Having an optimal work-life balance can improve mental well-being, productivity and physical health.
Creating a schedule is a useful way to achieve that elusive work-life balance.
Step 1: Prioritize Your Activities
Take a close look at what you do on a daily basis. Make a list of all of these activities.
Maintain a journal for a few days to keep track of your regular activities.
Rank each of these activities in order of priority.
Revisit the items that have ended up at the bottom of your list – are they important enough to still be on the list? If not, remove unnecessary activities.
Determine how much time you want to or need to spend on each of these activities.
Step 2: Morning & Evening Rituals
An important and often ignored aspect of maintaining work-life balance is having a morning and after-work ritual.
MORNING RITUAL
A cup of coffee and a podcast? Strength training and Eggs Benedict?
Whether it's simple or elaborate, most of us have a morning ritual.
If you don't have one, think of something you like to start your day with and make that your morning ritual.
AFTER-WORK RITUAL
Hitting the gym? Unwinding with a Netflix show? Curling up with a good book?
Your after-work ritual is anything that helps you switch off your work brain.
Again, if you don't have one, think of something that helps you relax and make that your after-work ritual.
These rituals are key to achieving work-life balance because they help you compartmentalize.
Step 3: Put Pen To Paper
Create a weekly to-do list over the weekend. This should include work-related and personal activities you need and want to do.
Create a daily to-do list every morning or night.
Decide how you want to chunk time (in 2-hour, 1-hour, or even 30-min blocks) and assign activities to your time.
Most importantly, if you put things to do on a list and were not able to get to them, don’t be too hard on yourself. We are all human, and tomorrow’s always a new day!
Step 4: Schedule Downtime
Block out some time daily/weekly to unwind and relax, AKA some good old ‘me time’.
How you spend your downtime is entirely up to you! Whether that is spending time with your family, doing a puzzle, watching a show or sleeping more, you do you!
Self-care is important and key to building work-life balance. Force yourself to schedule that downtime and see the magic unfold!
And Finally, Practice Makes Perfect!
Creating and implementing a schedule, being able to follow it regularly, and building strategies to improve work-life balance can take time and practice.
Life, work, and the demands they bring are constantly evolving and you will always need to adjust your schedule to continue maintaining that balance.
Take Action
To start your work-life balance journey:
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