Trying to balance work and home life is getting harder and harder. To meet today’s financial needs, many work long hours or multiple jobs. It is easy to give work precedence over everything when you are living paycheck to paycheck or working to meet financial goals. Making work a priority means less time for yourself and your family, though.
Technology has an impact on work/life balance issues, too. It is harder to separate your home life from work when there are distractions like social media and email. In fact, 40% of respondents to a Small Biz Trends survey stated they answer work emails at the dinner table. What is the impact when work life balance is out of whack?
Maintaining a healthy work life balance can improve both physical and mental health for employees. Achieving the proper balance can mean less stress and reduce the risk of job burnout. Employees that master the art of the work life balance may feel a greater sense of wellbeing. Less stress can mean fewer incidents of illness, too.
Work life balance is not something everyone achieves, though. As much as 66% of workers feel like they do not have a good work life balance, including 83 percent of Millennials and Gen Zers. That's despite the fact that 72% of respondents to a Statista survey state that they consider having that balance very important.
COVID has made remote workers more common and working at home can blur the lines even further. Thirty-eight percent of remote workers struggle to find balance in their life. Many experience stress and anxiety because of it.
Real work life balance requires collaboration between employees and employers.
The key to successful work life balance may be in your ability to set manageable boundaries. If you don’t establish these boundaries, especially at work, you may end up feeling undervalued and face burnout.
An example of setting boundaries might include being protective of your off-time. Protective isn’t the same thing as inflexible, though. You may make the occasional concession to work on a day off or to stay late. Don’t do it at the risk of giving up something important like missing a birthday or anniversary. If you feel like you lost your personal time, it disrupts your work-life balance.
Once you decide you need to reevaluate your work life balance, look for win-win solutions. It is possible to prioritize both your home life and your work. Just set the necessary boundaries to ensure you don’t neglect either. Your wellbeing depends on it — and your employees will agree!
For insights into how living and working during a pandemic are impacting your remote employees’ work-life balance, don’t miss our guide Taking Care of Remote Employees.