to recognise that work-life balance is very rarely 50:50. If anything, it tends to be a fluid affair where we need to flex situationally as demands shift. In the second instance, a sign of maturity in emotional intelligence is to understand that work-life balance is about defying physics i.e. being able to shift the ‘fulcrum’ where it’s needed for as long as it’s needed, maintaining ‘balance’ and then having the wherewithal to reassess your ‘centre’. For example, times of intensity may require a 70:30 split for one side versus the other. Clearly such an environment is not sustainable in a limitless fashion and therefore needs an intervention at some point.
Die Definition von Work-Life-Balance ist individuell. Durch die Festlegung von SMART-Zielen für Beruf und Privatleben, angepasst an Ihre Bedürfnisse und Priorit?ten, schaffen Sie eine Basis für Erfüllung und Erfolg. Gerade der Jahreswechsel eignet sich dazu. Zeitmanagement und regelm??ige Reflexion Ihres Fortschritts helfen, Ihre Balance zu erhalten und anzupassen. Feiern Sie Ihre Erfolge und erkennen Sie den Wert Ihrer Aktivit?ten an. Reflexionsfragen: 1. Welche Aspekte meines Lebens ben?tigen mehr Aufmerksamkeit? 2. Wie messbar und realistisch sind meine gesetzten Ziele? 3. Welche Ver?nderungen oder Erfolge kann ich bereits feiern?
Perspective is important in understanding realistic expectations of the balance between your work life and leisure (non work) life. What is important is living in the now and not to worry about what you may have or may not have done. There is always another day. Enjoy you work time as much as your leisure time, but do not confuse either.
Realistic expectations are for the lazy. Seriously. I believe in high standards for myself and those I work with. Lackluster performance motivates no one. To help people grow, give them challenging work and reward them for their accomplishments. The top 25% accomplish more than the bottom 75%. The only companies I worked with multiple times were the best in their industry or niche. Set your sites low, you will fail. Set expectations sky-high, and we all achieve more. As singer Tony Orlando said decades ago, "Shoot for the Moon! Even if you miss, you will still land amongst the stars."
Algunas ideas que he aplicado: - No es cantidad de tiempo en casa (o en el trabajo) es la calidad de tiempo. - Utilizar el tiempo personal para lo que realmente te aporta como estar con tu familia o tu hobby favorito. - Priorizar, no se puede hacer todo a la vez… dedicarnos tiempo es importante, hay que saber cómo distribuirlo y aprovecharlo. - Ponernos metas hasta para disfrutar… luego de lograr cerrar un proyecto o de cumplir algún objetivo laboral celebrarnos, descansar, bajar el ritmo (no somos máquinas). Finalmente y lo más importante, si el trabajo que realizas te apasiona, podrás acercarte más y mejor al equilibrio… si no es así… lograrlo será más difícil. ??????
In order to maintain a healthy balance in life, setting realistic expectations for yourself is not enough, you must also communicate them to others, such as your boss, colleagues, clients, family, and friends. Doing so can help you avoid any misunderstandings or conflicts that may arise and create a supportive and respectful environment. To help with this process, you should be clear and honest about your availability, capacity, and boundaries. Negotiate and agree on mutual expectations and responsibilities with those around you. Additionally, delegate or outsource tasks that are not essential or aligned with your goals. Ask for and offer feedback and assistance when necessary. Lastly, always remember to respect and appreciate the expectations and balance of others.
When people talk about work-life balance, often Bhutan comes to my mind. While countries measure their GDPs (Gross Domestic Product), this country measures its GNH (Gross National Happiness). In short, I would say one should emulate this 8 hours work, 8 hours leisure and 8 hours sleep (8-8-8 rule) as their work-life balance formula. While the definition of work-life balance may differ from one person to another, I find this rule is optimal for anyone. Remember, everything in moderation is the best, but when one tries for the extreme, it cannot be sustained for a long term, or it can create unhappiness due to unrealistic expectation. Also, be mindful of how we treat our body, mind and spirit, fully recharged responsibly for the best.
Balancing work and personal life can not be simply divided by 50:50, because it will be impossible. At times, work requires more time and efforts. While at the other times, personal life needs attention more. Therefore, the key is the communication to others and be honest with the situation so that they (boss, colleague, team, spouses, kids, family) will understand. Because we’re all human being, not programmable machine that can not be negotiated. With good communication and understanding, the balance tipping point will be achieved.
Recognizing that expectations, goals often change. That it is important to keep pace with the dynamic, ever evolving environment we live and work in with regular, timely check ins and updates. That flexibility, understanding and compassion are key to setting expectations for others. Keeping channels of communication open, respectful and transparent is also key.
As a leader, setting realistic expectations for others really comes down to 3 things: modelling the behaviours you aspire to see in your organisation, being consistent and ensuring there’s a level of tolerance that allows for individuals to act accordingly. We all react in different ways when it comes to demands whether life or work related. Therefore the modern workplace needs to accommodate these demands situationally and then communicate clearly, provide support as needed and intervene as necessary.
