5 Tips For Better Work-Life Balance
Photographer: Linden Jesensek
What is work-life balance?
Work-life balance is having a healthy, "equal" balance between your work, whether you’re employed or running a business and your personal life.
Why is it important?
Work-life balance is important boo, because if you sway too much on either side of the scale - you can end up in physical, mental and/or emotional danger. If you spend too much time on your work for example – you can end up burnt-out or ill. If you sway too much into time spent outside of work – you could end up in some serious financial insecurity – which is a danger to your physical and mental health.
Forbes states that chronic stress is one of the most common health issues in the workplace. Stress can lead to a heap of other health issues eg digestive troubles, high blood pressure, mental health issues etc.
My own lessons learnt
When I first started Fitness To A Tee in 2013, I learnt the hardest way possible about work-life balance because I didn’t have any. I operated almost like a McDonald’s haha – starting work in the gym super early at 6AM then finishing my last client at 8 or 9pm. I worked Saturdays too so I usually wound down early Saturday evening and “kinda rested” on Sunday. Usually I would be meal prepping and getting ready for the week ahead on Sunday.
By the time I got to 2015, I was burnt out. I saw and felt the impact that it was having on my health, particularly mentally and emotionally. Although I was super fit – I wasn’t getting good sleep or enough rest. Slowly, I had started to get more agitated and fatigued. A part of the reason of me transitioning into the online fitness space in 2015 was because I still wanted to help women worldwide transform their health and lives, whilst also being the best and most energetic Tee.
The Fitness To A Tee phone app, which women worldwide sign in to, to access their personalised workout plans – allows me to do just that! Women can access and complete their personalised plans at any time in their time zone and it allows me more time to build relationships with them; do my other projects and also fit in rest.
Photographer: Linden Jesensek
5 ways to get good work-life balance
Here are my top tips to getting a healthy work-life balance. I use these tips too and they have been crucial for helping myself and my clients get better holistic health overall.
Click here to read #fitnesstoatee client: 39 year old, career woman and single mum Fadzai's story - on how she fits her holistic health goals into her busy life.
1. Commit
The first step is to commit to yourself to having a healthy work-life balance. It's something that takes commitment, followed by consistent action steps and habit building.
Just like committing to your fitness routine, having a healthy work-life balance needs the same mindset. If you "relapse", just get back on the horse and keep trying.
It was so tough for me to stick to my new boundaries when I committed to a healthier work-life balance, but by prioritising living my most abundant, healthiest life possible - I stayed motivated. I'm not perfect all the time, but I forgive myself quickly when I overdo work and start my balance boundaries again.
A great way to commit is to schedule your time short and long-term in a calendar and stick to it. To avoid overwhelm, start with what you'll start in the next 4 weeks e.g. finishing all work and easy preps for a new week on Friday, instead of doing it on Sundays.
2. Holistic health is a must
Chronic stress is one of the most common health issues in the workplace, leading to various physical illnesses eg high blood pressure.
The World Health Organisation also states that a negative working environment can add to mental health issues for workers. WHO states one of the risks to mental health as being eg inflexible working hours.
Holistic health is key for well rounded health. Fitness To A Tee focuses on the three branches of health: physical, mental and emotional. By looking after your work-life balance - you are taking care of all three.
Photographer: Linden Jesensek
3. Active desk or productivity breaks
Simple desk exercises and/or stretches during your work day help with eg blood circulation after being seated for a while. Do these at least once to twice per day.
Click here to see a #workoutwednesday video where I show you some you can use from today!
4. Sleep hygiene
Good sleep is key for health, including muscle repair, growth and will help your work-life balance plan stay stable - as you'll be refreshed to work...and play!
I also practise what I teach my clients – which is ensuring I get good rest eg from social media, wi-fi so switching it off at certain times each day, to get a quiet wind-down time and sleep. I’m not perfect all the time – but I practise this 80% of the time.
Essential oils in a diffuser or sleep mist bottle help to promote restful sleep. Some of the oils I love are lavender and chamomile oil.
5. Work from home lifestyle – rest days
Rest days are essential, not only for allowing your muscles to repair and grow from your exercise - but also from work itself. Since lockdowns started to hit us globally in 2020, it's much more common for people to work from home.
When working at home, it can be easy to disregard needing days completely off because you're home already. I schedule those days off, and ensure I tell the people I work with in my business and my clients ahead of time - that I'll be unavailable. This ensures that I take complete time off. I will also uninstall apps if need be as my business uses social media a lot, so being out of that space is vital for me to rest.
So there you have it - some easy ways for you to fuse work-life balance into your life! Enjoy the process, your body and mind will thank you for it.
View some simple Desk Break Moves for your work day, by clicking here.