A Guide to Help you Maintain Work-Life Balance

working on laptop

In today’s times, ‘having it all’ has become the guiding mantra for so many of us. One is expected to maintain the balance between the demands of work and home, in order to live a happy and satisfying life. But this is easier said than done, in our quest to manage all aspects of our lives, we end up with more pressure to succeed, more stress and less personal time. We fail to understand that by putting in longer hours at work does not mean we will achieve more, especially if you end up with less personal time, fatigue, stress and other health issues.


The past few decades have seen the positive psychology movement catching momentum, hence a lot of research has been done in areas of health, happiness, human potential and our constant need to flourish.

Several pieces of research have been published in Healthy Lifestyle Magazine to highlight the long term ill effects of stress on the human mind and body. According to a new study it has been found that if stress is left untreated it can also lead to some kind of mental illness in a time span of 10 years.

Hence it is really important to look after our physical and mental well-being in order to maintain overall good health.  Even though this mammoth task seems challenging it’s not undefeatable if you break it down to small lifestyle changes it can be attained. The first step is to take stock of your daily routine and little things that either get overlooked or stress you out too much.

Anytime you find that you are getting worked up –it’s time for a gentle reminder that ‘this is not the end of the world’. The key point to note is that stress and anxiety have a cumulative effect on our mental well-being and with time the effects build up.

Small lifestyle changes that will help you stay healthy and fit

Take care of your eating habits

Plan ahead for the week when it comes to your food. Use the weekend to buy essential ingredients. A balanced diet is a healthy diet to ensure that you eat fresh fruits and vegetables, opt for the seasonal variety. Not only are they packed with nutrients they are also easy on the pocket. Protein is the main building block for bones and muscles, our body uses it to build and repair cells. Eat a combination of meats to ensure that your body gets enough of this key building block.

Avoid snacking in between meals, if you feel hungry settle for fruits or snack on nuts rather than sugar-laden, processed snacks. According to several Healthy Lifestyle Magazines, people overlook the ill effects of processed sugar in snacks and continue binging on them. This small habit can cause several serious health problems like obesity, diabetes and increased risk of heart disease.

Physical fitness is important

Take time out and engage in some form of regular physical activity. It’s important to allocate time for yourself and engage in a physical fitness routine. Look for a fitness class that is closer to your home or office, this way you won’t have to spare additional time for commuting to and from.

If in the beginning you feel overwhelmed by a five-day regular routine, start with a less taxing routine like attending a class every alternate day. This way you won’t feel rushed to get other things done, after a period of time you can gradually increase the frequency. If you fall into the category of people who don’t like the gym, engage in a physical activity that motivates you, such as yoga, spinning class, walking etc.

The ‘Me’ time

Personal time is really important, in our rush to complete tasks and assignments at work, we often do not consider our own needs. Personal time is really important. When you take out time for yourself – you improve your focus for other things. When you’re alone you give your brain a chance to reboot. You’ll be more productive at work, your concentration will improve and even your relationships will improve.

When you spend time alone, you gain a better understanding of yourself, you contemplate on issues that have bothered you and you get into a problem-solving mode. All these aspects have a very positive impact as you are able to deal with issues and make better choices.

Wrapping up!

There are a lot of demands on our time each day, one has to get creative and make choices. Don’t spend time over tasks that can be delegated to others. Learn to give yourself a break and not to set unrealistic expectations from oneself. When you are trying to fit more and more into your day, you will soon feel totally burnt out.

Prioritize your tasks into four categories to prioritize your time:

  • Urgent as well as important, plan for such tasks as your complete attention as well as a contribution is required.
  • Important but not very urgent, you can schedule such tasks once other critical stuff is taken care off.
  • Urgent but not important, you can easily delegate such tasks.
  • Neither urgent nor important, it’s completely alright if you don’t do such tasks.

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