Seven ways you can find work-life balance so you can spend more time doing what you love and less time struggling to do it all.
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The biggest struggle for women in the workforce is hands-down finding work-life balance. The allusive sweet spot where you are achieving your career goals and making time for your family and friends and even your own self-care. That's the goal, right? To have it all and to be doing it all well. Easier said that done.
The tricky thing is that maintaining work-life balance (especially for women) is akin to tiptoeing on a rope while carrying a bucket of water on your head and twirling a hula hoop around your hips. It can be done, but it's not easy to do long term, and with one trip up the whole act can come tumbling down. Work life splashes into your home life and home life gets tangled up with your work life...you get the picture.
If you are struggling to keep all the balls in the air, you aren't alone. But you may also be encouraged to find that it doesn't have to be such a struggle. We have a few secrets to share that will make work-life balance feel more attainable and sustainable.
7 Secrets to Better Work-Life Balance for Women
1. Smart women delegate.
A successful employee/employer knows when to delegate work and ask for help from team members. This holds true not just in the office, but in the household as well. Women who have mastered work life balance bank on a strong network of people, in their professional as well as personal lives, with whom they can share the load from time to time.
2. Balanced women have a form of healthy stress relief.
After a hard day’s work, everyone needs to blow off the steam, and everyone has their own way of doing it. However, an overdose of caffeine or sugar or having a smoke is not always a healthy stress-relief technique.
It is important to find healthier activities like exercise, yoga, painting or cooking, or something you enjoy doing and helps you relieve stress while also having a positive impact on your health.
3. Work-life balance is about knowing when to let go.
Instead of trying to have it all, decide what is really important to you and let the rest go. Successful women know how to prioritize what matters and to let go of what doesn't.
4. Savvy women take regular breaks from social media.
In today’s fast-paced life, social media is both a curse and a boon. While social media does serve to connect you faster with your co-workers and family, it also serves as an enormous distraction. Part of achieving work-life balance is eliminating distractions so you are using your time most efficiently.
Go off the grid for for a solid block of time every day--an hour or two if you can. You will get a lot more done without all the social media notifications popping up while you try to work.
5. Making time for yourself improves your work life and personal life.
This is usually one of the most ignored, yet one of the most important secrets. Practicing self-care should be a permanent fixture in your work life balance schedule.
Pick up an old hobby or a new one, maybe one that is physically strenuous or one that is relaxing for your mind. Self-care can be spa days and yoga or it can be as simple as going to bed on time and drinking enough water. Either way, listen to what your body and mind need, and make room in your life for yourself so you can be at your best while at work or with your family.
No one is served well when you are running on empty.
6. The magic of work-life balance for women is in the "magic hour."
Some call it the golden hour, that time during the day when your productivity is at its peak. The women who have their work-life balance sorted out know the importance of this productive period.
They use it to their fullest to get as much work done as possible. Clear an hour on your schedule every day for this magic period of productivity, and allot your most mentally demanding tasks in that time.
7. A wise woman balances her life by her values.
Finally, it’s important to realize that it’s impossible for everyone to do everything. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is all about making room for what matters the most. In order to do that, you have to be honest with yourself about what you really value. Be sure that your career and life choices align with what you want out of life.
These seven secrets are merely pointers to take you in the right direction. To strike that perfect balance, you have to let your intuition guide you, because this balance looks different for every woman. There is no right or wrong here; you figure out what suits you the most and work with it.
You are killing it. Keep doing what you are doing, and let these seven secrets improve your work-life balance so you can get the most out of every day.
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