In today’s fast-paced world, most of us can relate to the hectic schedules of both work and personal aspects but then we end up failing along the way. See, in today’s society we put the pursuit of technology at the forefront so that one can be contacted any time of the day hence even when not at work, there is a possibility of working. The result? Burn out, stress self and stress others, and that feeling whereby you are always ‘on’. But what if there was a system in place that allows one to set better boundaries and recover completely? This is where mindfulness comes into the picture.
In this article, one will be not only concerned with establishing a healthy work-life environment but also offer tips and advice on how to put boundaries and restore energy in between the busy schedules.
What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is being completely aware of the present moment without emotional evaluation of the occurrences taking place either within one’s environment or within themselves. It involves the awareness of thinking, feeling and sensing in an engaging manner. With the same knowledge in management, one will appreciate the fact that as the modern world goes, work and life do not only blend but overlap, and therefore people need to encourage ‘boundaries’ in order to ensure their sanity.
Why Is Work-Life Balance Important?
Work-life balance is a concept which means that time and energy allocated to one’s work is also channeled to other facets of life in a manner that leaves one feeling content and happy. For instance, when the boundaries of these spheres are broken, stress level goes up while productivity goes down, bringing dissatisfaction both personally and professionally. On the other hand, unaided workplace imbalance results in occupational burnout, personal issues, and poor wellness levels.
This may be difficult, but mindfulness practice educates us regarding when to stand still, what is wrong and what ought to be done in ways to make things right.
How Mindfulness Supports Work-Life Balance?
It is impossible to separate work from an individual completely. However, the latter does allow one to become more cognizant about their different roles in both competing and complementary spheres. By being aware and practicing mindfulness, one will:
- Determine the Early Symptoms of Stress: Mindfulness helps in different circumstances especially when one needs to manage stress levels and not only on block blooms to help. Instead of waiting for the situation to get to the worst case scenario, mindfulness techniques advocate for finding opportunities to regularly evaluate one’s status so that a relief is taken before reaching full exhaustion.
- Concentrate on the Present Moment: When involved with work-related tasks, mindfulness will help the workers focus their energy on one primary task while avoiding task-switching or worrying factors that may reduce productivity. Off work, mindfulness also helps one to get fully absorbed in other activities. This could be catching up with friends, napping, or engaging in other enjoyable activities. Enjoyment in every action enhances performance at work and in personal life as well.
- Help Maintain Balance: Awareness of one’s personal preferences is enhanced by mindfulness, thus making it easier to draw the line between working and non-working spaces. It is easier to avoid excessive working if adequately tired from work without additional hours spent on work. Prior cross examination of the processes at play includes limiting excessive communication after work hours and time restraints to recuperate from work activities.
Mindfulness Techniques for Creating Boundaries
Having understood the efficacy of mindfulness, let us look at some techniques which can be employed in order to draw a new line between work and personal life.
1. Making One’s Must Dos Deliberate
The way one wakes up in the morning has a way of influencing for the rest of the day. Instead of going straight to the work emails or looking at the email of must-do actions, first, close your eyes for a few moments and think of your purpose for the day. Ask yourself:
- What are the things that I would want to achieve today?
- In what way can I conduct my task in a focused manner and still feel relaxed?
- What is the importance of taking care of myself today?
In this case, purposeful intention maps out an effective barrier between your work warrior head and your personal head. It allows you to ease into your workday’s activities instead of feeling pressured or anxious.
Try This: If only for five minutes try to take a walk with your thoughts each day in the morning and blank your head or imagine thinking about something good for that day. During this time, picture what you want your day to look like at work and at home.
2. Mindful Transitions Between Work and Home
Whether engaged in office work or working from home, the authors assert the need to differentiate between work time and non-work personal time. Without this transition with boundaries, work can seep into your personal life and create the feeling of always being “on”.
Try This: When the work days are over, spend five minutes of your time sitting in silence without any work pressure. Let’s see if there are any work-related thoughts left and try to disperse those thoughts. This helps to wind up the ‘work chapter’ of the day and get ready for the ‘personal time’. This may also mean altering your physical location by walking, sitting in a different room, or contemplating on some other simple hobby that signifies the end of a workday.
3. Create a Digital Detox
With technology being within arms reach, the issue of achieving work-life balance becomes almost impossible. You switch on the work mode even after hours because there are the work emails, notifications or messages to which you usually feel the need to respond. Being deliberate with your technology can make it easier for you to detox when necessary.
Try This: Have a timetable defining when you will not work through work related devices. For example, it could be decided that work notifications are turned off after 6 p.m. or work emails should not be attended to over the weekend. Devote the time to this “digital detox” planning to issues that concern your personal life. Try to distract yourself and recover energy: read, meet family, or develop any other way of relaxing hobbies.
4. Mindful Breaks During Work
Taking breaks during your workday is very important, if you want to remain balanced and not fall into burnout. Still, it’s very tempting to allow breaks to become a form of work by checking emails or social networks or preparing for the next task. Mindfulness in breaks can enable you to take a break from the work both physically and psychologically.
Try This: Engage in concentrating on the environment, the body, or the breath, or do nothing, in other words, practice mindfulness during your breaks. Some of you may take short walks, initiate stretching activities or simply relax with no sound for a few fleeting moments quite preferably. The important thing is to switch off completely to work during that time to allow the mind and body to rest properly.
5. Mindful Decision-Making About Workloads
One primary area of imbalance is taking on too much work. As you learn to be aware of yourself, you will learn to appreciate your limits and go on to make wise decisions about the workload you are willing to accept.
Try This: Look for tasks such as accepting additional work or agreeing to a new project to summit and do the following: Wait and look inside. How much work do you have? Are there already too many tasks, or is there room for more? Thinking like this makes it easy to ensure you have realistic goals and you don’t suffer from the consequences of overpromising yourself.
Mindfulness for Recharge and Renewal
Creating a balance between work and family life does not only entail setting limits and barriers, there is a need to refresh and rejuvenate oneself during time off work. Achieving a work-life balance without depleting your energy levels is possible with the help of mindfulness as you will be able to participate in activities that require adequate energy such as being with family and friends, doing recreational activities or just resting.
Once you get into the flow of practicing mindfulness, the activities that fulfill you become clearer and the ones that need less time and energy are sidelined, which leads individuals to stop engaging in unproductive work and engage fully in their personal lives.
Final Thoughts
Mindfulness is quite a helpful approach in furthering your progress in achieving the intended balance between work and other aspects of your life by enabling you to draw the line between work and home. If you are able to use any of the basic meditation techniques taught at work like simple breathing, clearing your mind of negative thoughts, or waking with a goal to achieve tiredness, you will manage to balance these two areas of life.
Always remember that balance is not an aspect that should be dominated but rather an aspect that is justified, so long as sat-sitting is done with fortitude. Begin with minor ones, start utilizing one or two techniques for about a week then proceed with adding more to your daily routine. Over time, you will understand how the mental mode of ‘now is leisure time’ will benefit you at work as well as at home.
