Everyone in business has heard of the importance of a work-life balance. We’re taught, from the early stages of our careers, that it’s imperative to keep the two separate. Otherwise, the boundaries blur and both aspects of your life could suffer.
It makes complete sense and is a theory that many of us adhere to. It’s the reason we have ‘working hours’ and don’t take personal calls through the day. We also have different wardrobes for work and home. Some of us even change the way we speak when we’re in a professional capacity. All the better to ensure that the different areas of our lives never meet.
But, it would be naive to assume that we can compartmentalize without ever running into problems. After all, changing your outfit doesn’t change who you are. It doesn’t let you erase knowledge of that stressful event at work or vice versa. And, when the two sections blur, things can get complicated. After all, there’s a good reason to keep them separate. It’s also worth noting that, when one compartment tumbles, others often follow.
If your compartments do collapse, it’s crucial you know how to get things back on track. And, to help you do just that, we’re going to look at the most common crossovers, and how to solve the problems.
Deadlines
When you have deadlines looming, it can feel near enough impossible to unwind. Even once you’re home, you’ll be thinking about what you need to do. In extreme cases, you may even try to work through the evening or stay late at the office. Sometimes, of course, this will be necessary. But, if it happens often, it could cause severe problems in your personal life. If you never see your partner because you’re always working, you’ll soon find your personal life in tatters.
The good news is, the solution to the issue is an easy one. It’s all about time management. When you have a deadline coming up, take the time to sit down and work out what needs doing, and when it needs to be done by. Then, write out to-do lists for each day. That way, you’ll be able to rest easy that you can meet the deadline as long as you tick off the tasks on that list. Thus, you’ll be able to go home at a decent time each day and know that you’ve done what you had to. Therefore, the deadline won’t even need to cross your mind until the next day.
Relationship
Keeping your relationship out of your work and vice versa is essential. But, it isn’t always easy. If you’re having trouble with love, it’s near enough impossible to keep your concerns out of your work. An argument with your partner the night before could ruin all the work you do in a day. Thus, you’ll fall behind in your work life as well.
This issue can also work the other way. As mentioned above, working too much could leak into your relationship. If your partner feels that your job comes before them, they may soon lose patience and look elsewhere. Thus, your life yet again falls apart.
To stop both of these eventualities, pay close attention to the issue. To ensure an argument doesn’t leak into your working day, resolve any problems before leaving for the day. This isn’t always easy when you’re working with time restraints. But, remember that you won’t be efficient if you don’t solve the issue. It’s worth taking a little extra time in the morning if you can. That way, you won’t have to worry throughout the day.
To ensure work doesn’t ruin your relationship, it’s important to set aside time for your partner. You should always ensure to spend a little time with them in the evenings. It may also be worth setting aside a date night in the week, where you have a meal, or watch a film together. It’s also worth spending your weekends together to strengthen the bond. Strictly no business!
Sleep
Most of us realize that our sleep has an impact on our working lives. But, many of us don’t consider just how much good sleep is imperative to good work. Again, they’re in different compartments. Thus, the two shouldn’t cross over. But, they do just that time and again. If you don’t go to bed at a decent hour, you’ll find it much harder to wake up in time, and also to function the next day. Equally, if your quality of sleep is poor, your work will suffer for it.
The obvious answer to not going to bed early enough is to bring your bedtime forward. Experiment with times for a week and take note of how you feel each morning. You’ll soon see how much better it is to get to sleep earlier. The issue of quality of sleep isn’t quite as easy to fix. The most important thing here is to consider where the problem lies. Is there a particular noise which stops you from sleeping. If so, remove it as best you can, or get earplugs to block it out. Is your bed the issue?
Discomfort throughout the night could cause you to wake up time and again. If this is the issue, it’s worth investing in a mattress which promotes comfort. Memory foam options are fantastic for this, and you can visit Mattress-Guides.net for more, or do your own research online. With one of these, you should see a difference in just a few nights.
So you see, work and life do crossover in many different ways. And, these aren’t the only instances you need to consider. Difficult decisions in either work or home life can also lead to these issues. Equally, an unhealthy lifestyle could impact your working efficiency. Failure to exercise of an evening could lead to back problems which make sitting at your desk uncomfortable. Instead of refusing to consider your work and life together, accept the crossovers, and work towards bridging the gaps.