Set the standards, confirm the resources, keep track of the changes, and learn to embrace success and failures as part of life - make it a norm. It's humbling to embrace failures .
Work-life balance is not a static or perfect state, it is a dynamic and ongoing process that requires constant adaptation and resilience. Unexpected events, emergencies, deadlines, demands, or transitions may disrupt your balance and cause stress. To cope with these challenges, it is important to accept and embrace the uncertainty and complexity of life. Prioritizing and focusing on the most important and urgent tasks, seeking help from others, practicing self-compassion and kindness, and taking breaks to recharge your energy are all essential steps in managing work-life balance.
Como profissional, lidar com desafios e mudan?as é uma parte essencial do meu trabalho. Para enfrentar essas situa??es, eu procuro manter uma mentalidade aberta e adaptável. Isso significa estar disposto a aprender com novas experiências, buscar solu??es criativas e estar aberto a diferentes perspectivas.
A aceita??o de que a vida é mudan?a e desafio, sendo que a maior parte dela está fora do seu controle, nos traz a consciência de que resistir à elas só trará ansiedade e frustra??es. Caminhar em dire??o ao imprevisto, ao desconfortável e ao incerto, e conseguir sair do outro lado, certamente é a melhor forma de nos desenvolvermos e nos tornarmos pessoas melhores.
Often challenges and changes are fun and exciting - but then we call them opportunities and improvements. And sometimes challenges and changes can be overwhelming. The good news is that this stress can be reduced with a slight shift in your mindset. I suggest to write everything down: - How do I feel, when am I stressed? - When will this change? - What needs to happen to overcome the stress? - What benefits will I have in the future once I have overcome the challenge? - What do I need to reduce my feeling of being overwhelmed? You will see that the writing will help you to organize your thoughts and perhaps even put your stress into perspective. But at least it will help you to better understand what you need in order to cope better.
Social network and support systems are very critical in psychological well- being. Build your social network in and out of work and make sure you spare specific time every week to socialize with others including family, friends and colleagues. Especially in hybrid and remote work settings, I see less people socializing with colleagues at work- then when they got stuck and need support there is no one to consult or get help. Have a cup of coffee with at least 2 people every other week and keep your social life alive!
Lidar com desafios e mudan?as é uma habilidade essencial para o sucesso pessoal e profissional. Aqui est?o algumas estratégias que podem ajudar: Aceita??o: Aceite que os desafios e mudan?as s?o inevitáveis na vida. A resistência pode aumentar o estresse, enquanto a aceita??o permite que você se adapte mais facilmente. Adapta??o: Desenvolva uma mentalidade de adapta??o. Esteja aberto a ajustar suas estratégias conforme a situa??o evolui. Foco no Controle Interno: Concentre-se no que você pode controlar. Nem todos os aspectos de uma situa??o est?o sob seu controle, mas sua rea??o e atitude geralmente est?o.
I love the thought of carefully considering, choosing and sticking to your non-negotiables. For example, choose family time to be family time and not interrupted by emails, work calls etc. protect that time and be relentless with this! When you decide to switch off from work, make sure you create a routine to switch on to home ‘you’. If your home environment is also your work environment, create a routine to help you switch on and off. For example, if you don’t have a daily commute, create one! Even if this is walking outside and back inside. This sets a signal that you’re switching on or off to work. Most importantly, please be kind to yourself. Spend time looking after you, recharge your battery ?? and remember you’re fab! L
The core question we must address is not work-life balance, but rather the separation between our income source and our pursuits. Frequently, we assume they are inseparable, yet they remain distinct aspects of our lives. While income is essential for our livelihood, it doesn't necessarily reflect our passions or values. This realization challenges us to explore opportunities that align income with our true selves, fostering fulfillment in both professional and personal realms. The quest extends beyond balance and into harmoniously intertwining these facets while recognizing their independence.
Never forget the fact that you got to leave behind all what you have achieved, accumulated one day in this journey of life. So be very clear as to how you want live this life?
It is very important to assess your current state before you embark on planning your next steps for a better work-life balance. Have a look at Mayo Clinic Burnout self assessment questionnaire. I see many of my clients come to me with a plea to help them set up their work life balance, whereas it is the burn out that we need to pay attention to first. If you are in the state of a burnout, planning to improve your work-life balance might simply irritate you even more.
In my experience, one of the best things we can do, is cultivate more awareness. Without it, we tend to get swept along on autopilot, doing what needs to be done to keep on top of the work. With more awareness we can begin to see things more clearly, check our behaviour and restore some balance in life. The work will always be there, but somethings, like family and our own wellbeing are more important. Interestingly, I found that with more awareness and a calmer nervous system, work challenges were easier to tackle and invariably got done in a lot less time than previously.