Work Life Balance: A Comprehensive Guide
It can often be hard to find the perfect work life balance, especially in a corporate world where businesses are more and more interested in working together with their employees to compete closely with other companies. Many professionals want to be the best in their field or want to move up and onward in their career and profession, which can be great in moderation.
Management at many companies realizes that no one can work all of the time. They often want their employees to have the opportunity to more fully enjoy the time that they have away from work so that they can also more fully enjoy and engage with the time that they spend at work.
One of the best ways to find a good work life balance is to determine what is important. If people have enough time for what they value, then they will often feel satisfied with their life and feel they have found a good balance. If they value hobbies, then they should make sure that there are time and resources dedicated to that hobby. If they value family time, they should ensure that the vacation days offered are spent with family rather than alone. Everyone has different values, but prioritizing them can help increase satisfaction.
Being efficient with time can also be important. For example, those who commute long hours may have a lot of time on their hands. If they do nothing with it, it may feel wasted and upset their work life balance. If they listen to an audiobook, music or a podcast, the time can feel better spent. Commuters could also simply contemplate the world, themselves, and other deep thoughts, which can feel much more productive than zoning out and losing the time. However, for some, zoning out might be needed or wanted. Finding the right way to maximize efficiency can help a professional more fully enjoy his or her free time.
What can also help is realizing that time spent at work is often dynamic and requires high concentration. This can affect the brain, causing it to prioritize recording this important information. This means that later, what may be remembered may not be the time spent relaxing and calming down but the “important time” at work. Making fun time dynamic, different or interesting can help the brain record both equally, giving a more realistic memory of time spent doing both work and play.
There are many ways to discover a healthy work life balance. However, these general principles can help those who feel swamped find what might work for them.
