Business Secrets: How to Improve Work-Life Balance
Is a toxic work environment excusable in this economy? Is work-life balance truly important?
At this point in time, one can be considered very lucky to have a job. Working is a privilege not all get to have.
With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting businesses all over the world since 2020, millions of people have lost jobs and are unable to get new ones even as countries transition to the new normal. In the US alone, 5.950 million are unemployed as of May 2022.
As such, it’s not surprising that many people tend to stay in their jobs despite toxic work environments, bad work relationships, feelings of disillusionment, and unfulfillment. They keep on adding to their work hours just so they can remain one of the ‘lucky ones’ that are still able to earn a regular salary and put food on the table.
Worse is, the current hustle culture glorifies taking on as much work or side hustles to earn as much money as possible despite its negative effects on one’s health.
This is true, maybe even more so, for entrepreneurs who are hands-on in running their own business. Those who embrace the saying, “If you want it done right, then do it yourself,” fall prey to the pressures of managing every aspect of business and having hardly enough time to spend with their families and enjoy the life they should have been working for.
And just like that, work-life balance gets thrown under the bus.
The dangers of burnout
Unfortunately, a lack of work-life balance can result in chronic stress, and ultimately, burnout. Something that’s hard to come out of, especially as it affects a person mentally, emotionally, and physically. Below is a list of some of the many symptoms of burnout.
Mental/Emotional signs of burnout
You…
- lack job satisfaction;
- feel unappreciated;
- feel overwhelmed or helpless;
- feel irritable, cynical, and/or anxious;
- become detached from the people around you;
- doubt your self-worth;
- lack motivation, concentration, and creativity when it comes to work;
- and develop depressive symptoms and insomnia, among other issues.
Physical signs of burnout
You…
- feel fatigued or persistently exhausted;
- have a frequent or persistent headache;
- develop a low immunity and are more prone to sickness;
- experience more musculoskeletal pain;
- experience more gastrointestinal issues;
- and develop a higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, and more.
Per a survey done by Indeed on 1500 workers in the US, 52% of respondents confirmed that they experienced burnout in 2021. Burnout is the exact reason why a healthy work-life balance is such an important factor in people’s quality of life. It is not something that can be exchanged for money in the long term, especially since it decides how long you can hustle, literally.
What does work-life balance mean?
A healthy work-life balance means being able to work effectively and enjoy life at the same time. You don’t choose one over the other, but rather know when to prioritize work and when to rest and have fun so you are able to experience life to the fullest. The specifics can vary from person to person, but at the heart of it is having a sense of fulfillment and contentment in one’s work life and private life.
Benefits of a work-life balance
Achieving work-life balance takes some work but it comes with some pretty great benefits that help you reach life goals. Included are:
- Better health. Work-life balance means you are able to take enough rest to recuperate from work stresses.
- Increased productivity and performance. A balanced lifestyle gives you enough energy and motivation to do your tasks and produce quality outputs.
- Better relationships. When you’re not too stressed at work, you are less irritable and able to collaborate more with your boss and team members. Moreover, work-life balance lets you be present in your personal relationships, thus nurturing great connections.
- Happiness and better quality of life. Overall, work-life balance lets you earn money and spend it on worthwhile life experiences as well.
Secrets to work-life balance
Living in this day and age can be so stressful unless you’re part of the 1% who has everything given to them on a silver platter. It can lead many to ask: Does work-life balance exist for the rest of us?
We’re here to tell you that, YES, it does. But we also have to be honest. It does take some work, a lot of unlearning when it comes to bad habits and unrealistic expectations, as well as a reevaluation of priorities.
But if you’re ready to work for it to live a better life, here are business secrets that will help you in balancing work and life.
Taking well-spaced breaks and time off
Working continuously for hours and days on end can lead not only to stress and a deterioration of focus but also to physical ailments like fatigue and body pains. Even just sitting in front of a desk and a monitor is bad enough as prolonged desk work can lead to bad posture, poor eyesight, and even increased risk for serious heart and immune diseases in the long run due to lack of movement.
So take time to take a breather throughout the work day, even if it’s just for 5 minutes every hour. If you’re working in a closely monitored and strict work environment, at least take advantage of every allowable work break.
Most importantly, use your sick leaves, vacation leaves, and other available leaves. These are benefits that help ensure workers are able to recuperate and enjoy the money they earn.
If you’re a business owner, allow yourself to let go and trust that your employees can take the reigns once in a while so you can take some well-deserved time off. Of course, one way to ensure that you’re able to practice this is to hire people that are responsible and trustworthy. Screening workers strictly from the beginning will help unburden you in the long run.
