You understand that being a “workaholic” or working so much that it affects your daily life can affect you physically, mentally, and emotionally. But actually finding a good work-life balance in your life can be the hard part. Unfortunately, it is essential if you want to reduce your stress levels and live a more fulfilling life.
Stress is a natural reaction to the stimuli going on in your life. But it’s essential that you make an honest assessment of how you spend your time and allow yourself to rest properly. There’s no need to let the pressures of your life become so intense that they actually cause you physical harm.
In recent studies, doctors have been able to prove that consistent stress and from so many different types of life pressure can more than double your chance of heart attack. After considering how seriously being a workaholic can affect you, it’s important to remember that having a balanced life is one of the best ways to fight the tendency to become one.
Only set reasonable goals
When you set out to accomplish things that are out of your ability without considering the complexity of the task, it can be very demoralizing. But if you set goals that are reachable, it’s a much more gratifying experience. That doesn’t mean to set the bar low, only that you should do what is the most feasible thing to do at the time and work your way up to a higher standard if you choose.
These calculated moves have help you to be more successful in the long run. And because the success is incremental, it is a lot easier and attainable for even the most pessimistic planners to achieve a good work-life balance.
Learn to manage your time at work
One of the most damaging things to a great workflow is procrastination. When you put off tasks that need to be finished soon, it seems like it won’t be a big deal at first. But if anything were to go wrong, then you suddenly are even more behind and it might become difficult to meet expected deadlines. Try to take care of anything that you know could be disrupted by a sudden life event or unexpected occurrence.
The best way to tackle a large project would be to break them into groups of smaller tasks so that you can easily see your progress and do a more thorough job of checking on the quality of your work. This will make the project seem a lot less intimidating, and will take a lot of the heavy stress right off of the top.
Take breaks
A lot of people underestimate the power of a quick rest period. When you have the opportunity to take breaks, you should take a break! Most reasonable employers expect for you to take breaks. There’s no reason to martyr yourself for the company brand. Remember that your job is what you do for sustaining your life, but your job is not your life.
Listen to your favorite music
It feels good to listen to a song that you haven’t listened to in while. When you feel yourself getting stressed out, listening to a familiar piece of music can help you to stay focused. Science has studied many of the effects of music on the brain, and these studies have shown that music can reduce your stress and blood pressure very quickly.
If you feel stressed often, this can be a great way to occupy your mind to keep out the negative thoughts so you can focus on completing your tasks.
Be honest about what you can accomplish
Sometimes you want to make yourself look good at work, but you didn’t realize what the job really entailed. If this happens, it’s important to communicate with the other people depending on you. At times you can fall behind through no fault of your own, but making sure that everyone understand a realistic outcome without waiting to the last minute will reinforce confidence in you.
Be sure that when you tell them about your situation, you approach it calmly with thoughtful alternatives to keep the ball rolling. If you have fallen short of expectations, be sure to keep a cool head and be persistent in your expressions of the fact that you can restore their confidence in you.
Accept that there might be issues
It’s impossible to be perfect. Having an improbable belief of the possible outcomes to either extreme can be unhealthy, so you should always try to manage your expectations if you want to maintain a good work-life balance.
