Finding the balance between Work and Home

FINDING the BALANCE between WORK and HOME

Author: Teejay Hawker

There is an important distinction between one's work life and home life. To explore more detail, we will break down the specifics that define each environment, thereby establishing how one can balance the two to accomplish a well-balanced life.

For instance, household tasks such as chores and running errands should be distinguished as part of home life, even when these tasks form part of the work environment, as in the hospitality industry. Therefore, we can define home life as an environment that encompasses a person's immediate and extended family, personal relationships outside work boundaries, and domestic interests and activities.

Work-life is the opposite since, in this environment, the primary defining factor is remuneration for tasks and activities. This also includes hobbies and interests that have a monetary benefit, the part of a person's life where they do a job, service or trade for income, including lifelong careers.

For example, a person's work life could give them happiness, enjoyment and purpose, yet the amount of pressure and stress they endure throughout their working hours causes a disturbance in their mental stability, perhaps even deteriorating their health. Because it is possible to be happy about your work, enjoy the duties you are tasked with and feel a sense of purpose; however, in retrospect, you could be sacrificing your mental, spiritual and physical health. This could be consciously or subconsciously inflicted upon oneself and detrimental to your continued existence.

One's home life could provide the base of mental stability, where one can find peace, destress and relax, and experience spiritual elevation by attending religious establishments and boosting health through exercise, amongst others. Yet they may feel deep resentment of themselves; a person could be bored, uninterested or disheartened.

Tips for a balanced life:

Set specific work hours
Overworking is highly common, particularly in specific industries and professions. But even in those cases, the moment you head home generally signifies the end of the workday.

Make post-work plans
Even with a strict work schedule, it's easy to find yourself getting caught up in your task and working extra hours. Knowing when to let go and continue tomorrow isn't always easy.

Determine achievable goals
Take a look at your day and week ahead. Think about your work priorities: Do you have any specific deadlines? What are the must-haves and the nice-to-haves? Once you know what you need to work on this week, you'll be able to set your goals and plan out your days.

Take proper breaks
When working from home, you may not have colleagues with whom to take coffee breaks, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't indulge in proper breaks from work.

Create a designated workspace
As freelancers will know, working from home isn't always as glamorous as it may seem. If you want to successfully balance work and life, working from your bed is probably not the best idea.

Be good to yourself
With so many responsibilities, being good to yourself can sometimes be the last thing on your to-do list. However, remind yourself that prioritising your well-being is essential from many aspects.

Get dressed for work
You may not be leaving the house, but that doesn't mean you should be in your pyjamas all day. Switching from home clothes to work clothes can also help you make that mental shift, getting you in the right state of mind to work - or relax.

Accept imperfection
While there are plenty of work-life balance tips to help you reach your lifestyle goals, the reality is that you can't always expect your two worlds not to bleed into one another.

In conclusion, a simple guide to achieving a holistically balanced work and home life is to avoid sacrificing one domain for the other and live in each division undivided.