You can also invest in ecommerce tools and solutions that will help you manage your business no matter where you are — even at the beach! Of course, it’s best to focus on either working or vacationing, but if you need remote access for peace of mind, emergencies, and monitoring, then ecommerce tools and solutions got your back.
Continuous education and self-improvement
Doing the same tasks every day without any variation can lead to a sense of dullness. A lack of change, variety, and experimentation can also stunt growth for both an employee and a business.
As the world continues to change day after day, the only way to keep up and feel alive is to change and grow with it through education and self-improvement.
Learn new skills through seminars and online courses, develop new hobbies by going to workshops, and maybe even learn new languages through online apps.
You don’t even have to spend money as you can also learn by taking tips from officemates or taking on new tasks that interest you at work.
If you’re a business owner, you can take business courses and attend trade shows and business conventions to learn about the latest business models and trends, especially those related to your product or service. You can also get an online business coach, do market research, and try different strategies for marketing and promotions to see what works best for each season.
Healthy work relationships
For most of us, we spend around eight to ten hours of our weekdays in the workplace. That’s about half of our waking hours. Spending that much time feeling awkward or irritated with our workmates can lead to serious mental health issues.
So try and chat with your workmates and find topics you can bond about. Take lunch together or even just share memes online if you’re up for it. If your company has team-building initiatives, join these activities and try to have fun. The goal is to build work relationships that won’t feel like a daily 8-hour burden.
If you’re a business owner, the best way to build a healthy relationship with your employees is to provide them benefits that will sustain a healthy lifestyle. After all, happy employees are great workers that will ensure you experience less work-related stress.
This means giving them enough compensation, paid leaves, and benefits. It’s also about spreading the workload fairly and making sure they are able to get a work-life balance themselves. Nothing sours a boss-employee relationship more than employees being overworked and underpaid.
Moreover, try to get to know your staff personally. Take the time to greet them and ask about their day-to-day experiences at the office. Be empathetic to their personal troubles and be flexible on company rules when needed. No one’s life is perfect.
And just a tip? Free food will never go wrong, so bond over some company-sponsored meals. 😉
Delegation
Taking in all the work and pushing yourself to the limits is not always the best decision, even if you want to get a promotion badly. Sure, there’s no one else whose work you can trust more than yours, but taking in all the responsibility means you are not able to get enough rest. And should anything go wrong, there will also be a tendency to take all the blame.
So learn to know what you can handle healthily and learn to say ‘NO’ to tasks that can be fairly delegated to others.
If you’re a business owner, delegate tasks to your team. You shouldn’t take on all the burden or micromanage to avoid burnout. Trust that you hired capable people and experts in their own fields. Learn to let go, so you can take a break and enjoy a vacation or two.
And for the sake of your employees, ensure that you spread tasks fairly. Even if one of them performs better than the other, don’t burden excellence with more work. Instead, focus on training other employees to perform just as well.
Recognize skill with a promotion and/or better compensation. This will also encourage others to perform better.
Prioritization
Sometimes, having multiple tasks can be overwhelming. But if you know how to prioritize, then you will be able to go through your list without feeling too much stress.
As a rule of thumb, always work on the most urgent task first, and the least urgent task last. It can be tempting to do easy tasks first, but this can cause unnecessary pressure when you have to successively do hard tasks last and during crunch time.
Make a schedule or timeline, and practice discipline. If justifiable, talk to your boss or client for an extension of deadlines. If you feel you need help, open up and you might just get it. Know your limits. Providing great results for fewer tasks can be better than doing badly on a lot of finished tasks.
If you’re a business owner, knowing your priorities will lead to a better business strategy. Prioritizing all aspects of a business all at once can lead to not prioritizing anything at all, especially if you’re just starting. Build your company one step at a time.
Work with the best partner in business and life
How to achieve work-life balance is a growing concern of today’s working generation. This is also probably why online business is popular nowadays because many see it as the answer to the problem.
They’re not wrong. Running your own online business makes you your own boss. Flexible working arrangements and even work from home are very achievable when you start an online business. And with ecommerce tools that optimize and automate a lot of business processes, it’s no wonder why online business is the best for people wanting to gain better control of their time and income.
Cafe24, Korea’s no.1 ecommerce platform, will help your online business goals come to life. It is the best partner to help you achieve work-life balance as it can lessen your worries when it comes to both finances and operations. It offers free registration and no monthly fees, as well as ecommerce tools and apps you can trust to manage your inventory, sales, marketing, and operations. It’s like having your very own online business manager without having to pay extra.
Delegate most of the work to us, so you can prioritize what’s important to you even as you run an online business and make money online.
Work-life balance is possible with Cafe24.
