If there are 100 workers worldwide, 80 out of them feel stress. Half of them seek ways to manage stress, and 25% feel like screaming or shouting due to stress overload. That’s serious!
Life is precious. Staying stressed or exhausted due to work-life pressure is an injustice to the precious time available in limited amounts.
Stress reduction strategies and mindful living tips can help create a pleasing life. Uncover through this blog how to create a work-life balance which helps make this world a better place to live.
What is the Work-Life Balance?
Work-life balance is the time spent on work versus personal life, interests and hobbies. An individual who successfully balances between the two is less likely to experience stress or become overwhelmed.
Why Achieving Work-life Balance is Important?
To know the importance of work-life balance, you must ask yourself if you are satisfied with the available time for work and personal matters. If you are too much into work and not enjoying your personal life, that becomes the reason why you get over-stressed. Individuals who balance equally between their professional and personal life are more likely to face mental health issues, and they certainly feel less stressed.
Benefits of Work-Life Balance
Here are the good reasons why you must work on achieving a work-life balance
- Maintaining Mental Health
- Maintaining Physical Health
- Minimize Work-Related Stress
- Help Stay in The Moment
- Boosting Productivity at Work
- Become All Rounder
- Achieving More Success
Spending time on personal life aids in improving mental health. The individuals who create a balance between both lives find it easier to combat negative thoughts, emotions and experiences. Being able to curb negativity is essential to make informed decisions in life. People who let the work-life factors affect their personal life mostly feel unhappy or stressed.
Good physical health is essential to have enough energy to execute tasks in personal and professional life efficiently. Intaking fresh meals, sleeping early, waking up early, regular exercise, and fun-filled activities help achieve a good balance. These supply energy to the body required to deal with overwhelmed situations and work for many hours.
Work-related stress may happen due to workload, responsibilities or other factors. If you try to achieve control over these factors, then you may create a perfect balance between your personal and professional life. That will help in feeling less stressed and living a happy life.
Staying in the moment means being mindful of what’s happening around you or what you are doing currently. Mindfulness is crucial in personal and professional life because it helps improve focus.
Creating a work-life balance makes you enjoy your work. When you are satisfied with your work, you feel more committed to your tasks and inspired to give the best performance. It creates a feeling of contentment in your life.
Almost every individual has a hobby or interest entirely different from their work lives. But due to work stress or time and energy invested in work, the interest and hobbies move to an impossible arena. Spending time on these is essential to develop extra skills and expand knowledge. Outside the work, leisure activities create diverse life experiences that stimulate interest in work life.
Success requires hard work is a big misconception. It is only valid if you look for growth within your workplace, but if you seek growth without sacrificing well-being, then achieving a work-life balance helps. A balanced lifestyle boosts productivity and engagement and amplifies creative thinking. These improve your chances of success without overworking yourself.
How to Curb Stress in Work life?
Before knowing the ways to curb stress, let’s shed light on the factors that contribute to work-life stress:
- Excessive workloads
- Low salaries
- Limited opportunities for growth
- No social support
- No control over work-related decisions
- Least employee participation
- Unclear performance expectations
- Boring workplace environment or work
Ways To Deal with Stress At Work
- Track your Stressors
- Try Healthy Response
- Good Night Sleep
- Set Boundaries
Take note of situations that create stress and your response to the situation. Record how you felt, your thoughts and details of the environment, including the people around you and how you reacted – Did you raise your voice? Go for a walk? Have you talked with a friend or colleague? You can find patterns among your stressors and responsive actions to them by taking notes.
Instead of moving to fast food or alcohol to fight stress, you must make healthy choices to feel tension free. Doing exercise is a great stress buster which also keeps you in shape. You can do yoga, meditation, gym or any other physical activity. You may also choose to spend time with your family and children, reading books, cooking, decluttering space or doing other household chores that take your mind away from the situation.
Having quality sleep is essential for effective stress management. Limit your caffeine intake to build healthy sleep habits. Minimize your screen time, especially at night; keep your eyes away from the screen for at least 2-3 hours before bedtime.
Being available 24 hours a day is a different kind of pressure in today’s digital world. You must set some work-life boundaries for a smooth life. This may mean making rules to not check email after reaching home or not answering the phone at the dining table. Blending work life with home life creates conflict and stress, so setting boundaries certainly help in avoiding it.
Tips for Mindful Living
Mindful living is the best way to curb stress. In simple words, it means living in the present moment. To live such a lifestyle, here are some tips that will help you:
- Wake up early in the morning
- Stay in the present
- Meditate in the morning
- Be grateful for the blessing in your life
- Listen to others
- Step into nature to spend me-time
- Give time to your hobbies
- Practice accepting things as they are
- Count the good things before bedtime
- Appreciate the kind efforts of everyone around you
In The End
Work-life balance is the secret to a long, happy and purposeful life. You must achieve it with the tips shared in this post.
Life is short, so act quickly upon achieving this balance.