Finding the Balance
Work schedules, family commitments and the general busy-ness of life can leave us all feeling overwhelmed at times. Compounded over weeks, months or longer, the constant juggle of work and life has the potential to turn into ‘bad stress’.
Some stress can be good for us. It can help motivate us, drive us forward, provide us with focus, help us achieve our goals and give us the ‘fight’ we need to get the job done. This is ‘good stress’. On the contrary however, ‘bad stress’, can leave us feeling anxious, uncomfortable, demotivated and we may end up underperforming in one or more areas of our lives as a result.
There are some simple changes we can make in our lives which can help improve our overall health and wellbeing and help us reduce stress:
1. Schedule in ‘You’ time
If your life is a constant flow of calendar appointments and meeting requests, try allocating some time in your day just for you. This maybe going for a walk at lunchtime, smashing out a gym session, swim or run at 6am before everyone else wakes up or booking in a long overdue hair appointment or catch up with friends on a Friday afternoon.
Make sure you block the time out as ‘busy’ in your diary so that it isn’t compromised when someone thinks you are ‘free’ to do something for them. If you leave these activities unscheduled until you have a window of opportunity or a break in the work schedule, undoubtedly something else will come along which will bump your ‘you’ time to the bottom of an ever-growing list.
2. Ask for help
Just because you have always been the one to do the washing up, take the bins out or drop the children at football doesn’t mean you always have to. Maybe your wife, husband, partner, or a friend could do these ‘jobs’ from time to time to help lighten the load and give you a chance to catch your breath.
Similarly, if there is an email at work that a colleague could send on your behalf, or a meeting that someone else could attend and take notes for you, or a report that someone else is as qualified to write as you are – don’t be afraid to ask to buy back some time to get on top of your to do list.
3. Learn to say No
It can be all too easy to be the ‘yes’ person but learning to say no can be very powerful and doesn’t tend to result in the negative fallout we may fear it will. People will appreciate your honesty if you let them know that you don’t physically have the time to do what they are asking. If you can’t say no, set the expectation that the task they have asked you to do is being added to an already lengthy list and it will likely be a day, week, two weeks etc before you are able to get it done.
By learning to say no to the extra’s at work and at home, you will be in a much better position to manage the non-negotiables, and then you can pick and choose (to a certain extent) the extras that are added to your plate.
If you feel the scales tipping, try some of these useful tips to regain some control and balance in your life.
Having good work life balance can help boost overall wellbeing, increase productivity and mood and can help us regain focus on the things that matter the most in our lives.
Contact We Are Wellbeing today to talk about helping you and your workplace learn to address stress.
