“Work-Life Balance” was one of the most searched for terms on Google last year and it’s easy to understand why. With the rise of technology invading our homes and personal time, it is becoming harder than ever to draw a line in the sand between work time and non-work time.
This is coupled with long work hours, extreme multitasking, and the pressure to work as hard as possible to maintain career trajectory. So how do you make sure your life doesn’t become your work? We have a few strategies that you can implement below!
Block Your Time
According to the bestselling book The One Thing by real estate celebrity Gary Keller, time blocking can propel you to career success. The method is simple: identify the most important activity that directly drives your job’s success rate, and block off time to devote only to that. If you work in the multifamily industry, your most important activity may be marketing your property. If you are a staffing professional, your most important activity may be finding qualified candidates.
The sweet spot seems to be 25-minute time blocks with 10-minute breaks in between. The main focus of time blocking is to avoid distractions completely. Do not answer the phone, check email, or respond to co-workers. Instead, find a quiet spot where you can focus and let your colleagues know what you are doing. As you complete your time blocks, you will learn how many to dedicate each day to get results. The goal is simple: achieve more in less time by practicing extreme focus.
Put Your Phone to Bed
Most of us are guilty of coming home from a long day at work and collapsing on the comfy couch with our phones. This activity numbs us. It helps us leave the stress of the day behind and lose ourselves in the world of the internet.
The problem is the disconnection it creates between us and the ones we love. Our children and spouses lose valuable time with us because our faces stay buried in our phones. Even if you live alone, the habit distracts your mind from fulfilling activities such as reading, working on a hobby, or spending time with friends in real life.
One way to avoid the phone trap is to literally put it to bed at a certain time. If you have children and get home three hours before their bedtime, put your phone away when you walk in the door. A drawer or an out-of-sight charging station makes a great “bed” for your phone. If your job requires you to stay alert after work hours, set a timer to remind you to check your phone at appropriate intervals, such as once every hour.
Be Mindful
Meditation is really an extraordinary practice. The key element to remember here is the word “practice” because it has to be done regularly and over time for it to have an effect on your brain.
The effect it will eventually have is to enable you to step back from stress and emotions and have the superpower to make decisions and take action from a place of neutral observation.
Start with sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing for 3 minutes a day. Aim to work up to 10 minutes a day of sitting in purposeful silence with the goal of gently turning away from any thoughts or emotions that comes into your mind as you meditate.
In addition, during your day as your transition from task to task, try to have a moment where you come back briefly to that place of observation and refocus on what you are about to do. This mindfulness will not only increase your effectiveness, but it will also serve you when work time is done and you transition into personal time.
Achieving work-life balance is at the top of most working people’s list of priorities and with the above steps you can begin to achieve better relationships at work, home, and with yourself.
