How To Achieve Work-life Balance In 6 Steps
Ask yourself, are you working to live or living to work?
Step 1. Don’t Work A 9-5
Nothing kills work-life balance more than a 9 am-5 pm job. Working 5 days a week for a 40-hour workweek is the least flexible schedule.
You spend most of the week dying for the weekend, and then the weekend is short-lived. You finish work at 5 pm on a Friday; you might go out for dinner or drinks. You may have plans for Saturday, and before you know it, Sunday has arrived.
Most people use Sundays for cleaning, grocery shopping, meal prepping, or laundry, and before you know it, it is 9 pm. That was a simple breakdown; it gives no solace for married couples with children.
It is challenging to balance your life when your time is consumed by working five 8 hour days. The book The Four Day Work Week discusses the goal of work to provide income for you or your family to live comfortably.
Ask your employer about flex hours. Consider working four 10 hour days/shifts (40 hours), four 8 hour days (32 hours), or three 12 hour days (36 hours).
Many businesses offer this sort of shift-based scheduling, including hospitals, restaurants, hotels, customer service, and management, to name a few. You should also determine if there is any part of your work that could be done at home.
Step 2. Pick The Best Job For Your Needs
Can you picture yourself working at the company for 10 or more years? Create and maintain the vision for your life. What are your goals? How much money do you want to make? Are there growth opportunities?
Consider where you are in the ranks of the company. Are you working for a larger purpose or goal for the organization? Does the organization appreciate your work? Does your company focus on putting out fires, or do they value input and innovation? Are you just another “body” in the building?
If your values do not align with the organization, but it pays well, you will have decisions to make. You can decide to 1) work the least amount of hours to cover your expenses or 2) Find another job you are passionate about for which your values align with theirs. Option one usually follows a backup plan, such as using the remaining time to focus on being creative or developing your own business.
Step 3. Consider How Much Income You Need
Know why you are working and for how long you need employment. Are you working to pay for school or your child’s tuition? Do you need startup capital for your business? Are you working to clear up high-interest bills or student loans?
You must have a goal in mind if working 40 hours per week. Otherwise, working a shorter workweek usually yields higher productivity, and thus companies offer higher wages for the reduced hours.
Microsoft Japan reported a 40% increase in workers’ productivity with 4-day workweeks. However, keep in mind that health insurance may cost more or may not be available at reduced hours.
Money does not equate to success, nor does increasing your income improve your finances. Create an expense report, write down all the things that your income goes to, then determine how much money you will need to survive.
Start with determining costs of the basics: mortgage, car payment, car insurance, utilities (cable, internet, light), groceries, gas, life insurance, and at minimum $200 monthly towards your savings.
Once the above is covered, anything else will require an additional shift; this includes new clothing, new electronics, dining out, vacations, and making extra payments towards your debt.
Step 4. Manage Your Priorities
Disconnect. Leave work at work and home at home. If part of your work-life balance is to maintain a healthy relationship with your family, prioritize increasing your work productivity and avoid bringing work home.
Pick a day to spend with your family and avoid responding to emails, picking up overtime, or talking about work in general. Go on dates with your partner, be involved in your children’s activates, and carve out time for learning.
Material things. With almost 100% certainty, your work-life balance is affected by your wanting material things. I have seen people get a promotion and buy a new car; why? Because they feel like they deserve it.
Work-life balance is undoubtedly driven by your mindset; how do you view your life? Is rewarding yourself with liabilities is a priority? If you get a promotion and decide you would like to buy a house to own or rent for passive income, you are using debt wisely.
Outsource. You cannot do it all by yourself. If you cannot reduce your work hours, consider outsourcing the things you need the most help with. For example, as a new nurse, I was working 40 hours a week. I hardly had time to clean, grocery shop, or put gas in my car.
I decided to outsource cleaning, I was making enough money, and a messy house is my pet peeve. I hired a cleaner – not a cleaning service (which can be expensive). A local cleaner left her business card, and I gave it a shot. I haven’t looked back since. Outsourcing cleaning can free your mind (and body) of the daunting task each weekend.
Finances
Financial goals. Determine where you want your money to go and clarify your financial goals. I recommend having two bank accounts, a primary account for daily banking (paying bills and saving), and a secondary account used for saving only.
Your primary account should be easily accessible in emergencies wherever you are in the U.S; consider Bank of America, Chase, or Wells Fargo. However, you should have limited physical access to your secondary account; consider a local credit union and avoid taking the ATM card that comes with the account.
Decide how much money you would like to save per year and divide that over 12 months. Have your savings automatically deducted out of your paycheck bi-weekly. More importantly, decide what you are saving for. Are you saving for a trip, emergency funds, or a down payment on a new car? Credit unions are excellent because they offer low-interest rates to buy a new car or home.
Step 5. Manage Your Time
Start with planning. I cover how to increase productivity in grad school using methods that can be applied to achieve work-life balance. Determine how and where you spend the most time. Set expectations about the time that you spend; you must not overwhelm yourself.
Break large assignments into smaller pieces over a few days. Small frequent wins keep you motivated to finish a large work project or task.
Delegate. If you are in a position to delegate, do so. Delegation is one of the most challenging concepts and if you are type A like me, you think that no one can complete a project as thoroughly as you can. However, delegation frees you up for attending to more pressing issues.
For healthcare workers: find ways to maximize your productivity at work. As a nurse, I am a firm believer in clustering care. Newer nurses have a hard time with time management. For this article’s purpose, I shall leave you with a tip, get to work at minimum 30 minutes early, and look your patients up.
Another clinical pearl is to maximize your charting potential; know the electronic charting application front to back. Create shortcuts to reduce your charting time. Most of us know that 80% of nursing is charting, and the other 20% is critical thinking. Become a superuser for the documentation system and watch any available tutorials.
These small considerations will keep you from running behind during the shift. But most importantly, build a self-care routine into your workweek, whether it be meditation or a monthly massage.
What to do with your extra time?
Volunteer, exercise, travel, further your education, start a business, spend quality time with your children, or embrace your creative side.
If you know how to draw, paint, or write short stories, use the extra days to hone these skills. After a while, you can start to sell your pieces or offer your services, and before you know it, you are working for yourself and managing your own time and income.
Step 6. Use Your Vacation Time – Whether You Have Plans Or Not.
You should take a vacation at a minimum twice per year. I am a firm believer in planning a work schedule around vacations. Fortunately, my job offers that flexibly as a salaried nurse, and my schedule is done in blocks of 6 weeks.
It took me two years working 40 hour work weeks to realize I needed a mental health break every 6 weeks. This means I go on vacation or have a staycation at home for up to 5-10 days off.
By taking frequent breaks, you often return to work refreshed and ready to hit the ground running. The great thing is that at 30-36 hours you’ll need a vacation less because of all the free time you’ll have. Therefore, I would recommend you save money for a more extended vacation, though traveling less frequently.
There is no reason for you to lose vacation days at the end of the year. Ever.
Prioritize your health. Inadequate work-life balance contributes to the global mental health crisis. Listen to your body.
The National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that working long hours causes poor health outcomes ranging from: high blood pressure, obesity, substance abuse, insomnia, and anxiety.
A study by Yunseng et al., 2019 found that working extended hours increased the risk of pre-diabetes in working men.
The CDC took a look at multiple studies related to working overtime and found that overtime was associated with increased rates of morbidity and mortality in over half the studies investigated.
Know when to seek help. Consider speaking with a mentor or a good friend about how they balance their busy lives.
