Struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance? We’ve gathered ten strategies from professionals, including a master relationship coach and a CEO, to help you find equilibrium. From disconnecting from work after hours to reframing balance for satisfaction, discover the diverse ways these experts achieve balance in their lives. Here’s how to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
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- Disconnecting From Work After Hours
- Designating Hours for Digital Detachment
- Scheduling Personal Time in the Calendar
- Implementing S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Balance
- Focusing On What Is Important
- Prioritizing Exercise Over Extra Work
- Aligning Work With Personal Values
- Enforcing Boundaries and Seeking Accountability
- Setting Time Limitations for Assignments
- Reframing Balance for Satisfaction
Disconnecting From Work After Hours
I turn off my work notifications when I’m not at work and I believe it’s important that I’m not reachable when I’m off the clock.
It’s sometimes difficult to take time off as I solely run my business, and my time off is important. Turning off work notifications ensures that I have a little downtime.
Brandy Davis, Master Relationship Coach, LIfeing
Designating Hours for Digital Detachment
Embracing selective digital detachment, I designate specific hours to disconnect from screens, focusing solely on quality time with family, hobbies, and self-care. This deliberate break from technology revitalizes my mind and nurtures relationships, fostering a well-rounded work-life balance.
Cecil Bennett, Primary Care Provider, Newnan Family Medicine
Scheduling Personal Time in the Calendar
Every week, I block out specific hours in my calendar for personal activities, whether it’s pursuing a hobby, exercising, or simply taking a walk. This ensures that I have dedicated “me time” amidst my busy schedule.
These moments of solitude and self-reflection are vital for my mental well-being, allowing me to recharge and approach my professional responsibilities with renewed energy and clarity.
Lukasz Koszyk, Head of Business Development, Evisa Express
Implementing S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Balance
To maintain a healthy work-life balance, one effective strategy is the implementation of S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals.
When tasks for the workday meet the aforementioned criteria, individuals can manage expectations for what is feasible and attainable consistently. For example, reframing a task from “Answer emails” to “By 5 p.m., read and respond to 10 emails from client X related to Y product” makes one more inclined to complete it.
By crossing off these explicit goals that have been done for the day, employees will feel a sense of accomplishment and will have a roadmap for goals for the rest of the week. These positive feelings will allow for clearer boundaries to be set once leaving work for the day, leading to an increased ability to be present in one’s personal life.
Taylor Chodash, Mental Health Counselor and LP, South Shore Counseling
Focusing On What Is Important
Having clarity about what is truly important to you, and what is not, allows us to prioritize how we spend our time. It helps us make decisions in alignment with what’s important. It also gives us the opportunity to set healthy boundaries and say no to things that aren’t important.
Practices such as meditation, journaling, reflection, and others that give space to focus on our inner world help us have more clarity about what’s truly important or not.
Dawn Ressel, Certified Healer, Guide, Meditation Coach, and Author, The Light Within
Prioritizing Exercise Over Extra Work
I’ve changed my work-life balance in the last year by prioritizing exercise over “extra work.” Instead of waking up and immediately checking my email, or putting the kids to bed and opening my laptop, I use some of that time to work out.
It means I’m working about an hour less each day, but it has made the time I am working much more effective. Prioritizing my life, especially after hours, has led to a better experience during work hours.
Logan Mallory, VP of Marketing, Motivosity
Aligning Work With Personal Values
I work only with decision-makers and companies that truly put family and God first. Everything else is just short-term thinking.
We can balance work and our lives easily if we have a firm foundation and truly care about others we are working with and working for. There is no alternative to this mentality for me and the people who work for me and with me.
Work will always be here. We can never get it all done. We have to learn to prioritize our workloads and never shy away from troubles that arise.
It’s all about treating others with kindness and in the same way we would like to be treated. Good communication is key to this. Never put a client in a position where they are wondering what is happening!
Joe Dix, Information Technology Consultant, CANDID Solutions, Inc.
Enforcing Boundaries and Seeking Accountability
I set precise boundaries and asked my friends and family to hold me accountable. For example, I want to work out three times a week. On the work side, I block off that time: I won’t take meetings then.
I have a workout buddy who goes with me to the gym during that period. Most weeks, I make it to the gym three times a week because I’ve set up my boundaries and have reinforced my goals with social pressure. (That being said, I still haven’t figured out how to make it work when traveling!)
That doesn’t mean you need to go to the gym three times a week: work-life balance is different for everyone. However, setting boundaries and telling others about them can help you prioritize what matters to you.
Beverly Gearreald, Owner, Live Fearless Mentoring
Setting Time Limitations for Assignments
Sure, I adopt a technique where I set stringent time limitations for assignments to guarantee a healthy work-life balance. Setting fixed work and free time periods helps me keep my professional and personal lives distinct.
Using this methodical approach has helped me avoid the pitfalls of overwork and reduce my risk of burnout. This method helps me maintain a healthy work-life balance by allowing me to devote my full attention to work during set work hours and to leisure pursuits during off-work periods.
Hassan Sanders, CEO, Diabetic Insurance Solutions
Reframing Balance for Satisfaction
The first strategy in maintaining a healthy work-life balance is remembering that the keyword is “balance.” When we think of balance, we immediately think of equality, but it is often not equal in time or effort.
Letting go of the pressure of creating an equal time split between the two gives way to allowing yourself to find balanced satisfaction between the two. There will be some moments when your personal life is much more demanding, and you need to allow for that.
A project may come up at work that you are excited about, and you can allow yourself the latitude to work more. Reframing these situations will ease stress and allow you to feel more satisfied and balanced overall.
Melissa Mohr, Owner and Founder, Mohr Coaching and Development
