Your personal guide to a healthy work-life balance

Mountain of paperwork piled up on your table, emotional conflicts with your closed ones, eyes hungry for a goodnight’s sleep and a brain begging for rest- That’s what an imbalance between work and personal life results in. The scenario is as common as it seems to be rare. Right from nursery school, children witness an ever-changing work environment that rigorously focuses on material gains at immaterial stakes. They later turn into adults who have poor time management skills and lack of a healthy personal interaction with peers and family. In some cases, this amount of workload is even glorified and seen as a sign of professionalism. However, such an imbalance in work-life has adverse effects on the emotional as well as physical health of an individual. Listed below are some negative impacts of work-life imbalance:

• Reduced productivity
• Damaged relationships at work and home
• Augmented levels of stress and anxiety
• Lack of concentration
• Underperformance

Now being a professional optimist, I feel this is my responsibility to provide a solution to the problems I’ve posed. I have a good and bad news for you. Good news- there is no newton science to achieving a healthy work-life balance. Bad news- it still takes a lot of determination and resilience to carry on. Following are the steps to achieving a healthy work-life balance:

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1. Updating your calendar: Professionals of today’s corporate world move by the clock. For them, every second is essential and thus managed. Keeping a track of all the tasks you have to complete will not only help you find quality leisure time for your life but will also increase your productivity.
2. Setting realistic goals: Instead of running behind unrealistic goals and objectives, you should invest your energy into activities that can help you rejuvenate your life. You can set short-term goals to look forward to. In return, this will also increase your interest in your work.
3. Engaging in regular exercise: Your body needs as much of your attention as your work does. It is said that a healthy mind lives inside a healthy body. And to excel in their respective professions, everyone requires a healthy mind.
4. Spending time with your closed ones: Man can never be truly satisfied with only material priorities. Emotional connections serve as a fuel for a better and happening life.You should spend some quality time with your friends and family regularly so that you always carry a buoyant mood to work every day.
5. Taking up hobbies: Make a bucket list of all the hobbies, leisure activities and games you want to engage in on a daily or weekly basis so that you have something to look forward to at the end of every day. This will also give you the much-needed relaxation that your mind and body require. Your hobbies can include anything ranging from music to a well-spent weekend with your friends in the bowling alley.
6. Plan your diet: What goes in as input comes out as output from our body. If your body isn’t getting the nutrients required to function properly, you cannot deliver the best of your performance at work. So, eat healthy food and avoid a slow-down in your working capacity.
7. Learn to say ‘no’ to technology: From work to personal life, all our tasks are properly managed by technology. But on the flip side of the coin, technology has created a sense of urgency among people that is hard to avoid. We can’t even imagine a day without our smartphones and laptops. Even in our leisure time these things keep us bound to our work and gives us less time to live our life to the fullest.
8. Accepting the imperfections: At the end of the day, it is important to understand that your life can’t run smoothly all the time.

There are going to be conflicting situations in your work and personal life but what matters is how you go about them. If you prioritize both the aspects of your life equally, you can have a fulfilling and prosperous life.