Work-life harmony is something each busy individual strives toward. Having a good balance between professional and personal life not only makes us feel happier, but also helps us be more successful at work, a better partner, parent, family member, or friend. However, as workplaces seem to become increasingly demanding and as we become ambitious to climb the career ladder, we often tend to leave our personal lives behind or underestimate their importance.
A well-rounded individual understands the importance of work life integration, and is prepared to use work life balance strategies to achieve it. If you’ve made it here, it means you’re prepared to work on finding harmony between your professional and personal life. Let’s dive into it and take a brief look at some strategies that can help you.
Probably all successful work life balance strategies are based on setting boundaries. Start by looking at various work situations and establishing when they are still within the boundaries and something you are willing to accept, and when they are crossing the line. Examples of clearly set boundaries could be setting concrete work hours and not working outside of them, turning off notifications from work-related apps after working hours, or, if you work remotely, setting up a designated work space in your home which you only use during working hours (even if it’s just a desk).
Employers these days are beginning to understand that offering employees a flexible work schedule can actually increase their productivity and input. If you can, take advantage of this to improve your work life integration! Negotiate a work schedule that fits in with your personal life and the effects on your work life harmony will soon show.
Self-care is so much more than just a buzzword - individuals with good work life integration know to make time for themselves regularly and address their wellbeing. Incorporate regular check-ins with yourself and taking care of your mental wellbeing into your work life balance strategies.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your workload, you should know that there are so many hacks and methods for effective time management around! From well-known techniques like Pomodoro or the Time Blocking method to all kinds of niche, personal hacks people are sharing on social media, you’re bound to find at least one that improves your own work life integration.
A mentor is an experienced individual who will share their experience with you to help improve your own situation. Because a mentor is someone who was once in your shoes, they will likely understand better than anyone what it is that you need. A few examples of how a mentor can improve your work-life integration are:
A mentor is someone who will help you see around corners. If you feel like you’re faced with an impossible challenge of achieving work-life harmony, receiving guidance from someone who was in the same situation and came out on top of it can help you gain a completely new perspective and cut those corners. What you would have otherwise had to learn yourself the hard way, you can uncover easily in a few mentoring sessions and overcome your challenge much faster.
Time management is a skill, and that means that it can be learned. Various work life balance strategies rely on good time management. As someone who is able to manage their time effectively, your mentor will share the tips and strategies that have worked for them, and guide you towards implementing them in your own professional life.
How many times have you thought “I could get this done so much faster if I just knew how to do XYZ”? Growing skills increases efficiency, thus leaving you with more time for other things. Your mentor will be an experienced professional, often someone who has mastered certain skills at the highest level. As they’re able to get straight to the point and show you exactly what you need to know, mentees often rave about learning skills from mentors and how much faster it can be than taking courses or trying to figure things out yourself.
In conclusion, work-life harmony can seem like an impossible achievement for someone who has only just begun working towards it. However, through adopting simple work life balance strategies and working with a mentor to provide clarity, improve your time management, and increase your efficiency through skill growth, you could be seeing improvements in no time.
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