How To Balance Your Work and Personal Life
Are you all work and no play? Do you feel like you never have time to really be yourself? Do feel as though anything involving leisure and fun is only a privilege that only teenagers can have? Perhaps you have friends and family members that you’ve been wanting to spend time with but maybe you feel like its only realistic for Spring Break or the holidays?
Everyone has 24 hours in a day, but it’s just a matter of how you choose to manage your time effectively that makes a difference. You don’t have to burn yourself out Monday through Friday, and only live for the weekend.
Here are a few tips and tricks on How to Balance Your Work and Personal Life.
Learn To Ask For Help
For some strange reason, in the midst of adulting and being independent, we often have a hard time asking people for help. Consider finding someone that can help you delegate your tasks, even if it has to be a personal assistant.
By asking for help, it relieves a great deal of pressure off of us and allows you to really be able to pay attention to what matters.
Priorities
It’s very easy to have a long list of things to do and just as easy to get overwhelmed by it, but more often than not, there are a lot of things on our to-do list that aren’t really as important or urgent than let’s say that paying a bill or needing gas.
I recommend utilizing the Eisenhower Decision Matrix (or box), which basically defines what on your list is important and urgent, and what is not important and not urgent, thus giving you permission to delegate any unnecessary tasks.
Utilize Your “Productive Hours
What I call “productive hours” are certain time slots of the day where you are usually the most focused mentally.
For example, I feel the most focused and am able to concentrate the most typically between about 12pm to about 6 or 7. Therefore it might be wise to…I don’t know, write my articles for Society 19 during those particular time. I however would not have such an easy time doing heavy mental activity during the early hours of the day or really late at night.
I recommend using these productive hours sort of like work hours, and it might be best to get your most tedious tasks done during these times.
Figure Out A Way To Shorten Your Tasks
I recommend trying to do 5 or 10-minute lists of any remaining tasks that you know needs to get done but simply don’t have a lot of time to really prioritize such as cleaning or even something that you’ve been really wanting to do but have been putting off, like reading.
I always like to say to people who are juggling with multiple tasks, that something is always better than nothing. There’s no point in focusing all of your energy into one task and then putting off everything else.
Build Down Time
When you plan your week, make it a point to schedule time with your family and friends, and activities that help you recharge.
At some point, it will cause harm than good to be the “all work and no play” type. Schedule some time with your friends or family, perhaps go on a date night with your significant other, and try to talk about work or the kids but really enjoy each other’s company.
Learn to Say “No.”
Don’t fool yourself that you can keep on taking on more and more tasks without eventually breaking. At the end of the day, everyone only has 24 hours a day, and how we choose to manage our time effectively is directly related to understanding whether or not we will actually have enough time to get those things done.
Don’t be afraid to tell your boss or co-worker that you can’t stay an extra shift, remember that this is a business relationship, not a personal one. I can relate to many times where someone might make me feel guilty about not staying late, but after a while, you have to prioritize yourself and stop trying to please everyone.
You’re Not Superwoman…or Man
Know that it’s impossible to get everything done at once, and there is a 90% chance that you will never be done with everything, there is always something to do.
Have clear intentions about what you will get satisfied with for the day and be very realistic about them.
