For many, the pursuit of a healthy work-life balance seems unattainable. As business owners, parents, brothers and sisters, soccer coaches, or whatever else we might be, we’re all juggling heavy workloads, managing relationships and responsibilities, and squeezing in our passions.
In the rush of our daily lives, it’s easy to forget that as our stress levels increase, our productivity decreases. Stress can zap our concentration, make us irritable or depressed, and hurt our personal and professional relationships.
According to Mental Health America, stress also weakens our immune systems, and makes us susceptible to a variety of ailments from colds to backaches to heart disease. The newest research shows that chronic stress can double our risk of having a heart attack. That statistic alone is enough to raise your blood pressure.
We recently did a poll that asked, “Are you stressed at work?”.
100% of our respondents said that work is stressful for them, with 44% saying that it is stressful often or always. The top contributors to stress at work were demanding schedules, leadership, home life, time management, and lack of resources.
While we all need a certain amount of stress to spur us on and help us perform at our best, the key to managing stress lies in that one magic word: balance. Not only is achieving a healthy work/life balance an attainable goal, but team members and businesses alike see the rewards.
Here are five practical steps we can all take to loosen the grip that stress has on us and live our best lives:
1. Set standard work hours and try to stick to them as much as possible. We know it can be difficult to do this sometimes, but your professional time and personal time should be structured.
2. Communicate effectively. If you feel you’re in a bind or getting too stressed, communicate with your peers. This is in every area of life. You can communicate with your spouse, teams, or mentors, that you need an alternative to a stressful or overwhelming situation.
3. Give yourself a break. Whether it’s taking an afternoon off for family time or taking ten minutes to de-stress, prioritize your mental health by letting it breathe.
4. Take time to make time. Try to be strategic about your day-to-day. From the frequency and duration of meetings, to chasing and converting leads, you can gain efficiencies if you reevaluate your processes. Then you can effectively estimate how long your next task will take.
5. Take a vacation. If you need a break from the day-to-day, or need to re-prioritize family time, take a long weekend and do something fun with the people you love most. At the end of the day, they’re the ones who will always be there for you and support you when work or life becomes hectic.
I hope these tips will help you take actionable steps toward a healthy work-life balance. As always, if you need a resource to help you or your team, or just a listening ear, we’re here for you.
Wishing you a healthy work-life balance,
Sources: Mental Health America and Roche
