7:00 a.m: Alarm rings
7:30 a.m: Breakfast with newspaper
8:00 a.m: Leave from home for work
9:00 a.m: Office starts
8:30 p.m: Leave from office
10:00 p.m: Reach home
10:30 p.m: Dinner with news
11:00 p.m: Slumber
Remind you of your daily routine? Well, it’s time to stop and think! Just take a look at the routine. When do you have your lunch? Is your life at work always such a blur? When do you spend time with your family? Most importantly, when do you spend time with yourself? Remember that work is a part of life and not the whole of it?
With evolved lifestyles, working professionals are finding it increasingly difficult to find the right proportion of work life balance. Life is dominantly about making the right decisions at the right time and maintaining balance between the different roles we perform in our day to day lives. The task to separate the personal and the professional becomes exceedingly tough with better positions and promotions. However tough the job might seem, the need to undertake such a task is undeniable.
Question yourself.
Are you really enjoying life? Is the work environment something you’re happy to be in? One of the main reasons behind taking up any job is the desire to lead a good enjoyable life and maintain a work life blend. But are you actually fulfilling that desire? You earn the bucks but you do not have the time to spend it, to enjoy life with family and friends. Does that really make sense? Your heart will certainly say ‘No’. Just take the initiative. The rest will gradually fall into place.
How to start? Here’s how!
Once too much pressure builds up, learn to unplug. Disconnect yourself from your mobile phones, emails, letters and chats. Give yourself some time to unwind completely. Spend time with yourself. Do things which you like doing. Take this time to relax. If possible, try taking a movie break or chai break at the workplace itself.
Choose your profession carefully.
Take up something which you want or have always wanted to do. Do not do a job only because you have to. If you choose something that interests you, then you can keep fatigue and stress strikes at bay. Doing something you like does not leave you exhausted. On the contrary, you would feel satisfied. Satisfied and happy employees change the work culture making the workplace more productive and engaging.
Plan properly.
It helps to make proper use of time and best use of money. Organizing things properly will actually help understand requirements. That will help you allocate time and resources to things that are essential and necessary.
Do not get swayed by the ‘herd’.
Stay away from fierce and unhealthy competition and mindless rat race. Doing what everyone else is doing is the easiest way out. Our lives have both good and bad moments. No one takes decisions for us. We do it ourselves. So take decisions which you think are correct. This goes a long way to keep the balance between work and life.
Opt for flexibility in timings whenever you get the option.
Many organizations offer this as an option to make your life more valuable. Always keep in mind that work is only a part of life, not the whole of it. There are other important things in life and there are people who make our lives complete. Do not let work consume you so much that you forget this elementary point. Although the reality of the Indian work culture is chaotic and demands most of your time, don’t make it your number one priority.
Take some time out every day to exercise and do not keep any other work scheduled for that time. If any work crops up at that time, you can always re-schedule it to some other time.
We all have one life. Spend it wisely we say.
