Photo Credit (Pixabay)
The difficulty of juggling the demands of our personal and professional life has changed over the years.
More people than ever are working remotely. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 35 percent of employees whose occupations can be done remotely are doing so full-time in 2023, up from 7 percent before the COVID-19 epidemic. There is little doubt that this work-where-you-live/live-where-you-work paradigm can make it difficult to distinguish between work and other activities.
Additionally, because smartphones and apps allow for constant connectivity, even people who typically work in offices may not be able to leave their desks at the end of the day.
In any case, when did we begin discussing “work-life balance”?
Although the idea of work-life balance is not new, the recent dramatic changes to America’s corporate work culture have sparked a renewed interest in it. For decades, productivity specialists and psychologists have been studying what truly makes people happy in order to enhance workplaces and mental health in general. See 7 strategies below.
- Make Better Use of Technology
Since our brains are designed to need the social information that emails and other notifications deliver, Carter believes it’s not just a matter of willpower and not constantly checking our devices. That signal could be an advertisement from Pottery Barn, a friend’s invitation, or positive feedback from your job. “You keep checking because you want to know about the good news,” she says. “It’s similar to gambling.”
According to her, we require areas where we are unable to check our phones. Start by reiterating the custom of avoiding using phones during meetings, family time, or dinner parties, or restricting the use of social media and email to designated periods of the day.
Choose a time to turn off your phone and email alerts for the day or to stop checking them altogether if you work from home and are unable to relocate to a different physical location where you can avoid checking them after work.
There is nothing good or negative about the technology itself. We must learn how to use social media, instant messaging, and email more skillfully. “But you wouldn’t walk around all day banging it away at everything,” Carter says, acknowledging that a hammer can be necessary for some activities.
- Define Limits and Schedule Regular Vacation Time
According to Carter, work and life were once kept apart by temporal and physical barriers. Boundaries that are respected by employers and employees must be restored.
According to Carter, “people need predictable time off work.”
Choose a routine to occupy your time if you work remotely and your commute no longer separates work from home. Carter explains, “I have to shut down my computer at 5:45 p.m. because my dogs have to leave.” A workout, a planned exercise class, or going for a walk are some excellent ways to wrap out your workweek and divide the remainder of the evening.
Pfeffer claims that stores and other businesses that use hourly labor are increasingly using “on-demand” scheduling, which exacerbates the issue. The schedule is produced by sophisticated algorithms that forecast when that store would be busy. Workers may be aware of their schedule up to two days or even a week in advance. It is challenging to arrange time off because of the irregularity.
Pfeffer adds that even while there are a lot of these structural issues that need to be resolved, you can take action right now by making use of your existing vacation days and logging off of all platforms and devices during that time.
- Make Time for Yourself Throughout the Workday “As much as possible, make time for yourself every day,” advises Dr. Moss. Even better, set aside a small amount of time during the workday, perhaps as little as ten to fifteen minutes. “It can be as easy as setting aside some time to unwind on the couch, doing a quick workout during your lunch break, such as taking a walk around the office or the block, or spending 15 minutes meditating, or any other activity that you know helps you feel better.”
As long as you complete your task within a fair amount of time, many companies won’t object if you take a brief break.
- A “flexible schedule” does not equate to being available at all times.
According to Rebecca Zucker, an executive coach and partner at Next Step Partners, a leadership development firm in San Francisco, working for a company that offers flexible hours may allow you to leave the office (or home office) at 3 p.m. for a doctor’s appointment, provided that you can record those final few hours of work from home.
It does not imply that you must be available at all times. According to Zucker, it’s important to set expectations with your coworkers. “You are creating the expectation that you are available at that time if you are responding to emails at 10 p.m. or midnight,” she explains. Rather, establish limits, communicate them, and maintain them.
- Have the Difficult But Fruitful Talk With Your Employer
When you’re not in the corner office, how do you establish the limits you want your coworkers to follow? According to Zucker, “you set a mutually beneficial goal that both parties can get behind.” For example, you and your manager may both want to fulfill monthly goals, and it’s helpful for everyone to do it in a sustainable way, which means you don’t feel like you’re working nonstop.
She goes on, “When you have that conversation, acknowledge the good intentions behind those actions and express how those actions affect you.” According to Zucker, your manager would not expect you to respond to emails at all hours of the night, but she might do it at 11 p.m. to finish a specific work.
- Look for a job that fulfills you and is consistent with your values.
Drawing distinct boundaries between your personal and professional lives is only one aspect of work-life balance; another is the connection between your wellbeing and your job. Better job quality, which is a combination of job satisfaction, job security, and pay, was linked to better physical and mental health as well as better self-reported well-being, according to a 2022 study published in Industrial Health.
According to a different 2023 study, acting in accordance with one’s values—which vary from person to person—was linked to better wellbeing the next day.
“Working on values-aligned projects greatly improves job satisfaction,” says Ryan Sultan, MD, head of Integrative Psych in New York City and clinical psychiatry professor at Columbia University. “A sense of purpose is created by this alignment, which boosts motivation and overall job satisfaction.” According to Dr. Sultan’s research, people report feeling less stressed and more satisfied with their jobs when their values and their work environment overlap.
Sultan advises considering how your core values might relate to different aspects of your work and discussing with your supervisors or HR representative how you could carry out your job duties while also more closely aligning your role with your values if you’d like to make your current job more values-aligned but are unsure how to do so.
- Acknowledge that top-down changes in society are necessary. Additionally
According to Pfeffer, the majority of individual workers are struggling with work-life balance. When you find yourself feeling overburdened by work and home, he advises the best course of action is to leave your current job and look for one that will treat you better. “But that’s not a realistic option for most people,” he continues.
Pfeffer asserts that employers have an obligation to manage their human resources in the same way that they are concerned about recycling, endangered species, and other issues facing society. In addition to providing paid time off and access to decent health insurance, employers should ensure that employee duties are appropriately balanced with working hours.
