How to achieve life work balance
Following our work-life balance article for engineers, several users suggested that we come up with some strategies and suggestions for the ever-elusive work-life balance. Our authors came up with the following recommendations and suggestions.
First and foremost, it will be appropriate to determine what are the basics that have to be addressed
Healthy diet
Enough sleep
Establish what you want from work and the rest of your life. What kind of a family life do you want?
- What is most important to you?
- What do you want to achieve in your family life?
- What do you want to achieve at work?
- How will the ideals of each of the above occur in perfect harmony at the same time?
- How will they collide?
- Try to achieve flexibility and control over the dividing line between the work and non-work aspects of your life. Ideally this means having flexible working arrangements such as flextime and the ability to work from home when that suits you (such as when you have a special report to finalize or a child is ill).
- Since the pressure at work and at home is probably quite intense, you need to use the time at both effectively and efficiently.
- Make time for your family. Jobs come and go; your family is forever. Special events in your children’s lives – such as a birthday party or a school concert – will not come round again in that precise form and therefore should not be missed.
- Go on a work/life balance course. The advice on this site can only be general; if you go on a suitable course, the trainer can help you address the particularities of your own circumstances and give you more specific advice.
- Make time for your partner. It’s easy to take a partner or spouse – especially long-term one – for granted, but this person is more important to you than any job and hopefully will still be with you long after you’ve moved on from this particular job.
- Make time for yourself. Even if you love your work, you need a change. Perform tasks which make you happy.
Additional reading
Additional articles on work-life balance