Work–Life Balance

The term “work-life balance” refers to our unique mix of work and non-work activities that make up each typical day. For many professionals, the ideal balance lies in preventing work from overruling the rest of our lives. We want and need plenty of time to take care of our ourselves, our families, and our passion projects while still being able to meet professional goals.

Work-life balance is all about finding the balance in all areas of life for a well-rounded life. It is perhaps the most difficult thing to sustain over a period of time. This is particularly difficult for college students who are expected to navigate through 3 years of relentless academic pressure.

One of the biggest benefits a good work-life balance gives you is energy. Spending quality time with your family and friends can give you the right mental framework when you walk into class. Similarly, paying attention and making sure your day at college was time spent learning new things to use tomorrow gives you the energy to really take time off to work on yourself. Utilising this harmonious balance will lead you to a life more fulfilling and rewarding.

If your life only revolves around your work, then you lose a lot of the other positive dimensions that make you interesting to the people you come across. Having interests outside of work will increase and improve your skills and make you a more rounded and interesting individual. You will be able to share those experiences and knowledge with other people. This is something that employers look for. That is why you need to include a hobbies section on your CV and that’s why they ask what you enjoy doing in your spare time.

The ideal balance is subjective in nature. Start by identifying professional and personal boundaries. There is no right amount of time that a person should be working or not working, it all depends. Therefore, making sure you know your own boundaries is crucial. Determining achievable goals is a big part in maintaining a work-life balance and self-awareness. Knowing yourself better will help you practice empathy with others. Create an environment for yourself where you can thrive in all the aspects in your life you care about most.

Overworking can lead to burnouts which reduce your productivity and motivation. On the other hand, while spending time with family and friends is important, so is having a sense of responsibility towards work. Make sure you achieve the goals you set for yourself in a timely manner. Procrastination is one of the leading reasons for stress, especially for college students. Planning your day ahead of you gives you a sense of direction and purpose. You know what you must do and when it needs to be done. You also know what to expect from your day, both for work and otherwise.

Maintaining a good balance between work and life is not possible if there is no personal time left after leaving work. In such a case, having a flexible work schedule becomes particularly important. Flexibility in work timings helps you lay equal focus on their own personal and social side of life as that of their work. Furthermore, a flexible work schedule results in better employee productivity and works fine as an alternate stress management technique.

The small things matter. Being more balanced does not mean dramatic upheaval in your life. With the smallest investment in the right places you can radically transform the quality of your relationships and the quality of your life. Moreover, I believe, it can transform society. Because if enough people do it, we can change society’s definition of success away from a moronically simplistic notion that the person who dies with the most money wins, to a more thoughtful and balanced definition of what a life well lived looks like.

Finally, be nimble and robust. Re-evaluate the kind of balance you want in your life. It is possible that your priorities have changed, and your ideal day will change with it. Be honest with yourself and do not be afraid to change your routine. Know when a change is warranted and when sticking to your schedule is the better way forward.