Some of your work-life balance is beyond your control. If your corporate culture dictates that you answer email on the weekend, for example, there’s not much you can do on that front to balance your professional responsibilities with your personal commitments. The best approach is to focus on what you can control.
(Photo Credit: ejmc/Flickr)
For example:
1. Remember that no one thinks fondly of the person who does everything … but is always in a bad mood about it.
In these (seemingly endless) tough economic times, many of us go the extra mile in order to secure our position and impress the boss. That’s all well and good, if you can do it with a smile on your face, or at least a modicum of good cheer.
If you drive yourself and everyone else crazy, on the other hand, no one will remember your achievements when it comes time to dole out bonuses and promotions. In fact, you might find yourself on the layoff list, despite all that you do for those ingrates.
2. Do creative work at the right time.
“For creative work, identify work times when there are fewer distractions and do your creative work during these periods,” writes David Lavenda at Entrepreneur. “Research done by Victor Gonzalez and Gloria Mark at the University of California-Irvine found that it typically takes over 20 minutes to resume tasks once they are interrupted, so eliminating distractions will do wonders for productivity.”
3. Make time for exercise.
It’s not the news any over-scheduled person wants to hear, but making time in your day for a little bit of exercise can make a big difference in your ability to juggle the rest of your life. Plus, you’ll feel better.
4. Turn off all those alarms.
Don’t let your email alerts and other notifications run your life. Turn off anything you don’t absolutely need — in other words, if you’re a medical professional, not the beeper that summons you to the emergency room, but everything with a little envelope icon and an ear-splitting alert tone.
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