3 answers
Serenity
Student
New Plymouth, Idaho
1
Question
Asked
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How do you balance your work life and home life efficiently?
I am wondering what different methods help people to keep a more consistent balance.
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3 answers
Gus S
Consultant
79
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Gus’s Answer
An integral part of balancing both work and home life is setting boundaries! We face a daily list of demands from both our work and our home, and setting boundaries is a great starting point to keeping those balanced. By identifying your boundaries that you want to set and communicating them to your respective groups (work, spouse, family, etc.) you can prioritize the things that are important to you.
Luning Wang
Master's student at Electrical and Computer Engineering
8
Answers
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Updated
Luning’s Answer
For me, I'd set some strict time intervals in which I either work or relax. That is to say, never mix work with your own life. During the work time we would put all our heart into those work and try to do them efficiently, while during the relax time we would completely forget about those work stuff, even if there're something unfinished (just put off them to the next work time).
Elishah Franckiewicz
Teacher, Writer, Instructional Designer
13
Answers
Sacramento, California
Updated
Elishah’s Answer
It's great that you're thinking about work-life balance. There are many websites that offer varying suggestions that you might find helpful, but here are a few that can help.
Boundaries - It's important to have very clear boundaries when it comes to things like extra tasks, working hours, and even off-hours socializing with peers.
A lot of people think that if they take on extra tasks outside of the scope of their job descriptions, they will impress their bosses. While sometimes this is true, more often than not, very little comes from volunteering to do work outside of a job description, and employees end up getting burnt out or need to take work home with them.
Maintaining strict working hours is a must. Allowing work time to bleed into personal time erodes any sense of balance and efficiency. This is especially true for people who work from home.
Socializing after work with peers can be a great way to get to know each other and form new friendships, but if everyone just talks about work, it's sort of like you're still at work. Your personal time can start to look like work time, and that creates an imbalance.
When if comes to efficiency, time management and prioritizing in both your work and personal life can reduce stress. What works for you comes with practice, and it starts when you're still in school. Prioritizing when to do homework and then which class is more important to tackle first is a first step to learning efficiency and what works best for you. Some people prioritize based on an upcoming test (which can translate to a work project later on). Some people like to complete assignments that can be done quickly first to get them out of the way and have a sense of accomplishment, while others feel more accomplished tacking the assignment that will take the longest first.
There's a lot of advice out there, but keep in mind that we aren't robots, and what works for one person may not work for you. Take some time to notice how your stress level reacts to different approaches. If journaling is your thing, keep track of things in writing. If not, try something else. The most important thing is to be conscious of how you're feeling about what is working, what isn't, and why so that you can make adjustments and begin developing a sense of what works best for you.
Good luck!
E.F.
Boundaries - It's important to have very clear boundaries when it comes to things like extra tasks, working hours, and even off-hours socializing with peers.
A lot of people think that if they take on extra tasks outside of the scope of their job descriptions, they will impress their bosses. While sometimes this is true, more often than not, very little comes from volunteering to do work outside of a job description, and employees end up getting burnt out or need to take work home with them.
Maintaining strict working hours is a must. Allowing work time to bleed into personal time erodes any sense of balance and efficiency. This is especially true for people who work from home.
Socializing after work with peers can be a great way to get to know each other and form new friendships, but if everyone just talks about work, it's sort of like you're still at work. Your personal time can start to look like work time, and that creates an imbalance.
When if comes to efficiency, time management and prioritizing in both your work and personal life can reduce stress. What works for you comes with practice, and it starts when you're still in school. Prioritizing when to do homework and then which class is more important to tackle first is a first step to learning efficiency and what works best for you. Some people prioritize based on an upcoming test (which can translate to a work project later on). Some people like to complete assignments that can be done quickly first to get them out of the way and have a sense of accomplishment, while others feel more accomplished tacking the assignment that will take the longest first.
There's a lot of advice out there, but keep in mind that we aren't robots, and what works for one person may not work for you. Take some time to notice how your stress level reacts to different approaches. If journaling is your thing, keep track of things in writing. If not, try something else. The most important thing is to be conscious of how you're feeling about what is working, what isn't, and why so that you can make adjustments and begin developing a sense of what works best for you.
Good luck!
E.F.