Growing your career takes an immense amount of hard work and dedication. While pursuing a high level of professional development and success is admirable, understanding how to balance your work with your personal life is essential.
Contrary to popular belief, it is more than possible to lead a happy life both professionally and personally. The key is building upon three vital habits – following a structured routine, balancing short-term and long-term objectives, and dedicating time to rest.
In this article, I will discuss why having control over both your personal and professional lives is so important. Keep reading to learn 3 good habits to help regaining control of your life.
Why a Healthy Work-Life Balance is Essential
When working to advance your career, it can be incredibly difficult to peel yourself away from your business tasks – even long after the clock has announced the end of the workday.
However, dedicating most of your attention and energy to work can have a potentially massive negative impact on your personal life. Not only can overworking lead to fatigue, heightened stress, and interpersonal problems in your private relationships, but it can also harm your health.
According to one study, professionals working 55 hours or more each week are at 1.3 times higher risk of stroke than those sticking to a more standard 40-hour workweek. The study further states:
“Some, albeit inconsistent, evidence suggests that individuals who work long hours are more likely to ignore symptoms of disease and have greater prehospital delays in relation to acute cardiovascular events than do those who work standard hours.”
To have a fulfilling and prosperous career, the key may actually lie in an adequate work-life balance that allows you to separate your personal life from your professional life. These boundaries can help you live life to the fullest while still maintaining control over all aspects of your life and career.
With this in mind, let’s examine 3 key habits that form the foundation of a healthy work-life balance.
3 Good Habits to Build Upon
Each of our most crucial skills and behaviors started as a habit that was built upon and developed over time. The same is true for creating a better work-life balance – it takes time and patience, but most importantly, it takes a set of strong foundational habits.
These habits include:
1. Creating a Structured and Strategic Routine
Every professional is different from the next, meaning that no two people should strive to have an identical workflow. Creating a daily routine that is structured for your specific needs, objectives, and stress points is critical for establishing boundaries between work and your professional life.
Rather than focusing each day on massive projects or long-term goals, it is essential to build a routine around counteracting current stressors and emphasizing tasks with tighter deadlines.
Though it is good to keep an eye on the bigger picture, a strategic routine that is structured around the tasks in need of your immediate attention will help you to keep stress levels lower and your daily to-do list at a manageable length.
2. Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Objectives
Going hand-in-hand with following a structured routine is the practice of balancing your short-term and long-term objectives. You should always strive to keep these goals in equilibrium with one another, not allowing one to progress while the other falls behind.
This is also a crucial element to keeping your mind off work after you have left the office or signed off for the day. When you have a clear outlook on your main long-term objectives, as well as the key short-term goals it will take to get there, less of your time at home will be spent worrying or trying to prepare for the days to come.
3. Dedicating Time to Rest and Recuperation
The final essential habit to build upon is setting aside specific hours of the day for rest and recuperation.
No one is perfect – we will all have days when we work longer or harder than we should. The key is to dedicate a set amount of hours in the day for self-care and recharging. By doing so, you are setting a hard boundary with yourself regarding your personal health and well-being.
A critical component to this habit is to always honor and use the hours you have set aside for rest, even if you feel there are still tasks to be done. This recognition and respect for your body’s need for recuperation is incredibly important to your longevity, both in your career and in life.
Final Thoughts
A healthy work-life balance is the key to gaining better and more effective control over both your personal and professional lives.
To do so, you must focus on creating a strategic routine structured around your needs, keeping your short and long-term goals in equilibrium, and acknowledging your body’s natural need for rest.
In doing so, you will achieve a greater sense of balance that will help keep your spirit uplifted and motivated as you continue to further your career.
