Find time for yourself: 7 tips to establish an ideal work-life balance

Establishing a balance between work and one’s personal life can prove to be a daunting task for many, especially in today’s demanding business world.

However, while employees might be able to place the blame on their bosses for overloading them with work that results in an uneven balance, who can business leaders blame when they are spending too much time at work?

And, in this spirit, here are some tips for business leaders to maintain discipline and ensure they safeguard their work-life balance and mental health:

1. Learn to control your emotions when you are feeling overwhelmed

In the hectic business world, remaining calm and collected is an integral, yet very difficult skill to master.

Strong emotions typically result in strong responses that prompt negative effects such as becoming impatient or easily irritated with colleagues and clients, or being less focused on the tasks at hand.

Therefore, it is important for business leaders to regulate their emotions during work, and to not let their feelings get the better of them. Firstly, they need to notice that they need to keep their emotions in check, before then establishing the areas in their lives where negative feelings have had an impact, in order to then work towards making a change in their behaviour.

2. Improve your time management skills

Practically every business leader is faced with the same recurring problem: time, or rather a shortage of time.

Therefore, they need to make it a priority for themselves to manage their workload in more efficiently, in order to not let it interfere with their lives outside of work. This will not only lower stress levels, but it will also boost productivity in the long run.

There are multiple ways through which they can improve their time management skills, such as being efficient with emails and creating daily to-do lists. For a list of tips on how to work towards becoming more efficient, click here.

3. Build strong networks

The input of different people goes a long way towards establishing an ideal work-life balance.

Business leaders should aim to build strong networks for support both in their professional lives, and personal circles. These individuals, who can be colleagues, family members, friends, and mentors, can act as trusted advisors and hold business leaders accountable for maintaining a balance between their work and well-being.

4. Try to create a boundary between work and home

Given the introduction of remote and hybrid work environments, forming a boundary between work and home has never been as difficult as it is today. Business leaders might find themselves tackling a last-minute task that came up in the middle of the night, just because they are able to do so in their own time.

However, this can come at their own expense, as business leaders will end up taking up their resting time with even more work, which will only result in further stress and less motivation for the coming workday.

As a result, they should opt against constantly checking their emails while at home, and only work on a task if it is deemed urgent and cannot be postponed to the next workday. This allows them to clear their minds more while resting, and enables them to focus more on the task at hand once they return to work.

5. Make some time for hobbies you enjoy

Senior roles often present people with hectic lifestyles that do not leave that much time for them to focus on their personal interests.

Nevertheless, hobbies and interests outside of the workplace are crucial, as they give business leaders the opportunity to destress, feel happier, and focus on something else other than work.

Additionally, certain hobbies can help boost different qualities that might be of aid at the workplace, such as creativity and quick-thinking.

6. Find some time to practice self-care

Related to the previous tip, finding time to practice self-care helps a great deal when it comes to relieving stress and managing thoughts.

Business leaders can do this by incorporating a healthier lifestyle, through actions such as packing nutritious meals for work, taking their breaks outside of the office, drinking more water, and also socialising with their colleagues regularly.

Practicing self-care helps in improving one’s physical, mental, and emotional health, a combination that is essential for remaining productive over a long period of time.

7. Avoid trading family commitments for work

Business leaders have to remember that aside from their company or business, they also have a family to care for.

It is important for them to understand that other than having to provide for their families through finances, business leaders need to allocate a significant amount of time and focus towards their loved ones. This can be done by opting to avoid work matters that can wait until they return to the workplace, as previously explained in point four.

Time is a finite resource that one can never get back, so it is integral that business leaders not only use it well when it comes to work, but even for family commitments.