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Work Life Balance

This goes hand in hand with selfcare! If you are not at your best, you can’t perform your work at your best which could bear the risk of losing your job. So, make sure that between all the work you do for others, you take care of yourself as well. The following are some tips and ideas on how to balance your life and work using the 24 hours time in each day most efficiently.

First of all, how much time do you even have for yourself? That depends on your personal situation and all the things you need to take care of. Write down all the things you have to do on a regular workday and how much time they consume, e.g. working 5 days a week:

24 hours per day:

- 8 hours sleep

- 1 hour getting ready for work

- 1 hour driving to and from work combined

- 9 hours work (including 30 minutes lunch break)

- 2 hours picking up the kids or driving them to practice

- 1 hour dinner (preparing, eating, cleaning up)

= 2 hours that you can spend on yourself on a regular workday.

2 hours is not a lot and you may even be too exhausted to do something other than watching TV and going to bed. But don’t waste those 2 hours! This is where you need to be disciplined and get creative. Maybe you can rearrange your schedule, so you have time for yourself earlier in the day when you are not exhausted. Or you can try and make more time available for yourself by delegating certain tasks or just say no to them or be more efficient during the day.

Plan ahead! Look at an entire week or even better, look at the next two weeks. Get a planner and write down everything you have to do each day, all appointments you have coming up and everything else you need to get done during the next two weeks. When scheduling your to-do’s and appointments, try to schedule them as efficient as possible. Combine trips so you don’t have to run out for one thing only. Schedule things throughout the weeks or on weekends so you don’t have to hurry from one thing to another on the same day. Don’t pack your schedule too tight. Plan for travel time and anticipated traffic jams or delays. Plan 15 minutes extra so you don’t have to be in a rush and risk forgetting something. Involve your family, they can take certain tasks off your list and help. Your kids could benefit from helping by learning to schedule themselves and by learning how to do things. Great opportunity to teach them valuable life hacks.

Here are some ideas to help you get more time for yourself:

· Drive to and from work before/after rush hour and save yourself time spent on commuting

· If you drive your car to work, use commute time productively by listening to a podcast (learn something) or listening to uplifting music (get yourself into a good mood and energized)

· If you take the train/bus etc, do something productive while you’re sitting there (read the news, eat breakfast, prepare for your day by prioritizing your tasks, make important phone calls…)

· If you have downtime at work, do something nice or productive for yourself as long as it is okay with your boss

· During your lunch break, eat your lunch a little faster and then get active and go for a walk by yourself or with a coworker…

· Do work tasks right away instead of pushing them out. Just get them done and over with.

· Prioritize your tasks if you are really busy. Do the most important ones first.

· Combine trips (get your groceries on the way home so you don’t have to do an extra trip and waste time driving) or schedule your work around your kids’ schedule so you can pick them up on your way home

· Have your family help with chores, it doesn’t need to be you who is doing all the work! Your spouse can help with the grocery shopping, your kids can help with dinner preparations or the dishes or laundry or yard work… delegate! That will also teach your kids responsibility. And it can be fun if the whole family works together!

· Stop watching TV (unless it teaches you something), instead read a book, exercise, prepare for tomorrow, play with your dog or kids, research and learn something, attend a class… do something that improves your life!

· Make dinner a family thing! Sit together at a table, TV stays off, talk about your days or dreams or fears or make plans for the weekend… spend quality time with them.

· If you are really too exhausted to actively spend time on yourself, sometimes it is better to listen to your body and just relax and hug your couch. Take a day off. Tomorrow you will have more energy. But don’t slack off too often. LOL

· Want to work out but your eyes are really tired, and you would rather keep them shut? Go ride the stationary bike, you can do that with your eyes shut and you will feel more awake after your workout.

· Take time off work and use your vacation days! Go on a trip (it doesn’t have to be an expensive one) and enjoy the change of scenery. Get a way for a while and recharge.

· Can you cut down on the time it takes to get ready for work so you can use that newly gained time for something else? Less make up, less rushing to get out the door. Do you have to wash your hair every day or can you cut down to every other day? Prepare things the evening before so they are ready to go in the morning: clothes, lunch, set the breakfast table…

· Prioritize all the thing you need to get done for the week or month and schedule them accordingly and spread them out over different days. Also, keep in mind that plans get messed up so allow to be flexible and reschedule.

· Planning ahead makes balancing work and life easier! Get a calendar and write your to-do’s down. Best, get a calendar that shows you two weeks on one glance, the current week and the next week. It will let you plan ahead and stay flexible.

· Get up earlier and go to bed earlier. The hours of sleep before midnight are the most resting and recharging hours for your body. Try to be in bed by 10 pm. Getting up at 6 am or earlier will be easier. This time frame also matches your biological clock.

· If you need to be at some place at a certain time, figure out what time you have to leave to get there. Count the time backwards from the time you have to be there to the time you have to leave including all the things you may have to do in between. …and plan at least an extra 10 minutes for possible delays. Here is an example:

- Dentist 5 pm

- be at dentist at 4:55 pm,

- drive time home to dentist 15 minutes (actual drive time only 10 but plan 5 more minutes for delays),

- pick up pants from alterations on the way to dentist 10 minutes,

- go home to change clothes and use bathroom 15 minutes,

- drive home 45 minutes (actual drive time 35 minutes but plan 10 more minutes for delays),

- leave work at 3:30 pm!

· Find your own ways to save time, analyze your days and where you are wasting time. Re-arrange your schedule if you can.

Do something you enjoy during the time you have available for you. It will keep you happy and balanced. Only when you are happy, you can be good for others!