Finding the Right Work-Life Balance

One in five UK workers reported the feeling of being unable to manage stress and pressure in the workplace. “Work-life balance” is a phrase that gets thrown about a lot, but it can mean different things to different people.  At T2M, we’ve put together our top tips to help you find the best work-life balance

Work-life balance

The importance of work-life balance

Having a poor work-life balance can have a negative effect on your physical health, mental health, relationships, wellbeing and work performance.

A lack of work-life balance is thought to be a large contributor to negative mental health.

In 2023 it was reported that:

  • 55% of workers feel that work is getting more intense and demanding
  • 61% of workers say they feel exhausted at the end of most working days

It becomes a vicious circle, as poor mental health was shown to account for more than half of all work-related illnesses in 2023, with approximately 51% of long-term sick leave occurring as a result of stress, depression, or anxiety.

This feeling happens across all seniority levels, with research from Deloitte reporting that 64% of managers have considered quitting for a job that would better support their wellbeing.

Not only this, but 70% of managers explained that there are many organisational barriers to supporting staff wellbeing, including company policy, heavy workload, unsupportive workplace culture, and not being equipped with the right skills.

What is work life balance?

“Work-life balance” is a phrase that gets thrown about a lot. But it can mean different things to different people.

Regardless of this, it doesn’t need to be something that’s impossible to achieve.

Here are our top tips for ensuring you can retain a healthy work-life balance.

Define your work-life balance

Everyone lives different lives and has different needs, so what work-life balance means to your colleague might differ to what it should mean for you. It’s important to question what does work-life balance mean for you?

  • Do you prefer to work to a certain routine so it’s easier to schedule other activities outside of work?
  • Does this mean you can undertake flexible or hybrid working practices?
  • Does working in a particular environment or at certain times/ to a certain schedule allow you to be more productive?
  • Or do you define work-life balance with what you do with your spare time?

 

Remember – this is about maximising your time both inside and outside of work, fostering relationships and connections, maintaining your productivity and motivation during work and reducing your stress, so that you can enjoy your time outside of work too.

You may have to play around with what works best for you as it’s not always straight forward or what you’d expect.

Just look at the remote vs office work debate; some people believe that working remotely will make it easier to achieve work-life balance.

However, remote work can present its own challenges for many, such as feelings of isolation and loneliness. Working outside of an office setting on a regular/ permanent basis can also lead to multitasking, distractions, and difficulty keeping strict hours. Remote work can blur the lines between work and home life, which make it difficult to understand work-life balance.

For some people remote working works best for their lifestyle, others require a hybrid model that blends the two.

Start off small

Build Small Habits

Healthier behaviours can support your sense of personal well-being. These could be behaviours like improving your sleep schedule, staying active or improving your eating habits. But those habits can be difficult to establish.

If you’re trying to make changes to your lifestyle to ensure you can achieve your ideal work-life balance, then start off with the small changes.

Small tweaks to your routine are likely to be easier to manage than drastically changing several aspects of your whole routine in one go. Small changes over time also increase the likelihood that good habits will stick.

Start by assessing what negative behaviours might be preventing you from a healthier routine,  and then tackle them in increments. For example, should you be going to bed an hour earlier each night so you can get enough sleep to have enough energy to be more productive? Start by going to bed 20 minutes earlier than you usually do, and gradually increase this by 20 minutes every couple of nights until you hit your goal time.

Invest in hobbies

Time for Hobbies

Whether it’s something you do in the morning before work to make you feel prepared for your day ahead, or something you do after work in order to wind down, finding the time to do something you enjoy outside of work can improve your productivity, happiness and stress levels.

Ensuring you allocate time to this is important to ensure you achieve your ideal work-life balance.

Take your breaks and holiday properly

Take the break

Research shows that on average 60% of employees check their work emails while on holiday, despite the fact that 80% say they would rather switch off completely while on holiday as opposed to staying on top of what’s going on in the office.

Despite this, only 5% of workers believe their boss would ‘definitely’ expect them to check their emails, with 82% of employees believing their managers would either ‘probably not’ or ‘definitely not’ expect them to be in touch during their holiday. This suggests pressure to check-in at work isn’t necessarily from bosses and managers, but instead seems to be self-inflicted.

Limit time-wasting activities

“I don’t have enough time” is a common phrase a lot of us are guilty of saying –  despite this, many of us can find ourselves sitting in front of the TV scrolling through phones in our ‘spare time’ that we supposedly claim not to have.

First, you need to identify what’s most important in your life. List things that you want to dedicate your time to (even if you haven’t been doing so in the past). This list will differ for everyone depending on what is most important to you, so make sure it truly reflects your priorities, not someone else’s.

After this, you should be able to draw firm boundaries which will allow you to devote quality time to these high-priority people and activities.

From here, you will find it much easier to determine what time-wasting activities you need to cut down on.

If email or internet surfing sends you into a never-ending time-wasting spiral, then you need to establish some rules to keep you on task. This could involve turning off email notifications and only replying in batches during limited times each day, setting time constraints on certain apps on your phone, leaving your phone in do-not-disturb mode, and making sure you don’t keep it right next to your bed, so you’re not tempted to check messages right before bed or first thing in the morning.

Learn to Say No

Master the art of saying “no”

Whether it’s inside or outside of the workplace, it’s easy to feel pressured into saying yes to every task or opportunity at work, or every social opportunity outside of work – but this can quickly lead to overcommitment and stress.

In the workplace, learning to say no when necessary, or delegating tasks to others, is an important skill for maintaining balance. Take the time to try and understand your limits and how realistic your workload is.

Outside of the workplace, there can be a large pressure to fill all your free time so you’re not seen to be “wasting” your evenings and weekends. While it’s important to carve out time for your hobbies and to foster relationships outside of work, it’s also important to take time for yourself to relax and unwind.

Learning to say no to people so you can give yourself that time to relax is an important aspect of preventing burnout.

Find a job role that you enjoy

Work-life balance isn’t only intended to cause people to consider what they do outside of their job. It’s also important to make sure you’re working in a role at a company that you enjoy, and that leaves you feeling fulfilled and productive.

At T2M Resourcing, we have a diverse range of clients and candidates. This allows us to find the best match for both clients looking to grow their companies, and candidates seeking a fulfilling career.

 

If you’re a hiring manager looking to grow your team, contact us today for a confidential discussion about your next steps.

 

If you’re a candidate looking to take the next step in your career, check out our regularly updated vacancies page to see if we have anything appropriate for you!