If you feel like balancing your work and personal life is a daily fight. You’re not the only one!
Work can become the biggest priority for many of us. That could happen, but it might cost everything else. We all want to do well at work, but if that’s all we think about, we might forget about other things that are more important, like our health and our relationships with other people.
To live a happy and healthy life, though, you need to make time for yourself.
Our work and personal lives need to be balanced, and we need to start working on that right away. With a new year upon us, it’s the perfect time to ‘Do Life Right’ and balance work and life in 2024.
That’s where the “Flip Flop Life” comes in. Let’s dive in…
What is the flip flop life?
The phrase “flip flop life” is similar to having great work-life balance. It refers to how well you handle your work and home life.
A mix between work and life may mean different things to different people. Over time, different people may have different ideas about what a good “work-life balance” looks like. Some people may put work first when they are starting a new job or business, while others may put taking time off to travel or spend time with young children at the top of their list.
We’ve also seen a change in what people thought was a good work-life balance before the epidemic and what they think is the right balance for them and their families now that more people are working from home or from a relaxed schedule.
How should I balance my work and personal life?
To find the best work-life balance for you, you must first make sure that you have a “healthy” mix.
If you want to know if you have a good work-life balance, ask yourself these questions:
Do I have a healthy, active lifestyle?
Do I sleep well?
Do I have enough time to do the things I enjoy and see my family and friends?
Am I under constant worry or stress about work when I’m at home?
If you answered NO to any of these, you may be on your way to burnout.
A lot of the leaders we work with have worked hard to get to where they are, but now they can’t remember what their personal lives are like. This doesn’t mean that it has to be one or the other.
Even though work is an important part of our lives, it shouldn’t get in the way of our fun and health.
How does the way you work affect your work-life balance?
Because of the pandemic, many of us have had to change the way we work. More and more people are working from home, being mobile, or combining the two. Businesses also like the idea of a four-day work week more and more.
People who have done remote work, especially flexible remote work, know how helpful it can be. People always say that having more time with their families is the best thing about casual and remote work. Some people have trouble turning off when they get home because they can spend more time there. People spend more time with their family and friends, but they aren’t “there” in the moment, which makes the time they spend together less meaningful.
Some people who work from home think that the commute helps them switch between job and personal life. You could be more useful with the time you spend talking, like reading or listening to podcasts and audiobooks to improve yourself.
We’ve seen both good and bad things about the four-day work week. Getting a full day back can make a huge difference in how well you balance work and life. However, if you have to work longer hours or take a day off that doesn’t fit with your schedule, it could make it harder for you to find the right work-life balance.
We are very aware of what happens when we let work take over our lives: we are much more likely to have mental health problems or physical problems like heart disease. But we work with workers who feel bad that they spent so much time at work because it kept them from starting a family, hurt their marriage, or made them miss their kids growing up. We’re sorry, but we’ll never get our time back.
Here are some ways to improve your work-life balance:
Get clear and keep your goal. Get clear on what you want from life and be okay with the benefits and any costs you may have to pay for them. Regularly review your goals to make sure you’re on the right track, and make any necessary changes along the way.
You should always make time for yourself and not feel bad about taking a break to recover. It’s not enough to just spend more time with family and friends to find a work-life balance. You need to give yourself some “You” time so that you can be completely selfish and only think about your own wants.
Set aside a regular “happy hour” if you can’t get away for a day or even half a day. It is amazing how much “me” time can make you feel better.
Whether you work mixed hours, in an office, or as a self-employed person, you should keep up with your friends and family outside of work. Things like social media, WhatsApp, and other online activities can keep you busy these days. They are not, however, a replacement for meeting someone in person. Have fun!
Having other people help you make plans also makes it more likely that you’ll keep them. Never pay attention to yourself and keep working late than it is to let someone down.
Do some exercise every day. Working out releases dopamine and serotonin in the brain, which not only makes you feel good but also lowers stress, anxiety, and sadness.
If you don’t have much time, you might want to do something shorter and harder, like running, instead of walking the dog. Jump on the trampoline with the kids. Why should they have all the fun when this is such a great workout?
Regular exercise can also help you sleep better. Working out can help you sleep better and more soundly, even if you don’t get much sleep.
Keep things out in the open. If you’re afraid or stressed, don’t keep it to yourself. Even just talking to someone about your fears can help you because it lets you get them off your chest, which can help them go away.
Check to see if your company has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or Mental Health First Aiders that you can talk to if you’re scared or stressed out but don’t want to tell your friends and family.
Get away from technology. It’s too easy to grab your phone or laptop and say, “I’ll just…” After this, you may not have meant to work for an hour or two, but you did.
As long as our phones are in plain sight or show us messages, we might not turn them off, even if we don’t pick them up. When the day is over, turn off your work phones and computers. It’s best to silence work chats and turn off alerts if you use your phone for both work and pleasure.
Take away any distractions at work and use as many tools as you can to block out or reduce outside distractions. Do not receive any more calls or emails. If your family often “drops in” while you’re trying to work from home, you might want to put up a “do not disturb” sign on your door.
If you work in an open-plan office and need to get something important done, you might want to book a meeting room for a couple of hours so no one can bother you.
You will be more productive and finish your job faster if you block out distractions.
Find a partner who will hold you accountable. Other people shouldn’t tell you what the right work-life balance is, but if you’re having trouble keeping the balance you want, find someone to hold you accountable.
It could be a boss, a friend, a coach, or a business partner. If you get off track, it doesn’t matter who you ask as long as they help you get back on track.
Finally, remember that this is YOUR life and TIME, not anyone else’s. Make the changes YOU want. It can be helpful to talk about the changes with a family member or friend, but make sure that the choices and changes you make are the ones you make.
It’s time to Do Life Right
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