How to maintain a healthy work life balance
The past two years have taught us the importance of striving for a good work life balance.
A good work-life balance is a difficult thing to get right, particularly if you work to deadlines like in the legal and financial sectors.
As we all carve out a new normal, we’ve been having an increasing number of conversations with people who are struggling with their work life balance, now that they have returned to the workplace. Maintaining a healthy work life balance is important for our mental health and well-being.
Below are some tips that both employees and employers can use to ensure that we all benefit from a good work life balance.
Employees
Speak up
If you are struggling speak to your manager. They might be able to make adjustments to your workload or offer flexible working. It also helps to review priorities together, so you can be in control and on top of your workload. Employers understand that there are some extenuating factors that can impact your work. Internally, they need to know where pressures lie in order to address them.
Look after yourself at work
It’s important that you look after your health whilst at work – drink plenty of water, take proper breaks and don’t skip lunch. Sometimes taking a step back for a couple of minutes can help you think clearer and make you more productive.
Accept your life stage
There are times in your life when you have less time than normal. For example, when you are moving house, have really young children or starting a business. If you can relate to this, there may be little that you can do to change your circumstances. However, simply accepting that it is just a phase of your life and remembering that it won’t last forever will make you feel less stressed. But also making any little changes can definitely make an impact, even carving out 10 minutes for yourself during the day would be a benefit
Expand your timetable and prioritise
Write a list of everything you have to do and prioritise what’s important both in and out of work. If it’s not possible to get everything done in a week consider expanding your timetable. Rather than stressing about managing to meet up with your friends or family, schedule it on a fortnightly or monthly basis instead.
Switch Off
It’s important to switch off after work, so you don’t take your stresses home. I like to write down or put in my calendar my ongoing tasks and things I need to complete the next day, before I leave the office or close my laptop if I’m working from home.
Try getting some exercise after work to clear your mind. In addition, schedule some time to relax. Have a long bath, or watch a movie or your favourite TV programme.
Set a deadline each day to switch off your smart phone and stop checking emails. To help you sleep, try doing the same with your personal phone an hour before you go to bed.
Don’t be a perfectionist with everything in your life
We all like to do everything well and to the best of our ability. However, sometimes when you are very busy it’s better to let your target of perfection slip than your relationships with those close to you.
Employers
Check In
Schedule regular meetings with your employees to make sure they are happy and not overwhelmed at work. Doing this allows to you identify any potential issues before they snowball, identify areas of improvement and will make your business a better place to work.
Encourage discussion
Encourage your staff to talk openly about their feelings in the workplace. This creates a mini support network, allows for honesty, things to be addressed and positive change to happen in the workplace.
If people are afraid to speak up, feelings and problems are internalised, which will ultimately make them worse.
Be flexible
The pandemic has shown that employees can be flexible in terms of working location and hours and still be as productive. It’s important that employers recognise this and take it forward in the new normal. For example, if an employee has a hospital appointment and it’s nearer to their home than the office, let them work from home. Flexibility works two ways, if you are flexible with your employees, they will be flexible with you. For example, if you want them to work late one day to meet a deadline.
We are finding that more and more candidates in the Legal, HR Finance and Accountancy sectors are looking for more flexibility, and those employers who don’t provide this will ultimately lose out in the war for talent
Rewards
Reward your staff for their hard work, it will make them feel valued and increase loyalty to your company. We find that valued employees are always more productive. Try a team building event or offer incentives. For example, half a day off spent as a team doing something fun if they reach a milestone. Read our top tips for creating successful team building events here. We recently had an evening in London and it really boosted team morale, but it doesn’t have to be this big. What about a team lunch or breakfast even?
Get support with your work life balance
Half the battle of a good work life balance and being happy in your work is doing a job that you love. As the Chinese Philosopher Confucius said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” If you are unhappy in your current role or are looking to work in Law, HR, Finance or Accountancy, we are here to help.
We are award-winning specialists for Legal, HR, Finance and Accountancy sectors. Established in 2009, we have a wealth of experience in recruiting the right candidates with the skills and efficiency to help businesses thrive across the UK. To view our latest jobs, please click here or get in touch for a confidential discussion.
If you would like support with recruiting, please click here to contact us. We offer a bespoke and tailored service to help you find candidates that match your business and requirements.
For further tips on maintaining a healthy work life balance, please click here.