Emtalks: How To Get The Perfect Work Life Balance

Monday, 23 October 2017

How To Get The Perfect Work Life Balance

Hey guys, hope you are so well! Today I wanted to write a blog post all about the importance of work life balance. There’s a quote I live by, ‘don’t focus so much on making a living that you forget to make a life’ and I totally agree with this, it's something I keep reminding myself. I definitely feel work life balance is something I’ve had to teach myself over the last few years. As well as motivation too. Working for myself is a bit of a double-edged sword, I wouldn’t change it for the world and I am so grateful but I either can’t get the motivation or I have too much motivation and never put my laptop down, giving myself exhaustion and running myself into the ground. I’ve got a lot better recently so I thought I’d write a blog post about this today with some of my top tips to achieving that balance. I really hope it helps any of you struggling!

You guys all know that I live by the rule of balance, you’re probably sick of me preaching about it but I truly believe balance is key, in so many ways. I’ve partnered with Yushoi this year (yep, those delicious healthy, protein packed pea snacks I constantly rave about on my vlogs) to talk about the subject. Yushoi have the same philosophy as me when it comes to life, having a healthy balance. I’ve covered topics such as balance with eating, balance with exercising and now, we’re talking about balance with work.

First things first, I’m obviously self-employed, I run my own business and work for myself. If anyone else is in the same boat, you’ll totally get where I’m coming from when I say holidays do not exist. When you work freelance, you can’t really have a day off as you either always make yourself a list of things to do (I literally run myself into the ground) or typically, all the work lands when you try to take a day off. You’ve got to be really good at working really random hours. This isn't me moaning by the way, I love what I do, I'm just explaning why I have no work life balance haha, I push myself so hard to do well so sleep is often not an option. Read about blogging as a full time job.

I’ve been there, done that and let work take over my life and ruin relationships, to the point where I wouldn’t have fun because I was so hellbent on working hard for my business. It’s something I’m so passionate about but it isn’t the end of the world if you take a day or even a week off. Family and just living life is so much more important and your well-being matters more than any amount of money/work. There are personal reasons for me pushing myself so hard, it's down to things that I've been through (which I will discuss one day). I hope my tips will help you, whether you’re self-employed or you work for someone else:

1. Priority lists are key: Having a priority list really is key with work. I tend to add ridiculous things onto my list ‘just incase’ then I get myself into a tizz thinking I’ve got loads to do. It’s worth looking at what’s crucial or what deadlines really need doing and doing them first, then anything else is a bonus.

2. Don’t take it home with you: iIt’s difficult because most jobs do require us to take the work home with us. Teachers for example mark at home, I work for myself from home and my job is pretty much 24/7 so I always take it home with me. But, if you can avoid this and something has stressed you out at work, try to get out of the environment, run a bath and take your mind off it. Ask yourself if it’ll matter in a week’s time. The answer is, it probably won’t.

3. We tend to be really harsh on ourselves when it comes to everything, particularly work. Do you feel like you’re not working hard enough? Do you compare yourself to others? Stop right now. Write yourself a list of goals and try to tick them off. Write a list of things you’ve achieved at work and focus on the positives rather than any negatives. We tend to take feedback to heart (constructive criticism is actually great but it’s hard sometimes not to take it to heart) and we remember the 1% of bad comments rather than the 99% of good comments. You’re not superman, you’re one person, don’t be too hard on yourself.

4. Use your day off wisely: Whether it’s a weekend or a Monday, use your day off wisely. Use it as a time to actually recoup and not think about work. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I’d actually try and have a weekend, weekends where I don’t reply to emails and actually see my family and put my phone down. Work is around forever, family aren’t. Life is short. Don't spend so much time making a living that you forget to embrace the good, little but most important things in life. The little things will one day be the most important when you look back.

5. Know when to switch off: Similar to the above but know when to switch off. I complete my priority tasks and then try to get a bit more done, but sometimes, it’s nice to be a normal human and switch off from my laptop and watch TV at 8pm. It’s not okay to be a workaholic and do 16 hour days 7 days a week, everyone deserves to switch off.

6. Find out what works for you: In terms of switching off, for me it comes down to going to the gym every day, this really is my switch off and I get stressed if I can’t make it. It’s kind of like a vicious circle. It’s bad to get stressed over missing the gym once or twice (it’s not the end of the world) but at the same time, it really is my release if I’m having a bad day. David Lloyd gym really is my happy place. I honestly feel like my mind has been in such a better place since I’ve had my membership, the positive classes and the kind of people there just make me so much more relaxed and take me away from stress for an hour. I always look forward to a long bath too on a Friday night after a long week or on a Sunday to ease me into the week ahead and banish any anxiousness I may have.