I’m finally at a point in my life where work life balance is something I’ve prioritized.
I’ve been in “hustle” mode as an attorney and even as a new entrepreneur in the past.
Happy to say, I’ve left that identity behind me and nowadays, my life is quite different. I have my home and family life that I love even more than my work.
And even though I’m a type-Aer by nature, I’ve absolutely fallen in love with rest, self care, present living, and maximizing time with the people I love most.
All that is to say, work life balance is now something I’m passionate about living myself, as well as teaching and coaching on.
If you’re at a point in your life where you want to incorporate and achieve more healthy work life balance, you, my friend, are in the right place.
How To Achieve Work Life Balance
Regardless of whether you work from home or go into an office, work life balance is something you have to prioritize if you want it to exist in your life.
All of these tips will help you start living better, with more free time, quality time with loved ones, and a thriving personal life.
Here are the best ways to start achieving work life balance today…
Schedule Time For Self Care First
First things first: you must schedule time for your own self care first.
This may seem like a stretch for you to do, but having your own personal time is what’s going to help you create space in your life so you can feel more centered.
This is true whether you’re a mom of five or don’t have kids at all—having a little bit of “you time” is a must.
This can be as simple as 15 minutes of time for you to coach yourself, journal, think, meditate, or something else. The key is that you tap into yourself during this time. Meaning: you acknowledge that this self care time is for you and you only.
When you see yourself prioritizing your own self care daily, you’ll start to feel better because you’ll be more centered and grounded.
Plan Your Work Hours In Advance (And Stick To It)
Work life balance isn’t about having the same amount of hours spent working as you do with family or friends. Instead, it’s about having the amount of time you want to spend on both. Working longer hours will make you feel less fulfilled, and take your time and energy away from things that matter most to you
So, you can achieve balance in the way you want it, by planning your work hours, when you check your work emails, (and lunch break) ahead of time—and sticking to them no matter what.
Decide ahead of time (at least 24 hours in advance, so you’re using your prefrontal cortex), what time you’ll spend for both work and personal. Then schedule this on your calendar. Then follow through.
Whether you do things like check work emails on your non-work time, is up to you.
Just keep in mind the point of having work boundaries, is so that you don’t overwork and work long hours, whatever that means to you. Remember your time away from work is just that, time away from work. If you are able to have a flexible work schedule, that’s even better.
This is how you set work boundaries in your life and ultimately will avoid poor work life balance.
Drink 64oz Of Water And Get 7 Hours of Sleep
Your overall mental health and physical health is going to improve if you have 64oz of water and 7 hours of sleep every day.
If you’re like me, you may read this and think “yes, I know this and it’s even a little basic.” But if you’re also like me, you may not always be doing it.
I actually bought three new water bottles for this year and a Soda Stream so that I can make sure I have all the water I need, in a really accessible way while I’m working from home.
Create An Intentional Morning Routine
All our mornings are different, and even your mornings may vary by seasons of life.
I used to have a couple of hours to myself in the morning, and now my mornings are full of family things such as taking care of Penny or enjoying a cup of coffee with Steve.
So regardless of your family and home life, what you can do is plan your morning routine ahead of time. You may not have two hours to read, workout, or take a bubble bath, but you still can plan exactly how you want your morning routine to go, family included.
For example, decide on some of these things in advance:
- What time you’ll get up
- What you’ll wear
- When you’ll shower
- Who else you’re responsible for (puppies, babies, etc.)
- Any personal development or physical exercise
- Feeding yourself and your family
And anything else you want to include in your morning routine.
It’s really not about having the perfect or “right” routine—it’s just about having a routine period. It’s important that you decide ahead of time what you want your morning routine to be like and then follow through.
The more consciousness you bring to your day, the better. This will help you live more intentionally and avoid feeling like you’re always putting out fires.
Manage Your Mind Using Thought Work
The time you spend doing thought work is time well spent. This can be as simple as doing some of the free written coaching inside Grow You for 15 minutes once per week.
Again, it’s not about the amount of time spent in proportion to work time as much as it is about you taking care of your mental and emotional health so that you feel internally balanced. It’s coping with stress and emotions so you can live your best life.
Said differently: it’s not about external balance; it’s about internal balance.
There’s no better way to start practicing thought work to rewire your brain than to coach yourself and get coaching (what we do in Grow You), so I highly recommend making this a part of your routine so that you can start to reduce the overwhelm and stop feeling like you’re unable to juggle the demands of both work and home life. There is a better way.
A Final Note
Achieving work life balance is a personal journey that no one is perfect at, especially in the beginning.
You can feel like you’re doing it all wrong half the time. This is normal. This is why personal growth is so important.
While your family and friends may not fully understand what you’re experiencing, there are so many women (including me) who do. Join us in Grow You and get started taking this work deeper today.
