How To Maintain A Work-Life Balance

Are you struggling to maintain a work-life balance?

Face it – there’s so much pressure around working AND maintaining a social life. It’s difficult to get everything done without feeling stressed, and it can feel overwhelming when trying to balance everything. Especially when you’re an entrepreneur, just started your own business, or even a new mom – you’re going to feel like you don’t have time for anything. Lucky for you, there are ways to help this and make you feel like a human again. Here are some steps on how to maintain a work-life balance.

Set Boundaries

This is the first step and super important when maintaining a work-life balance. You need to set boundaries with both people and your work space – especially if you work at home. The work grind never stops when you’re running your own business. So even though your kids, roommates, or spouse come home when they’re done with work, you’re not, so be sure they leave you alone so you can finish your work. You should also set rules for them and yourself. For example, have people knock before entering your room and disturbing your progress. Stay focused by having a designated space for work and not completing anything from your bed or kitchen table. Get ready in the morning by putting on makeup and clothes to be motivated. Whatever boundaries and routines you need to set each day to get things done, do it.

Plan & Schedule Your Time

This is a great way to make use of the calendar app on your phone, laptop, or tablet. If you’re more forgetful, then don’t be afraid to go the old-fashioned way with writing everything down. Take the time to add your work schedule, due dates, and any other important reminders or appointments. Then you can easily set aside specific times throughout the week to focus on things like laundry, the gym, and social outgoings. This is also a great way to identify and eliminate time-wasting activities. You need to plan and organize your actions in order to avoid these unnecessary tasks. Then you’ll have more time to balance the more important things in your life. Remember: your time is SO valuable!

Work Ahead & Don’t Procrastinate

Scheduling your activities will also help you stop pushing your tasks to a later time. Procrastinating only leads to a longer to-do list and makes it look like you have an absurd amount of work at once. Then it’s harder to motivate yourself to get started when your work is piled up. That’s why it’s crucial to get ahead on your work to help reduce stress-based procrastination, and allow more time in the future to hang with your friends to just relax. To do this right, you should go about each day by checking off tasks as you complete them, and then set goals for the next day with an allocated time.

Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize

Not only do you have to prioritize your work, but you also need to make the decision which comes first: family or work. You have to organize your work in a meaningful way, depending how important they are and when they’re due. Be sure to keep checking your schedule and prioritize your list so you focus on what is important first. Then, you can knock out smaller assignments and outings afterwards. Knowing you completed bigger tasks will make you worry less and help you feel more balanced and relax. Sometimes work has to come first, but don’t forget about your friends and family after you’re done.

Make Time For YOU

The most important thing to do to maintain a work-life balance is to always make time for yourself. We can so easily become a workaholic and forget about our own well-being. Take time to relax your mind and have some time set away from work or school. This could be spending time with friends and family, or perhaps working out and practicing meditation yourself. Whatever you do for self-care, be sure to treat yourself and clear your head every once in a while.

How do you maintain a work-life balance? Let us know in the comments below!