Importance of Work-Life Balance (Must Read!)
What Is Work-Life Balance?
“Work-life balance” is one term that hasn’t lost its buzz in the last few years. Of course, this may be because millennials tend to dominate the workforce. As a result, employers have been putting in a lot of effort to determine how best to appeal to millennial workers.
Studies have shown that the millennial group of workers may take up at least 75% of the workforce by 2025. This has forced many business leaders to know the importance of work-life balance and redefine it.
Work-life balance is essential to a healthy work environment. When you maintain an excellent work-life balance, your stress level goes down, and burnout becomes non-existent in the workplace.
Unfortunately, chronic stress is the most familiar health issue in a typical work environment. Physical consequences of chronic stress include heart problems, chronic pains and aches, digestive issues, and hypertension. Chronic stress can also hurt mental health because of its link to anxiety, insomnia, and depression.
Chronic stress over a prolonged period leads to burnout in the workplace. Employees who spend so much time at work (literally working overtime hours) put themselves at a high risk of burnout.
Mood swings, fatigue, irritability, and decreased work performance are typical burnout results. This doesn’t sound good to many employers because a report in the Harvard Business Review shows that the physical and psychological problems of employees with burnout problems cost no less than $125 billion to $190 billion yearly in healthcare spending in the US.
Now, here’s something important that you should know.
To live a more balanced life, you must understand the importance of work-life balance. It isn’t easy to practice or create something you do not understand. A little warning here: creating a balanced lifestyle is not a walk in the park. Creating a work-life balance requires you to:
- Prioritize the important stuff in your life (and disregard the rest)
- Take absolute control over your career
- Simplify your lifestyle.
You cannot achieve these things without making hard choices, requiring resilience, mental strength, and courage. I’ve discovered that to pull yourself to make these hard choices, you must train your mind to understand exactly WHY you need to make these decisions. This way, it will buy in fully, and you’ll be inspired to act courageously.
The Importance of Work-Life Balance
Now that we understand the actual definition of work-life balance, let’s go through some of the reasons why it is essential.
1. Less Stress
Stress reduction is the first importance of work-life balance on our list. According to a report by The Baltimore Sun, workplace stress is the 5th major cause of death in the United States. Moreover, over a quarter of working-class Americans list their jobs as their primary source of stress.
What makes the situation unfortunate is that most people think they don’t have a choice. But that’s far from the truth.
Do not forget that work-life balance is a result of your choices. That’s also part of the reason why you are under so much stress. You put yourself under intense pressure when you take on more work than you can handle or refuse to delegate work.
Of course, you can relieve your stress through the tips below:
Saying no to things you’re not interested in
Delegating tasks that ought to be delegated
Making your well-being a priority
Ultimately, your workload will be more manageable, and you’ll have plenty of time to do the things you love. This will decrease your anxiety and stress levels tremendously.
2. It Improves Your Mental Health
Good mental health is another importance of a work-life balance. When you are balanced, you can tackle negative thoughts and emotions. Also, you won’t give up.
The human brain is not always designed to be under constant stress and pressure. By balancing your life, you’ll have the space to think, thus allowing your subconscious thoughts to surface. As a result, your self-awareness increases, and you can healthily tackle them. This means that you can ultimately make better and more informed decisions.
3. A Better Physical Health
Having the time to take care of your physical health is essential for work-life balance. Taking care of your physical health includes:
- Eating healthy and balanced meals
- Reducing your intake of sugar
- Regular exercise
- Good sleep habits
But there’s more. Living and working may worsen your physical health (it is more of a societal problem).
Having a Demanding and Busy Career Is Problematic
Most busy professionals spend most of their time chained to a computer desk and glued to the couch at night due to high stress and exhaustion.
If you’re in this category, then there’s a possibility that you’re rarely moving, sitting most of the time, and almost always indoors.
The human body is not designed to sit for a long time at a stretch, and they aren’t meant to be bound indoors either. Instead, your body is designed to get outdoors, move, and stand.
So, to achieve balance, you should move more and engage in plenty of outdoor activity. Physical activity generates endorphins. Endorphins are hormones that give you a positive vibe and make you feel good.
By doing this, you can sleep better, regain energy, and have a more positive outlook on life.
4. A Balanced Life Helps You to Be More Engaged at Work
Happy and motivated employees are more likely to be involved and loyal. When engaged, you feel very committed to something and give it your best.
Employees usually involve themselves in their work and are very enthusiastic about it.
A report by Gallup shows that just about 34 percent of American workers are engaged.
Many employers think that engagement can be bought using incentives or pressure. This might work for some time, but in the end, it creates anxiety, stress, and resentment. That’s not a long-term recipe for morale or long-term engagement.
An employee who is physically and mentally healthy and less stressed will feel more connected to colleagues and will be motivated to work harder. With that motivation, you can perform at a higher level and with greater engagement. Increased engagement leads to better morale at the workplace, better communication, and more accountability.
So, What Are the Next Steps?
Now that you know the importance of work-life balance, you should consider creating a balanced life for yourself…and there’s nothing complicated about creating one. Why? Because you are building it FOR YOURSELF!
It all begins with your mentality. Your mindset empowers you to agree or to disagree. Then, you must prioritize what’s important to you and create your desired balanced lifestyle.
