Struggling with Work Life Balance

Personally i don't like the word - "Work-Life" as here Work comes before Life and that shouldn't be the case. We work, so that we can live a Life and not otherwise - we don't have a Life, because we have to Work.

Working as Head - Business Intelligence, I joined my new organization 3 months ago. During the first quarter I had to learn the business, data, solve problems, challenges along with knowing my team better, training and motivating them to work effectively. All this while working from home, where I have 2 kids, who after their online classes, need me to play with. My wife, who is an entrepreneur and needs my support (sometimes) to overcome business challanges. And ofcourse all this while keeping myself safe. Managing work, family, my health, finances, kids and household chores was indeed a cumbersome work.

Last 3-4 months have been really challenging and one of the struggle was the Work-Life balance. A few tricks that I had been practicing and worked wonders. This is over and above the Mindfulness or Concious Living as you may say, as this practice is the base of all below mentioned tricks.

1. Sticking with the Time Table:

Tough but true. Stick to a daily schedule. If you are starting at 9AM, make sure you start the day at 9AM (it's ok to be 15 minutes early or late but not more than that) and similarly if you are ending your day at 6, make sure to end at the same time.

I start at 10 (yes somewhere betwen 10 - 10:10) and end my day at 7.

During the Office hours

To improve your effectiveness at work, be MINDFUL (and not Mindfull) during the 8-9 official hour with complete focus on work and least distractions. This is preferrably a "No family" time (it's fine to be with them during the breaks but not otherwise)

Sit with your to-do-list and planned day inclusive of meeting times and tea/ lunch breaks. That should be the first think to be prepared in the morning.

Use Work Life balance Apps that can help you pause notifications from Whattsapp/ Facebook during the office hours to reduce unnecessary distractions

Have a separate Browser for all your personal things - Gmails, facebook, videos, personal work, stock market etc.

Have specific breaks - Tea/ snacks/ lunch. This is the time to be with the family so that you, spouse, parents and children can spend some time together. Talk to them during this time, this is like no-phone time and no office work. It's fine to take a power-nap too post lunch (but make sure it's not more than 15 minutes)

After Office Hours:

This part is real challanging as because of the daily issue, one tends to stretch. But a few practices were very handy.

1. Planned Leisure time:

Sometimes it's tough the end the day at planned time, thanks to the unlimited to-do list but having a planned leisure time actually works. Have a planned walk with your spouse or even better tell your kids that you'll be available from 7 PM onwards. You'll be surprised to see the magic, kids will be right there at 7 to play with you.

2. Take a Shower:

To get rid of the office stress and tension of what is incomplete, take a quick Shower. A mindful shower, just helps get away with the tiredness of the hectic day and will refresh you for a happier evening.

3. Go Outside (at your own risk):

Science has proved that sitting outside 15 mins a day, is good enough to change the mood and feel better. So end your official timings on positive node and sit outside, go for a walk, a sport or stroll, but yes at your own risk.

4. Move out of your Work Room:

For rest of the evening, make sure you are not in the same room, you are moving into a different room where your family is there or you watch TV, else looking back at your office laptop, you mind keep thinking about the work. So going back to same room or place is strictly a No-No

5. Me -Time:

Get involved in Me-Time o the things you like. It could be anything, watching a movie, reading book, cooking, playing etc but stay involved in your me-time so that you don't sit idle and think about work and things undone.

6. End your Day with Positive Thought:

Make sure you end your day (however it was) on a Positive node. Think about all good things that have happened during the day and be Thankful that you have both Work and Life to balance into. Take a step everyday to balance both the aspects.

Implement these strategies and am sure, you'll be able to focus significantly on yourself, family, health and work at the same time.

Rajat Khatri

Founder - Happy Life Architecture - #beahappieryou

Author - 10 Keys to Attain Happiness - based on Data backed Research (Amazon Bestseller)

Certified Happiness Coach - happiness lessons based on Research

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