Hitting That Sweet Spot in Your Work-Life BalanceBy Angelica Malin
The burden of work can feel overwhelming at times, especially to those who dedicate their lives to it more heavily. It’s hard to escape from our responsibilities when they’re looming over our shoulder, but at the same time, it’s important that we don’t allow work to swallow our entire lives. After all, what’s the point of spending so much time hunched over that desk if we never get to actually spend all the money we’re earning in the process?
Integrate Relaxation into Your Work if You Can
It doesn’t matter how you do it. Many things can work out well in this regard. From meditation to yoga to simple mental exercises to keep your focus sharp and on point, there is a lot that you can do to ensure that you stay relaxed throughout a typical working day. It’s more important than you might think, too – the accumulated stress can quickly start to creep up on you and before you know it, you’ll be struggling to make sense of the whirlwind of your everyday life. The important point is that you find something that you can pour out all your stress into, no matter how meaningless it might seem from the outside.
Travel Someplace New Every Year
Holidays are a great way to take a load off your shoulders, and there are plenty of places all around the world that are waiting for you to discover them. If you like to travel but are feeling bored with seeing the same old scenery year in, year out, it may be time for a change. And no, we don’t mean a one-time change that you enjoy but then never repeat again – we mean actually doing something more permanent with your life that will bring you happiness and joy in the long run.
Santorini is a great place to get started if you’re still stuck in the same old holiday routine every year. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy either – just check out the villas in Santorini from a company like the BlueVillas Collection and you’ll quickly find at least a few that look attractive enough to you. Prices will vary across the board, but as a general rule of thumb, you’ll probably be able to have your experience at a relatively low price.
Working from Home Is not Always a Blessing
Those who work from home typically have even more worries on their shoulders – and that level of stress isn’t even obvious from an outsider’s perspective. The lines between work and play can start to get very blurry if you are not careful, and it’s common to see freelancers and other professionals who work in this manner catching up with a project late at night.
Having a structured schedule – and actually following it strictly – is one of the best things you could do for your mental health in this regard, and you should consider the impact your job is potentially having on your daily life before deciding to pull another all-nighter.
Have a Hobby
It might sound cliched, but it’s one of the most important things you could do to bring some fresh, positive changes to your life. It’s important that you have something which draws a lot of energy from you but has no ultimate meaning. Something that you can keep getting better at, which you’re proud to show off to your friends. There are many options for that, especially if you’re looking for something in the creative field, and if you still don’t have a regular activity of this type, it should be on the top of your list of priorities.
It’s hard to say exactly what kind of a hobby would be most suitable for you as a person – that’s entirely individual and difficult to predict without knowing more about you. Just look around you and try to figure out what kinds of activities bring you joy on a regular basis, and it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with something that you can integrate in a more productive manner. Plus, nobody’s saying that your first choice should be your last one – you may end up discovering your true calling along the way!
Don’t let work swallow you up and drain your energy. Make sure that you leave enough room in your life for the things that truly matter. If for no other reason you should do it because, otherwise, work itself is going to become progressively more and more difficult and eventually, it will feel like an annoying chore – not like the rewarding activity that you were drawn to in the first place. Many people run into this problem sooner or later and dealing with it is easier with preventative measures rather than trying to patch things up later.
