Have you struggled to maintain work-life harmony? There are 3 things you can do to bolster your ability to transition between work and life harmoniously.
As you know being an adult requires you to transition in and out of several roles throughout your day. Incorporating these strategies into your life may give you the flexibility to transition from work and your personal life seamlessly.
Once I was a full-time professional, grad student, and long-distance caretaker, being able to transition between roles was incredibly important to my success in each role. Now matter what responsibilities you may have at home these work life harmony tips could help you develop a healthier relationship with work and home.
This post will describe the 3 work-life harmony tips every adult should try to make their lives more fluid.
Work-life harmony meaning
In my preparation for writing this article, I did some research on work life harmony. What I found was lackluster and disappointing.
Work life harmony is the seamless integration of work and life. Whereas the popularized work life balance involves the intentional structuring and restructuring to achieve an equilibrium between work and life.
Unfortunately, both of these definitions seem to value work and life as equally important. While you may value your work and want to invest as much time as possible into developing your craft, that is a choice everyone should make on their own. In current times, jobs require us to take on more responsibility and work longer hours without equal compensation. People everywhere are looking for solutions to meet the demands of their jobs while maintaining their personal lives.
My earnest hope is that by reading this you can gain what you need to achieve the harmony between your work and all the rest that life has to offer to live on your terms regardless of societal pressures. For those who love their work and desire to fuel their careers, I hope that these keys will give you the rest and rejuvenation you need to sustain your life and continue making strides in your career.
How to Achieve Work-Life Harmony
Name your Priorities
Determine what your priorities are for this season in your life. Consider what you need to be fulfilled, healthy, and whole. What do you love and want in life? Taking away the restrictions and influence of society what desires live deep within your heart? What responsibilities and callings do you have? These are directions that reveal what your unique priorities are. The priorities for a new mom may be different from those of a mom with teenagers. The priorities of a recent college grad may be different from those of someone who has been in their career for years. After you have taken time to consider your priorities name them, and write them down in your journal.
Naming your priorities allows you to be clear and intentional about what you want. When they only live in your mind, it relegates your priorities to the whims of remembrance and forgetfulness. When you write down your priorities you concretize them in the world and cement them in your mind, therefore the changes that you make must now be intentional. It also serves as a physical reminder to you when making decisions to consider what is important first. When you get unclear about what you are driving toward the parchment is your reference point.
Set Boundaries
If you are like me, setting boundaries has become your salvation. Boundaries protect your energy, your priorities, your desires, and your person from the impact of influence and lure. Life is chock full of compelling rationale to do whatever is before us weather that be to work longer hours, or spend more time watching Netflix. When you have boundaries that direct how you spend your time and energy you develop a system that filters through the opportunities for you to expend your time and energy. When you have boundaries, you recognize that it is time to eat dinner with loved ones, hence your laptop, computer, and phone is silenced and your complete focus is devoted to those sitting across from you. Or you recognize that you are fully managing four projects, so when your co-worker asks you to take on additional work from his project you know to kindly decline. Healthy boundaries allow us to value our priorities and actually prioritize them through action.
Work-life harmony example boundaries may sound like:
- {Your Name} does not work during dinner with my family or friends.
- {Your Name} does not check personal social media accounts during my time at work.
- {Your Name} practices mindfulness in conversations at work and home. {Your name} is fully invested in the current interaction I am having.
- {Your Name} recognizes when my private life or professional life is interrupted by the other and allows space for flexibility.
- {Your Name} is committed to finish x,y,z at work so that I can do x,y,z at home.
Practice Mindfulness
Admittedly, I struggle with practicing mindfulness. However, in the times where I am able to exude this advice and consistently live it, I find that my experiences are richer and more purposeful. Setting boundaries with your time is one of the key pillars to being able to be fully present in each moment. When you are locked in to whatever it is that is before you, your attention in the next moment is guilt free, because you gave your all in the pervious moment. Mindfulness allows you to not only experience the fullness of each moment, but you can do so without guilt from not giving yourself when needed elsewhere. For example, if you spend your time in at work scrolling socials and you neglect to answer your emails before leaving for the day, you may feel guilty about your netflix binge at home. When you set the boundary to free yourself of social media for the time that you are at work you give yourself an opportunity keep yout attention at work so that you can continue to practice mindfulness at home.
Planning my week every weekend allowed me to develop the habits I needed to focus on work at work, school at school, and family when I was with family. Going into each day with a plan systemizes your focus. While things can change throughout your day, you have a general idea of how you should direct your attention for that day. Otherwise, your time and energy are subject to the needs and fluctuations of the moment. Being intentional about planning your week amplifies mindfulness into a powerful focus that allows you to make progress on the things that move your work and life forward. If you are looking for the exact method I used to plan my week while I was a full-time school leader, graduate student, and long-distance caretaker see the time management activity book that I developed to help you plan your week here.
{Related Post: 7 Critical Time Management Goals Guaranteed to Help you Master Adulting}
No matter what you want for yourself you must be intentional about how you integrate work and life. Use the work-life harmony tips listed above to help you set and execute your vision for your life, time, and energy.
