7 STRATEGIES TO CREATE A WORK-LIFE BALANCE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

RB ORGANICS is all about Real Balance and we believe that finding work-life balance is good for both physical and mental health. Like everyone else, we want to succeed and bring value to the marketplace. However, many times, heavy job responsibilities damage personal equilibrium. When that equilibrium is off, both our work and home lives suffer.

The question we ask ourselves is, “How can we achieve personal Balance and still excel at our jobs?”

We dug in and identified a few helpful strategies:

1. Avoid checking your work emails outside of the office. While in the office, you’ll probably check your work emails frequently to ensure that all your meetings and deadlines are met. However, checking them outside of the office allows your work to intrude on your home life. You don’t want that! What you want is to set clear boundaries with yourself and your co-workers to ensure you are only addressing work communications at work. This extends to all other forms of communications including phone calls and messages.
2. Learn to say no. You may love your job, but it’s usually unnecessary to be available to your boss 24/7. We all need a break, and consequently, there is nothing wrong with saying no. This is especially true for times outside of your assigned work hours.
3. Work smarter, not harder. Instead of working all hours of the day and getting little rest, work smarter.

• Prioritize important tasks and do these tasks first every day. This way, the most important things always get done. If you struggle with implementing this, we recommend reading Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy.
• Avoid unproductive activities, such as unstructured meetings or constantly checking your social media accounts.

4. Leave work at work. This may be hard, and may not always be possible, but when your workday is over, make a mental note that work has finished.

• Take a deep, tension-releasing breath before beginning your commute. This ensures that you are not bringing work, or any associated stress, home.

5. You don’t need to be perfect.Have you ever been on your way out of the office, only to turn back around because you thought of a way to make a report or task perfect? Perfect is not only the enemy of good, it is also the enemy of DONE. Sometimes, it pays to remind yourself that you and your work are good enough.
6. Focus on things outside of work.For some of us, our work is our life, but what happens if one day we lose our job? Where does that leave us? It may be a scary thought, but it is important to put things into perspective and create a life outside of work.

• Develop and practice the hobbies that interest you. Spending time doing something that you love reduces stress and energizes you. It also uplifts  your mood. Add some “happy time” to your life!

7. Make your own rules.There has been a great shift in how we think about work, especially among younger workers. More people - even bosses - are recognizing the importance of work-life balance. So, come up with your own ideas to help you separate your work from your personal life.

 Finding Balance between your work and your personal life can be a difficult task, but it’s well worth the effort! Your mental and physical wellbeing depends on it!