Have you ever noticed how being always connected blurs work-life boundaries? Our smartphones and social media persistently blur the lines between home and work life so much so, we all live in an ‘always on,’ ‘always connected’ world. For many of us, the very first thing we do when we wake up in the morning is to grab the smartphone resting by our nightstand – which we use as an alarm clock – and then we compulsively check our work email whilst still being horizontal; all this before we said good morning to our loved ones. Finding a balance between home and work life is possible, but for this to work, you need to be realistic about your current habits and priorities. The problem is that if you’re not careful enough, you might push things too far. With that in mind and without further ado, here are six helpful tips for work-life balance for people with Big Dreams.
Define your goals
Clarity comes from engagement, not thought, so it’s time to get your journal out and list all your goals. The easiest way to do so is to ask yourself where do you see yourself in five years or, better yet, where you would like to be in five years.
Don’t be afraid to come up with a best-case scenario. After all, the higher you set your goals, the more you’ll drive yourself to achieve them.
Keep in mind that you need to answer this question on both personal and professional levels.
In some cases, moving this timestamp to 10 years from now is even better.
Discipline = Freedom
The first thing you need to do to move things in the right direction is to set a routine that will allow you to work on all of these goals.
You see, the amount of time you spend tending to your personal life and the amount of time you spend working can never have a 1 to 1 ratio. However, it’s essential that you include everything.
Set some time for people you care about. Make sure that you find yourself in an environment where you can meet new people.
Include a workout routine if one of your goals is to get in shape and so on.
Know your priorities + set your boundaries straight
The biggest flaw of a schedule lies in the fact that nothing is written in stone and you’ll have to postpone some tasks for later on.
However, which tasks can you afford to postpone and which of them have to be dealt with right away? The only way to know this is to set your priorities.
Also, it is crucial to learn to set your boundaries straight.
Here’s an example:
Try to make sure that your work life doesn’t seep through into your home life, and you will see how quickly your life will change for the better.
Work on your career
They say that you should dress for the job you want, not for the job you have and the same goes for training, as well.
For instance, if you aim to become a team leader, you need to have a leverage of sorts, something that will convince the management that you are, indeed, the right person for the job.
In this particular scenario, finding leadership workshops or seminars to attend would be a great idea.
Once it’s time for you to have “the talk” with your boss, this can become a valuable bargaining chip.
Procrastination is a true adversary
One of the biggest adversaries on this path is procrastination, and you need to find a way to deal with it.
Look at it this way, working harder to achieve promotion and spending too much time socializing are not nearly as bad as thinking about how you should work harder or socialize more.
The first two give you results in a particular area, while the latter only sows discontent and ruins your mood.
Take responsibility
The hardest thing to do in life is to admit that everything is up to you. So, instead of looking for someone else or something else to blame, you might want to take full personal responsibility for your actions.
This will help you start on a path to making things right.
In conclusion
The last thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that you shouldn’t try too hard to find this balance. Remember, this is something that you’ll have to do every single day, so if it feels like too much effort, the chances are that you won’t be able to do it for long.
Take it easy and don’t feel bad for taking baby steps instead of going for giant leaps.
photo source | pexels