How Can I Achieve a Better Work Life Balance - Ask Me Anything Tuesday IM HIRED

How Can I Achieve a Better Work Life Balance - Ask Me Anything Tuesday Do you live to work or work to live? This has to be the golden question, okay so its no whats the meaning of life? but I think its not far off. We all know we need to work, no one is going to pay your rent or bills and although everyone says money cant buy you happiness, it can buy pretty much everything else. How are you supposed to juggle a 9-5 job that stretches way past those contract hours as well as family commitments, a personal life and the most essential 5 minutes to yourself once in a while? It is really an impossible mission to have the best of both worlds? If you had asked me this question even a year ago I would have told you to pick one. You can have a successful career or a great personal life, you couldnt possibly  be greedy enough to ask for both. What a difference a day makes (or a year in this example) I have started to realise that I was being too pessimistic  and in reality I could have a job I loved and succeed in whilst having an actual life I enjoyed. Ill be completely honest and say this didnt happen over night and if youre asking how to get a perfect work life balance, then chances are your scales are tipping far too much in the direction of work. (I dont think Ive ever heard of anyone having a problem with the other side of the coin, Id love it if my job forced me to work all hours of the day said no one ever!) How do you flick the switch and level out those scales? (slightly too tipped on the personal life wouldnt be a bad option either.) Well these are the 3 stages to start with. Set Boundaries and be Assertive   You might think youre good at time management and organising your day but if youre thinking why is there never enough hours in the day, I hate to break it to you, youre not doing a great job! You need to work smarter instead of harder and look to get your job completed in a reasonable time limit. If youre employed until 5 pm, why are you feeling the need to work until 8 or 9 pm everyday. Yes, every job will occasionally  ask you to do extra but dont let any company take advantage of you and when you say youre going to leave on time, put down the phone, turn off the laptop and go home. You need to set work time and personal time and never let the two meet. That means no answering work calls during family dinners or checking company emails whilst having a chill evening at home. Never Feel Guilty about You Time This is the big one! When it comes to the people who are struggling to find the balance its usually because of that feeling of guilty. That feeling that means you dont want to be the first one to leave the office and you want to be an employee that goes above and beyond but at the sake of everything else. You can still do your job well and impress your boss without giving up your life so stop feeling guilty about not doing extra and when I say extra I mean the falling asleep with your laptop or working every weekend. You Can Always Ask for Help Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while so dont feel bad about asking for support when you need it. Whatever the job role youll most likely experience peaks in workload, times where your normal duties increase. If youre not able to cope with that increase dont automatically assume you have to double your working hours, instead ask a work colleague if they can lead a hand or speak to your boss about the work load. There is always more than one solution to your workload problems but the trouble is when youre stressed and overworked you cant see the easy answer. Finding the perfect work life balance is definitely a journey and like everything I discuss a time consuming one. If youre still struggling, my previous post The Search for The Perfect Work Life Balance gives you 10 tips to achieve this goal.