A healthy balance between work and personal life can often feel impossible. Could it be achieved if we tweak a few habits?
Let's start with the main benefits of work-life balance:
Enhanced mental and physical health
Higher productivity
Better job satisfaction
WFH (Work From Home)
More and more companies are offering WFH nowadays, whether it's full or partial. Hence, employees save a significant amount of time that they can use for themselves. Nevertheless, there are still some cases where WFH is not considered due to the fact that employers are unaware if their employees are working or not. I think companies can instead use performance metrics. This way, micromanagement is not required, which in turn, saves time and avoids the use of tracking tools altogether.
4-day work week
This one is not that common but is still an option that several companies have implemented. The 4-day work week aims to reduce burnout while offering the same salaries as the regular 5-day work week. A variant of this system is the compressed work week, where employees don't need to work for 2 Fridays per month. However, they need to work 9 hours per day, instead of 8 which means, in total, they tend to work more. Assuming there are 22 working days (average) in a month:
Normal schedule: 8hrs x 22 days = 176hrs
Compressed schedule: 9hrs x 20 days = 180hrs
Flexitime
Flexitime is also one of the most desirable advantages that a company can offer. As long as workers attend planned meetings and cover the expected number of hours, they are free to choose their working schedules. A limitation of this system is, if the employee is not careful, they can easily lose track of time and end up overworking.
Breaks
It's important to take regular breaks to offset the effects of sitting in front of a workstation for long periods of time. Whether it's eye fatigue, wrist pain or back pain, we can reduce the negative impacts on our health if we make regular breaks part of our routine. Check out the Pomodoro Technique for more. You can find free Pomodoro timers online.
Company Events
Company-related events are often organized outside of working hours. Usually, employees have to participate in activities, which requires resting time the day after. One solution is to give employees the next day off. The next day has to be a working day, not the weekend or bank holiday as workers might already have personal plans on these days. Another one is to organize events during working hours.
Boundaries
Working after hours regularly can be draining on the long run. Hence, employees need to make sure to know where to set their boundaries. Responding to messages/emails after working hours can gradually become a habit, a bad one. Hustle culture can also sometimes blur the lines. Going the extra mile is often celebrated in the corporate industry. In most cases, this translates to working overtime.
On an ending note, work-life balance can look vastly different for you and me. So, it's crucial to tweak your habits to make time for family, friends and yourself, while maintaining a healthy balance with work.