6 Effective Tips to Have Better Work Life Balance

Creating healthy boundaries and maintaining your work life balance is critical when you have a job.

After all, the saying goes ‘you should work to live and not live to work’.

While I’d like to believe that if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life, this just unfortunately isn’t true for a majority of the people. And even if you love your job, you still need healthy boundaries and time away from work.

Most people are only working because it provides an income and a means to life. It puts a roof over your head and food on the table.

If this is the case for you, there are other ways to create a better work life balance and have time to enjoy your life outside of work.

So how can you do this?

In this post, I’ve compiled 6 of my top ways avoid the work, sleep, repeat lifestyle.

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What can you do when you feel like your work life balance is not existent and all you do is work and sleep?

I asked myself this question really early into my professional career. Exactly 2 months actually.

And it’s a scary feeling; when you have your whole life in front of you but you feel like your work is taking all your time away.

Nothing prepares you for how your life with changes when you enter the workforce and suddenly start spending 8 hours a day glue to your job.

Or maybe when you have been working for a long time and realize that you haven’t accomplished a lot of things on your bucket life because you are constantly working.

Whatever the case may be, there is a way to enjoy your life while having a job. You have to be intentional and you have to be willing to put in the effort to make your life better.

Check out these 6 effective tips to have a better work life balance.

1. Plan mini trips

Vacations and trips don’t have to cost a bunch or be super far away.

Spend a night on a little getaway. Bring your partner or a couple of friends and take some time to relax, unwind, explore somewhere new and just get away.

2. Start new hobbies

This one is big and may take time to find the right one.

If you are just working and sleeping, it gets really old, really fast.

You need other activities and interactions in your week.

Most medium to big cities have a TON of adult classes, leagues, meetup groups, etc.

Start by thinking of a few hobbies you want to try but haven’t. For me, this included paddle boarding, pottery, soap making, etc.

3. Talk about it

Chances are everyone that has ever had a job can relate you know you are feeling and may be able to give some amazing advice.

Leaning on your support system is critical.

Talk to your family and friends about ways they like to maintain their work life balance. Who knows, maybe you will get some inspiration from them.

4. Be Intentional

It is extremely easy to come home and sit by the TV for 3 hours everyday. However, ask yourself, ‘what else could you be using that time for?’

It doesn’t have to be anything crazy. Maybe it is as simply as inviting a friend over and playing some board games or trying new dinner recipes.

When you work 8 hours a day, you have limited time and therefore need to be intentional in what you do and what you want to do.

Work doesn’t need to hold you back from doing the things you want. You just have to schedule around it and make it work.

Sometimes, realizing that you have more time than you think is the first step.

Read more: How to Be Intentional: Top 5 Steps to Living with Purpose

5. Understand your priorities

You likely will not be able to do everything, however, knowing what is important to you is crucial when you have limited time during the week. This is when knowing your priorities come in handy.

Some common aspects of life you may want to think about are:

• Relationships
• Hobbies
• Financial stability
• Health
• Family

These are far from all the different priorities you may have but being able to narrow down a list, will help you complete the important things in your life.

6. Consider switching jobs

If you have tried to make it work but your job isn’t giving you any work-life balance, it might be a time to think about finding a new company and new job.

As I entered the work force, I’ve realized that work-life balance is extremely important for anyone’s mental, physical and emotional health.

I find hybrid type jobs where you can work from home at least one day a week offers a lot more flexibility and work life balance.

If a company doesn’t respect that you have a life outside of work, maybe they aren’t a great fit for you.

You need to decide how much longer you want to continue this path and if your job is worth all the baggage.