How to Balance Your Professional and Personal Life
Just a few years ago, there was frequent discussion about whether work was leaving enough time for friends and family. People were working more and new technology allowed them to stay connected to work during their off hours. Since the economic slowdown, conversation about the healthy balance of work and non-work life has died down, but in many ways the issue remains just as important: declining profits have prompted employers to try to do more with less, asking workers to work longer hours and take on new tasks. Balancing your work and your social, family, and personal life remains just as important during difficult economic times as it does during good economic times. Below are some tips on maintaining a healthy balance.
Schedule
As paradoxical as it might seem when you're feeling overscheduled, one of the best ways to balance work and a social life is scheduling. Scheduling is important if you want to get the most out of your free time: you'll see more friends if you schedule times to meet with them than if you call them up whenever you have a free moment. Scheduling also helps you balance your work and non-work activities by giving you a way to see exactly how much time you're spending doing what, and keeping work from bleeding into family or social time.
One of the hardest but most important activities to fit into your schedule is doing nothing. It might seem strange to set aside time to veg out, but it is a vitally important part of maintaining your mental health and productivity. And if you don't set time aside time to relax, you'll probably fill it with work.
Just Say No…Politely
All the scheduling in the world won't help you balance work and life if you accept every extra project and request to work overtime that comes your way. Make sure scheduled non-work activities are just as inviolable as work ones: the point of the schedule is to keep work in its place; it won't do any good if you keep rescheduling commitments to friend and family for new work obligations.
Of course, it can be scary to say no to your employer, but having a schedule for your non-work obligations will help with that: it's perfectly acceptable to say that you have a prior commitment to friends or family; less so to say that you'd just rather not come in.
Plan
Make a list of the fun things or social activities you want to do during the coming week. That way, when you suddenly find yourself with a free couple hours, you won't waste time thinking about what to do, or dithering and doing nothing. But be sure not to stress out about your fun lists like you would about a work list: it's there for you to use, or ignore, if you would rather do something else.
Article Resources:
Work-Life BalanceA Case of Social Responsibility
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