Life is short and too precious to ever trade for anything, but when work gets in the way, many of us would find ourselves forsaking our lives. Life is not just about you. It is also about your loved ones, your dearest friends, the natural beauty of your surrounding environment and all the simple pleasures that you can enjoy to the fullest. Imagine how much of your life can be missed out on if all you do is slog at work! Work is important, and so is your life. In other words, you should learn to balance work and life. It is not as simple as a balancing act that is for sure. But with sheer determination and creativity in you, balancing work and life would no longer be a chore for you.
So here are ten useful tips on how you can keep your work and life balanced and in good shape:
1. Discuss with your employer on the most appropriate working hours for you. A responsible employer is one who would ensure that staff welfare is in good hands. Be honest and clear to your employer about the present situation that you are facing at home and with your personal life, and he or she would be able to assist you in the matter. For instance, if you already have a family of your own and a newborn child to nurse, you and your employer may agree on telecommuting, the process of working from home.
2. In a worse case scenario where you and your employer cannot come to an agreement on the flexibility of your working hours, you should consider finding a new job that gives you the avenue to work efficiently and, at the same time, attend to all your family needs efficiently as well. It would be more desirable for you if you can find a job that does not require you to work for extremely long hours and that does not make you have to travel too often.
3. In another worse case scenario, you may see yourself realizing that you have landed in the wrong career path due to the unexpectedly heavy workload that consumes all the time you have in the world for yourself and your dearest ones. So this signifies that you should get a new career head start. Research and plan on the career path that would fit into place for you. It is always fine to move on to another phase of life that you feel would make you happier and, most of all, make you have more time to enjoy life.
4. Keep things more calm and steady. Give yourself a little more time and space in the midst of your hectic working schedules. When scheduling for meetings, set aside a bit of time in between those meetings rather than holding them all the way, and refrain from weekend meetings as the weekends are meant for you to just loosen up. As far as possible, do not get heavily involved with things that can tense you up.
5. Improve on your time-management. A person who barely has time for his or her life is one who does not know how to systematize his or her priorities, goals and deadlines. So plan and write down the things you wish to achieve and be more pragmatic in your goal setting. That will lower down the amount of pressure in your mind and mould you into a better person at work and in life.
6. You should not be having a one-man show when it comes to fulfilling your duties to your family. Delegate the tasks and chores to be carried out at home among the rest of your family members. Sharing the tasks with others can lighten your load and still make you a responsible family member because you tend to be more efficient in this way.
7. There are certain things in life that are not too important after all, so tell yourself to let go of these things. A day of not sweeping your floor and not washing your plates would not really harm you would they? But a day of not sending your children to school may not affirm their safety or punctuality. So let go of the trivial matters of life and focus on those that mean a lot to you, particularly your family needs. Remember, they constitute a part of your life too.
8. Seek assistance if you feel that you cannot fulfill your responsibilities alone. If it is within your means, hire a babysitter or maid to assist you in your daily household chores. A word of precaution though! Do not think that it gives you the opportunity to wash your hands clean from home matters. That is your family and your responsibility no matter what. Those people you hire are just there to help you.
9. Create a list of things that you need to do in your daily life. This can get your life more organized and neater, which in turn can contribute to the effective balancing of your work and life.
10.Keep your life as simple as you can. It is natural sometimes that human beings want to take up multiple roles and feel a sense of pride in the ability to cope with all of that. But you have to be more realistic! Taking up too many roles can deteriorate your efficiency as a person. At times, you would have to sacrifice one role for the other and that is unfavourable. So live a simpler life, and do not take up too many roles. You should be more proud of yourself if you can achieve the goal of being a productive worker and someone who knows how to cherish life as it is.
Watch this inspirational video that shows how strong belief and faith can also help you balance your work, family and life. Something to think about!
You can attain all the success in the corporate world, but can all that success bring joy and happiness to your life and your loved ones forever? At work, you can afford to fail and try again, but in life, you cannot afford to mess it up too often.
Remember, you have only one life to live, and you do not even know how long that one and only life of yours will last. So treasure it! Treasure everything and everyone that surrounds your life, and do not let work deprive your chance to savor the most beautiful things that life has in store for you.
6 comments:
Thank you for your discussion in relation to this issue.
I particularly agree with your point about simplification. It's better to concentrate doing fewer things well than trying to do too many things.
Less is more and quality is more important than quantity in life.
I would also raise the issue of workload. I think many people in the corporate world are under pressure because of unrealistice workloads.
Many people are reluctant to speak up about the need for more realistic workloads. But I think that if you find yourself struggling to meet deadlines without working unreasonable hours, then it's time for a constructive but frank discussion with your employer about what constitutes realistic workloads and priorities.
Cheers
Andrew
Hello Andrew..
Thanks for your valuable comment on this post. And glad that u agreed on the point that we had mentioned about keeping your life simpler and easier to manage. Like u said, quality is more important than quantity. It's not the amount of work u carry out that makes u be an efficient worker. It is how well the work is being done that matters.
We also pretty much agree with u about the nature of the workload that has been given to us these days. Many of us tend to face this problem of having to carry out too many tasks and meet unrealistic deadlines. But as u mentioned in your comment, this can be resolved with your employer, provided that your employer is one who places high regards on staff welfare.
Again, thanks for your feedback on this, Andrew. Have a good day! =)
Hi Nafa, I like tip 7 the best! For that, I shall not do the dishes tonight he he he ;)
You're right, should learn to let go of the trivial stuff so I can focus on the more important ones! :):):)
Hello GP!!
Hehe! So cute lah GP. But it's true indeed that we should concentrate on those things that are more important, and settle the small matters later. In that way, u won't get easily distracted and disoriented, which can affect both your work and life. =)
Haha, where I work there is no such thing. Everyone raises the bar so high you have to keep up or ship out.
Unless you have a really good reason, asking for a balance is like saying, I can't keep up with the rest. We are compared against other people in the same position.
You find a way to get the job done even if it means long hours and weekend work.
We have no backups per se. It's a one man/woman show and we're soley accountable for the most part.
I've been with the same company for about 17 years so I have a good understanding for these things, lol
Hey Rolando!
Wow 17 years!! That is super long. U are one loyal employee of your company. U should be getting awards like employee of the year or long service awards!
Oh well some companies out there set really high expectations on their overall company performance, meaning they will set high expectations on their staff performance as well. The higher the expectations, the more work there will be for people. That is when their lives get pretty much affected.
But it seems to us that u are still coping well with your life and work. It goes without saying how well u have juggled work and life to think that u can serve your company for as long as 17 years. So despite your heavy workload, we're sure u are still enjoying life the way u want to. =)
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