In our parent's time, the boundaries between work and home life were clear. When you left your office, your time was your own. Today, many people spend anywhere from a few minutes to the entire evening checking emails, returning calls and catching up on what they didn't have time to accomplish during the day.
Sometimes those demands are real and sometimes they're self-imposed. Either way, there's a limit to how long anyone can stay healthy without balance between work and enjoyment of life.
Here are a few simple steps for achieving a healthy work/life balance:
- Make fun a priority: After a full day of work, unstructured time can be a relief, but some activities require advance planning. For example, tickets for some concerts have to be bought months in advance—and if you don't coordinate calendars with your friends, you may fall out of touch.
- Don't be attached to your gadgets: When spending time with family and friends, try engaging them in real face-to-face conversation. Don't check your email. Silence your cell phone. Forget about Facebook. Ask your companions to do the same thing—even if it's just for the duration of a meal or chat.
- Get up and move: If you've spent your workday sitting at a desk, spend at least some of your evening on the move. Find something you like to do whether it's walking, dancing, yoga, tennis, golf or scuba diving—and as Nike says, "Just Do It."
- Save time for sleep: When there aren't enough hours in the day, it's tempting to short-change yourself on sleep. If you chronically exhaust yourself, you'll not only find yourself becoming less productive at work, but also have less fun during your leisure hours.
- Find a purpose for life: Finding a meaning or authentic plan for your life helps you focus your energies on what you'd like to achieve, makes you more productive and less likely to procrastinate, gives you a reason to overcome obstacles and makes you more likely to persevere. How much more quickly do you get the dishes done if you've got somewhere to go? The same sort of energy attaches to larger life plans.
Balancing Work & Life: We Can Help
Your EAP benefit includes unlimited free, confidential phone consultations with counselors who can help you figure out what it is you really want to accomplish in life and develop step-by-step plans for achieving those goals. Simply give us a call at 800.383.1908 any time of the day or night that's convenient for you.
"We can't give you the answers to all life's questions, but we can help you identify core issues, point you toward helpful resources and share what's worked for others in similar situations," explains Matt Steinkamp, vice president of EAP services for VITAL WorkLife. "We're here to help you achieve greater success and enjoyment both at work and at home."
Your EAP benefit also includes unlimited access to a wealth of web-based work and life resources on the VITAL WorkLife Member Website.
Contact VITAL WorkLife at 800.383.1908 or access resources through the VITAL WorkLife App
