Growing up, you might have heard your mother or grandmother drop a few words of wisdom along the lines of “everything is good in moderation”. You shouldn’t feel bad about taking a slice of birthday cake, but the warning bells should be going off if you’re heading back for your fifth piece. Binge-watching a Netflix series is great every now and then but you don’t want to make it a nightly habit.
Finding the perfect level of moderation is all about balancing out your obligations. As a career woman, your biggest obligations are broken up into two broad sections: work and life or more specifically, success and happiness.
For some people, it’s easier said than done. Dropping all work obligations at 5 PM is easy for them. They’re out the door and on the way home. For others, though, it can be a bit more difficult. Even taking a vacation can be a difficult task for many.
Many people struggle with ways to balance their work and life obligations. It can certainly be a tall task, but here are some tips to help you out.
Make a to-do list
Sometimes, the list of tasks can just become too overwhelming. There’s the big presentation at work today, a parent-teacher meeting this afternoon, and dinner at this point is simply an afterthought.
One of the best ways to organize your day is by making a to-do list. While you may have a schedule you adhere to during the day, it’s best to make a list and order your to-do items by urgency. Take care of the most urgent things as early as you can so you can lessen your stress during the day.
Set concrete work hours
With flexible schedules becoming more and more popular, plenty of people are finding that their work hours can fluctuate over the day or progressing weeks. What you need to do is set firm work hours and make sure you’re sticking to them.
If that means you’re going to do a regular 9-5 schedule, then wonderful! If it means working earlier, that’s great too. Whatever schedule you make, start sticking to it.
Turn it off
One of the great things about technology is that we can communicate with someone on the other side of the world just as easy as speaking to your coworker. What many digital professionals have found is that it’s hard to switch off from work mode, both literally and figuratively.
When you leave the office, turn off your work phone and disable any messenger apps you may have. The first time you respond to one may make it look like you’re always open to receiving messages or calls after work.
Plan out some personal time
We all have those moments where you just need some “me” time. Whatever that looks like for you, make a point to put it in your schedule each week. So that means doing what you love and making it a priority.
Of course, that could look different if you have children or are planning on having children, but you should still be finding time for you. Your body needs some physical and mental reprieve from time to time, or else you’ll start looking like a zombie.
Use your vacation days
As mentioned above, plenty of people in workplaces never take their vacation days. They feel the pressure to keep working or don’t feel like someone can adequately replace them.
Well, your job comes with vacation days so you need to use them. It’s almost like wrapping up all the previous tips into one giant package to ensure you’re recharging your batteries and maintaining that balance.
Put your health first
We’ve all worked through a small cold or stomach bug before, but that doesn’t mean you should always be putting your health in second place.
You are the best gauge for how your body is truly feeling, meaning that if you’re feeling overwhelmed or physically ill, then it’s time to take a break. You’re not going to be useful to anyone if you keep delaying your recovery period, only digging yourself into a deeper hole by being sick all the time.
