The need for work life balance is more important than ever and a vital aspect of any healthy work environment.
Flexible work arrangements and side hustles are becoming more and more widespread, making the concept of work-life balance seem even more elusive.
In the latest Port Adelaide Football Club HERstory: Business Collective conversation, women in business participants heard from guest speakers about the benefits and strategies to achieve a better work/life blend.
Rebecca Morse, media identity, small business owner and Port Adelaide Football Club Ambassador, Sandra Senn, Director, Business Mums Hub, Emily Ciarideillo, CEO, Foil Me, and Lara Damiani, Founder, Think Films, provided insights into life before the pandemic and how working from home and work-life blend remained difficult to achieve.
As a goal that requires conscious and ongoing commitment, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Having a seamless flow between your professional and personal selves can take some effort, along with redefining what success means to you, but it is achievable.
Here are three tips to consider:
- Set your priorities and reflect on the big picture
Allocate time for your professional and personal priorities. Work on to-do lists, schedule time and be realistic. Take time to pause and reflect on what you are prioritising and sacrificing, work out what balance means for you, and communicate your needs. - Define your work hours each day
Set a hard stop time and stick to it. Having clearly defined work hours will help you push through tasks more quickly and focus on the important tasks at hand. There will be times when you work longer hours to complete something urgent, but if you are working long hours all the time, something is not right. Long hours do not equate to productivity. Eliminate unnecessary emails, meetings and other distractions. - Fill your downtime bucket
Running a business takes a lot out of you physically, mentally and emotionally. Setting time aside to rest, recover and unplug allows us to recover from weekly stress and gives us space for other thoughts and ideas.
You can fill your downtime by taking regular breaks during the day, allocating quiet time to collect your thoughts, getting to bed early or spending time in nature by taking short walks. Taking the time to unwind is critical to success.
