It is important to learn how to manage the time to devote to working life and to dedicate to yourself. While it takes some effort, it can improve productivity and make you even happier.
Last update: February 18, 2022
Sometimes achieving a work-life balance isn't easy. If you always stay connected to work, thanks to the use of new technologies, the situation could get complicated. Hence the importance of establishing limits to balance and organize work and personal life.
To begin, it's important to understand that working continuously doesn't equate to increased productivity. So, “stealing” time from your family or your hobbies will not improve your performance.
In reality, work-related fury can generate unwanted stressful situations that ultimately only cause discomfort and unhappiness. Finding a balance in all aspects of life is essential for the psycho-physical well-being of an individual.
“I believe that being successful means having a balance between success stories that affect all aspects of your life. You cannot consider yourself a successful person in business clothes if your family life is in ruins. "
-Zig Ziglar-
Signs that work is taking over your life
Tom Fryers in one of his publications indicates 3 types of people who work too much:
- Those who run their own business and feel that it cannot be successful without them.
- Those who are employed, but totally absorbed in their work to the point where they cannot disconnect from it, like some academics and health professionals.
- Those who work long hours because that's what the culture, business or society expects and believe that 150% commitment is required to keep their job or get promoted.
The curious fact is that, while the first two groups are made up of people who tend to choose to work extra hours for themselves, in the third group this usually does not happen. In the latter group, there is also a greater likelihood of experiencing the negative effects of an imbalance between work and private life.
This is because people in the first two groups have somehow chosen that life, which usually does not happen in the third group. Here's why these people may be less likely to make sense of what they are doing. Furthermore, they may more easily think that they cannot control their life as they would like.
How can we understand if we are in this situation? The following circumstances may alert us to the existence of an imbalance in one's working life:
- Working more hours than other colleagues.
- Being unable to disconnect from work at the end of the day.
- Thinking that personal value depends solely on job successes.
- Having tense and stressful personal relationships.
- Working life negatively affects health.
- Ignoring hobbies and activities that took place during free time that were previously appreciated.
- Feeling of being left behind (no matter how much).
5 ideas to organize your working life
The secret to finding a balance, in general, lies in balancing one's working life, which largely affects everything else. The time you spend at work, but especially the work activities you perform outside working hours, depend on your control. Even if it seems difficult to you, it is.
Organizing your working life is possible and, as we have already said, finding a balance with the other aspects of your life will promote greater levels of well-being and reduce stress.
Long working days have been shown not to increase productivity. Each additional day, beyond 49 working hours per week, has a negative impact on worker productivity.
1. Keep a journal to evaluate how the days are spent
How do you spend your days? Are you on "autopilot" or are you aware of what is happening to you? It is important to think about it. The first step to change is knowing where you have come, what you are doing and how these activities affect you. There are many tools and techniques that can help you. One of the easiest is to keep a daily journal.
In this way, you can have a detailed description of what makes you feel good during the day and start a program to optimize the time you have available.
2. Organize by setting priorities and discarding the superfluous
Understanding how time is spent is another important point in organizing working life. Once this is done, the next step is to decide what deserves your attention and what we can eliminate.
You can take a "rigid" attitude. Prioritize what you really need and discard what is draining your energy. Do it without hesitation, remembering Thoreau's precious words
“It's not enough to be busy, ants are too. The point is: busy doing what? "
-Henry David Thoreau-
3. Digital detox to organize working life
In the event that your work performance is related to the use of technologies, it can be very useful to disconnect at regular intervals from all that is the digital world. For example, you can put your cell phone aside for a certain period of time.
A recent study correlates the willingness to work extra hours or days with the decrease in peace of mind and the lowering of the energy levels of the worker. His state of mind is also affected.
Thinking you can reply to a work message can make you feel like you're still at work.
As the study authors point out, the non-working hours in which employees are expected to respond to work problems would be incompatible with the free time available to them. This incompatibility would create greater work stress.
We feel like we have to separate ourselves from the technology that binds us to our work. Instead, we should try to mitigate the effects of our being always available.
4. Avoid perfectionism to organize working life
In large part, what leads us to overwork is the need to work in the best possible way. Many also believe that if you don't put in more effort than expected, they will fail to perform their duties, will be punished or even lose their jobs.
The problem with perfectionists is that they tend to see mistakes as personal failures rather than seeing them as part of the normal process of learning and growing. This is why these people can fall victim to one of the following negative habits:
- Procrastination for fear of not being able to complete tasks in the way we expect them to be done.
- Believe that to do the job correctly they need to try harder.
5. Limit activities and relationships that can waste time
To find organizing your working life and finding a balance with your personal life, it is not enough to separate them. You must be satisfied with both the work you have done and on a personal level.
Being productive, at times, can lead us to think that we are doing our job better. But being productive involves an effort that can lead us to adopt habits that are harmful to our personal and family life.
For this reason it is important to dedicate some of your time to the activities you enjoy or the things you really want to do. For example, being with friends and enjoying their company.
If activities and relationships make you feel like you are wasting your time, not only do they not enrich you, they can also wear you down inside. Don't forget that if you feel you are wasting your time, it will be easier for you to fall into the temptation to start working again.
