You’ve probably heard people talking a lot about work/life balance. In truth, this isn’t a great way to describe the best ways to manage your home and office life. For most people they require a complete work/life separation. Everyone knows those people who like to bring their work home with them. Not just physically but also psychologically and emotionally. They’re unable to stop thinking about the office even when they’re supposed to be on vacation. However, multiple studies show that people who can’t separate their work from their personal lives suffer from high rates of burnout than they professional counterparts. So how can you create a work/life separation so neither suffers? Here are some tips.
Set Clear Boundaries
It is completely okay for you to determine what works and doesn’t work for you in your career. It is critical for you to establish these boundaries early on in your career. It is also important for that reason to respect other people’s boundaries. You may choose to complete work on evenings and weekends but you can’t expect that everyone will.
Manage Your Technology
If you do want to make a point to separate your work and your home life one of the best ways you can do this is to harness the same technology that makes it easier to work after business hours. Use scheduling software to make sure you don’t miss things when you’re back at work. Be sure to turn off the phone and work emails when you’re focused on being at home.
Check Out
One of the biggest epidemics in today’s corporate society is the lack of vacation time. It isn’t that employees don’t get vacation, although some don’t get nearly enough, but that they don’t use it. However, vacation time is a precious resource that can help workers recharge and be ready to be back in the office. It has been proven to enhance productivity.
Set Your Priorities
Lastly, you need to know what is important to you. You don’t have to choose between work and home life or place either one on a top priority. Set the priorities in the way that makes you feel most fulfilled. You don’t need to satisfy anyone else’s expectations except to manage them under your terms.