Are you among the 75% who struggles with work-life balance?
If you are reading this article, you must be interested in how to achieve and maintain a better work-life balance. It is easy to get carried away with work, especially if you are in a stressful management position or if you are managing your own business.
A new survey, from FlexJobs and Mental Health America (MHA) taken late last month reported that 75% of workers have experienced burnout in the past 12 months – even despite the pandemic.
If you have been following my work during the past years, you know that I am involved in a number of businesses, I trade stocks, manage my own ventures and besides that, I still have time to do sports and live healthy every day.
Read on to find out what works for me the best to maintain a very pleasant work life balance, just by following 3 simple rules.
Rule 1: prioritize your health above anything else
Healthy body, healthy mind. Healthy living is about respecting my mind, respecting my body and remembering that what goes into my body can affect my mind and everything’s connected. A great cardiovascular system will dramatically improve your stress tolerance, beating your own records at the gym will encourage you to push beyond your limits even at work. A healthy diet will help you to get through the day in comfort, without abdominal pains, sugar imbalances and such.
What do I do on a daily basis?
Wake up at 7:00 the latest and have a nice breakfast. Go for organic only, such as eggs, veggies and salad. Include some protein and unprocessed carbs as well. Eating raw is the best. I like to have a large americano with a LOT of hot water, as consuming enough liquid is critical for good health. Tea is also great but in the mornings I want coffee.
After breakfast I do the most important tasks, answer any emails from my clients and go through the daily performance checks for each account I oversee.
Once done, I get down to the gym for 30 minutes of weight exercises and 30 minutes of fast paced jogging. On the treadmill I use those 30 minutes to think over the remaining tasks for the day, so once I get home I can get right back to work.
My other meals include chicken, beetroot, carrots, banana, oranges, salmon – healthy foods only, nothing processed ideally. If it is greasy I do not eat it. No fatty steaks please. Pork and bottomfeeders (shrimp, prawn, etc) a big no-no.
Rule 2: organize your work precisely
I use task lists. Every evening I will list 6-8 tasks that will be prioritized the following day. Before listing anything, I ask myself: is this a priority? If not then it will not make it to the list.
During my working hours I also do my best to remain laser focused on the list. Your task list is only efficient if you actually complete each task – so make sure you will have a clear definition of what each task requires to be considered done. If your work requires a set timeline, then plan accordingly.
When working on my priority list, I will downright ignore any distractions. No emails, no phone calls and definitely no social media. The earlier I tackle my jobs for the day the earlier I will be able to enjoy time chatting and watching videos. But it is a big no during working hours.
The good thing about being disciplined is that usually I will complete my tasks a lot faster compared to expected so I will have a few extra hours each day for self improvement, learning something new or working ahead.
Rule 3: focus on your own priorities
It is easy to become a nice guy and attend to everyone’s requests. If you value yourself or value your time then you must not let yourself be distracted. Ignore any non-priority requests.
Personally, I manage my time very strictly: when working for my clients, I do not think of my own business management stuff. When I manage my businesses, I will not attend to any client requests. When studying, exercising or doing personal activities then I will completely ignore both my businesses and clients.
Conclusion
That’s it. Everyone can do it. Finding and maintaining work-life balance will be slightly different for everyone but the key takeaway here is that:
- you need to prioritize your health first
- organize your work and resist distractions
- have a separate time allocation for work, personal life and your personal business activities
As an entrepreneur I always say:
The business needs to serve you, not you serve the business. Huge difference.
What do you think? Do you have issues with maintaining a work-life balance? Share this article with someone who would find it helpful.