Written by: Rodolfo Parlati, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Try to remember when you were a kid, and you struggled with taking the first step into learning how to ride a bike. What did you look for? The balance. At that time, your purpose was to follow your direction and avoid falling.
Think about it nowadays. Are you “riding” your life? And what’s your direction?
You manage a very busy life, juggling many responsibilities and your career is very important to you, whether you are an entrepreneur, executive, manager, or any other professional. You think you can do it, you can recover by doing it faster or you limit some activities that you slowly make become superfluous but, in reality, often are not at all.
You begin to neglect yourself and your loved ones, feeling guilty about the possible impact your work could have, in particular, on these people. At the same time, you feel guilty when you stop working because you know there is still a lot to do.
Work-life balance is not simply a matter of considering how to share your available time between work and private life, but mostly to give a purpose and a meaning to the actions you take in your life. It means taking responsibility for yourself first and for your life, making adjustments to work habits and in private life. At the same time, you need to feel good and prosperous in time and energy.
By building an effective balance, you can become more aware of your experience and get many positive effects, like stress reduction, better relationships, ability to be present, time management, mental and physical health, and more productivity.
6 Tips to Build an Effective Work-Life Balance
The first consideration to do is to build a healthy mentality by learning which things are in your control and which ones don’t. This helps you be more conscious and take the actions that are useful for you to create an effective work-life balance. Here is a list:
1. Focus on the important things. The work-life balance of each of us is unique and profoundly different. For some, their work is an overwhelming passion, for others, it is not. You must learn to evaluate what your goals are and what is truly important to you. The point is to constantly consider what you value and work to ensure that your work-life balance is in line with your priorities.
2. Take care of yourself. Even just 15 minutes for yourself, every day, is fine. If you're feeling stressed, activities like sports or meditation can be a great help in breaking down daily stress. Remember to work on yourself.
3. Build strong boundaries. It is important to immediately establish your limits with everyone and respect them. For example, if your job requires you to be available for emergencies, let everyone know to call you only if there is a real problem that really can't wait until the next day.
4. Be fully present. Always being connected with your work, even in moments when you are in the family, can make your balance even more unstable. You will feel like you are always at work. Instead, try to focus on the activity you are currently doing. Whether at work or home, be fully present in what you are doing and leave it there when you are done.
5. Delegate as much as possible. Learn to draw a line between your work and what you can delegate to avoid being overwhelmed. Realize that your participation is not always essential. Delegating certain responsibilities as much as possible will allow you to save more time and will give you greater effectiveness and clarity, creating a better work-life balance.
6. Avoid "technological stress". Constantly checking your e-mail means diligently diverting attention and wasting a lot of energy as a result. Some studies show that excessive use of smartphones and electronic devices is harmful. Therefore, if you are doing work, turn off your mobile phone or silence notifications. Your performance will be positively affected.
Summing up
An effective work-life balance must make you feel good about yourself and give you a sense of fulfilment. Managing the balance between personal and work life also benefits your professional activity, significantly increasing your productivity and efficiency.
In this context, a Coaching path can be absolutely useful to help people understand their needs, identify the causes of their dissatisfaction, reduce stress, eliminate judgment, improve awareness and discover their potential. An effective blend to be able to "ride" your life again!
Rodolfo Parlati, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Rodolfo Parlati is a Professional Life & Executive Coach. Always inspired by the desire to impact others positively, his mission is to help people and professionals be happy and successful by finding out their inner potential and exploring the right path to follow to "give shape" to their goals. Passionate about building connections, the key elements of his coaching strategy are creating meaningful actions to attain the clients' goals, knowing what is holding them back, and supporting them in finding higher awareness. His natural curiosity has always driven him to be an eager lifelong learner, explore new fields, and look for the answers to any question.
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