Today's post is one that has been written by Niraj, who has his own blog and writes about lifestyle, working life and his experience of living with autism. If you would like to give his blog a look (and I highly recommend you do), you can view it here.
With that said, let's take a look at Niraj's guest post for my blog, which is all to do with trying to figure out the work-life balance:
One of the main lessons that I learned from the pandemic is the importance of having a good work-life balance. A good work-life balance is important for all of us that are in full-time jobs, yet it is something a lot of us neglect. In this blog post,l I will talk about things you should think about when it comes to work-life balance while working full time, and what a good work-life balance looks like for me.
Having a good work-life balance has many benefits when working full time. When you are working, it is easy to allow your life to revolve around your job and career. This is not good for your well-being, as you are then likely to deprioritise other aspects of your life that probably give you more happiness. Having a good work-life balance means that you spend enough time on other things that help your well-being, such as family time and hobbies.
When you have a full-time job, one of the things that is key when it comes to ensuring a good work-life balance is setting boundaries. Whilst your job is an important aspect of your life, you shouldn't prioritise it over your well-being and happiness. With the emergence of working from home, it has become easier to work well into the night, or check work emails whilst on annual leave. This causes more harm than good when it comes to your well-being, and it can easily become a bad habit if you don't set some boundaries. Therefore, setting yourself boundaries regarding not working or checking work emails outside of working hours can help you switch off from work, which can help give you separation between work and leisure.
One thing I have found is that the balance between work and life isn't always constant when working full time. For example, there may be periods when you have a really busy project going on at work or are studying for upcoming exams, and hence the balance will be tilted towards work. On the other hand, there may be a period of time when you have a lot of family commitments or are going for a long holiday, and in these cases, the balance will be tilted towards life. These fluctuations in work-life balance are completely expected, and it is nothing to worry about. However, if you get to a point where your long-term well-being is impacted in any way, then you should try to address it in some way.
Another thing which you should appreciate is that different people will prioritise different things when it comes to their work-life balance whilst working full time. Some people want to spend lots of time with their family and friends, and therefore they will prioritise that when it comes to having a good work-life balance. On the other hand, some people are very career-driven and want to prioritise career progression. These individuals may work longer hours or attend more networking events, and may not mind if they have to sometimes sacrifice time with family and friends for their careers. If you are currently working a full-time job, it is important to think about what things you want to prioritise when it comes to your work-life balance, as you can't prioritise absolutely everything.
One thing I find crucial to my work-life balance when working full time is going to the office as much as I can. Going into the office gives me a clear separation between my work life and life outside of work, and also allows me to interact with colleagues face to face. Both of these aspects help my work-life balance. Furthermore, something that I find particularly helpful when it comes to having a good work-life balance is doing a variety of fun things outside of my job. Examples of fun things that I do outside of my job include spending time with friends and family, writing blogs like these and going swimming. Making time to do lots of fun things gives me something to look forward to.
Once again, I would like to thank Niraj for writing this post for me. And if you would like to write a guest post for my blog, please feel free to fill out the form in the contacts tab or send me an email.
Love Beth xx