Work-Life Balance: A Key to Your Mental Health
In honor of World Mental Health Day today, I think it’s important to take a few minutes & discuss a topic that many struggle with daily: a healthy work-life balance. In any field, maintaining a healthy balance between career & personal life can be challenging. In PR, which is ranked as the sixth most stressful career according to CareerCast, that balance is crucial to a healthy mental state and your happiness.
In college, NYC PR Girls was my bible & when the girls posted their PR Girl’s Life Balance Pyramid, I was ecstatic! Meg got it! The pyramid included all the important things, as you can see below. Family & friends, time for self, love, career, exciting things & the little things – they’re so important. I, myself, might switch up the order, as my long-term boyfriend will come before my career, within reason, but it’s a pretty accurate depiction.
Many people forget how important self-health & self-help, adventures & the little things really are. Building your career & taking care of your loved ones is important but it’s so necessary to take care of you, too, because if you don’t take care of you, nothing else will matter.
Below are a few helpful tips to keep a good work/life balance, whether you’re a seasoned professional, a career newbie or a student.
1. Prioritize
Ranking your to-do list by priority is important to visualize which things need the most attention. Make your list, check it twice and watching as things practically begin to cross themselves off!
2. Schedule
Whether you need to schedule out every event of your day, from your shower in the morning to changing into your pjs at night, or you just need to mark down the important meetings & items, crafting a schedule for your day/week/month will help you visualize what needs to be done & when, as well as to see when you have free time or when you need to go do personal things, too.
3. Disconnect
In a career where “full-time” means “all the time” & 9-to-5 doesn’t really exist, it’s easy to blur the lines of work time and personal time because you’re always connected. Turn your phone on Do Not Disturb mode for an hour every day will force you to spend time away from it & work. Don’t forget to disable email notifications when you’re not on work time, don’t check your email before bed and just put your devices away for a while, especially when you’re spending time with loved ones or doing things you enjoy.
4. Spend your work time wisely
If you don’t spend your time scheduled on projects to actually work on those projects, you’ll undoubtedly feel overwhelmed, underachieving and overworked. Spend your time wisely & you’ll spend less time catching up on things & more time on yourself.
5. Find a hobby
It’s easy to constantly check your phone when you’re not on office time if you have nothing else to occupy your attention. Find something that you enjoy doing to look forward to during your spare time.
6. Be realistic
Setting unrealistic expectations will only set you up for failure. The best way to get all of your work done & be happy with your free time activities is to be realistic about how much time tasks will take & how much time you actually have to complete things.
How do you create a nice work-life balance? What are your tips & tricks?