Benefits of maintaining work-life balance
Having a work-life balance can reduce levels of stress.
Today, 83% of workers suffer from work-related stress, and it is a cost to the American industry. This is due to the demands of the workplace and the time a person spends at work. Many experience tiredness and feel burnout from working long hours. Prolonged stress exposure can cause a number of health issues, with anxiety and depression being a typical result.
Choosing a flexible and less intensive job has its benefits, too. With a less demanding job, a healthier lifestyle has more long-term potential. With less stress and pressure, an individual can find time to rest and participate in healthy activities.
Due to ever-changing work and life circumstances, many need help finding the perfect balance and often feel overwhelmed and pressured. Although it may be challenging to find this balance, there are many benefits for individuals who can achieve a more excellent equilibrium between their work and personal lives. A lack of balance can result in an unproductive lifestyle and a negative impact on general well-being.
Work-life balance is the need for a crunch between the two versatile lives, professional and personal. Also, the need to focus on the “life” part before the “work” is known to be balanced. No actual definition describes a proper work-life balance, as it’s different for each individual. Some believe it is about setting limits or following strict guidelines.
Benefits of maintaining work-life balance
Maintaining a work-life balance can significantly benefit your mental and physical health.
The American Psychological Association (APA) states that the six main causes of death—heart disease, cancer, lung conditions, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide—are associated with long-term stress. While this is an extreme case, it does help to emphasize how important it is to manage your stress levels. It has been known that high-stress levels can affect your immune system, making you more susceptible to colds and other infections. In the short term, this can mean more days off work; in the long term, it can cause serious health problems.
Sleep and food habits can also be impacted by stress.. People under a high amount of stress can either sleep too much or have trouble sleeping; they can forget to eat or overeat, and the food they consume can be unhealthy. All of these can have a very negative effect on your body and your health. By maintaining a work-life balance, you’ll be able to manage stress levels more effectively, which will help make you feel generally more relaxed. Remember, while some stress is good because it motivates us, too much stress has a negative effect.Finding a balance between work and life might be difficult, but the benefits are vast.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, the capacity to juggle a demanding career with a fulfilling personal life is an ongoing source of frustration for 66% of British adults.
A work-life balance charity Working Families study also shows that almost half of parents are concerned that their long hours are hurting their children. This shows how maintaining a healthy balance can affect your family and children. This is a fundamental reason to want to achieve a work-life balance.
Whether it’s to improve your quality of family time, take up a new hobby or interest, exercise more, or feel less stressed, it’s essential to identify your goals, as this can be a great source of motivation.
Consequences of neglecting work-life balance
A recent survey of nearly 1,000 employed adults in the United States shows that 80 percent say they feel stress on the job. Almost half of respondents say they need help learning how to manage stress.
This is not surprising, given that economic and global competition issues have increased the demands and hours of work for many over the past decades. Chronic job stress can lead to chronic activation of the “fight or flight” response. This state of stress has been linked to many health problems, such as hypertension, heart attacks, chronic fatigue syndrome, and various other disorders. This can also affect the individual’s family because it can make the person irritable and less able to communicate. High job stress causes more absenteeism and a higher turnover rate. So, in the end, a workaholic can cause many more problems for himself and his family.
When work interferes with home life and home life interferes with work, the resulting stress can lead to physical illness, such as gastrointestinal or cardiovascular problems, and psychological ill-health, such as anxiety or depression, a small study shows. If you don’t step back from your job regularly, you can put yourself at serious risk of burnout.
Because of the weight of responsibility, individuals who are highly invested in their jobs are at risk for burnout. Burnout is a general state of being “worn out,” including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.
Individuals experiencing job burnout may see work as a source of continued stress and need more motivation to succeed. This may result in adverse effects on home life. High work engagement can result in the neglect of essential responsibilities at home.
Impact on Mental Health
Research indicates that work-family conflict can damage mental health, particularly when individuals find it difficult to stop thinking about work and switch off from the demands of the job.
This “cognitive rumination” relating to work during leisure time is associated with adverse mental health symptoms. The British Household Panel Survey provided the information. Clark and Oswald (2006) found that an increase in annual work hours was associated with higher levels of psychological distress among working men and women. A longitudinal study by Virtanen et al. (2011) observed that moving from a job with high work hours (e.g., 55 hours per week) to a job with “normal” work hours (e.g., 35-40 hours) led to improvements in mental health.
Comparative research has shown that work hours and the pace of work are significantly related to a work-life imbalance in Japan, the USA, and Europe and that long work hours are connected to increased anxiety and depressive symptoms in workers in several occupational settings in America, as well as adverse effects on subjective health and sleep problems in Japanese workers.
An ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study of full-time working adults by Mawhirt et al. (2016) revealed that higher daily work hours were associated with more significant end-of-day fatigue and greater depressive symptoms during the following four days.
Strategies for Achieving Work-Life Balance
Start making changes to a more balanced lifestyle today.
Don’t think you have to make considerable changes in your life to be successful. Just take one step at a time and experiment. You’re valuable to your work. Your work will profit if you’re functioning at your best.
Step one: is to take responsibility for your health and well-being. Stress is a mental state created by you. It’s only logical that you can take it away; all of it is up to you. However, that doesn’t mean you should face stress in regressive ways like drug abuse, smoking, violent behavior, and overeating. I’ll leave it up to you to decide the best way to conquer stress.
Step two: It’s essential for you to live a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining a nutritious diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep is vital for preserving stress and management. When you are stressed, it’s straightforward to go for some quick fixes to soothe you. However, some of these methods will only cause more harm than good. Alcohol, caffeine, drugs, and junk food are not viable options in the long run. An unhealthy lifestyle will wear you down and cause you to become stressed, agitated, and unfocused.
Step three: Make it known to others around you that those around you, your workmates, family, or coworkers, are a viable asset to keep you in check. This mainly helps when setting goals. You are committing yourself by telling others your goals and will invariably get support from others when you’re struggling. Confide in those you trust, and you will find that they can help keep you in higher spirits and help you solve complex problems in a slump.
Setting boundaries and prioritizing tasks
Setting boundaries between work and home is crucial in maintaining a work-life balance.
Work can often overflow into home life, and the boundaries become blurred. One of the reasons telecommuting (working from home) has become so popular is because people who telecommute work longer hours than their counterparts in the office. With the ability to take care of emails, projects, and deadlines around the clock, it is easy for the lines between work and home to become very thin.
By setting boundaries, such as not checking email after a particular time or not taking work home on the weekends, one can prevent the stress and pressure of work from affecting home life. This will lead to higher satisfaction at home and a feeling of completion with work because there is a distinct line between the two.
Boundaries help clarify things for a boss and coworkers when an employee is unavailable. This will help to alleviate some of the pressure of having tasks dumped on at the last minute because there will be a clear idea of when they can be completed. It’s essential to stick to the boundaries that are set. Sometimes flexibility is necessary, but it should not become a habit, or the lines drawn will become blurred again.
Time management techniques
There are many ways employers can help their staff manage their work-life balance and reduce work-related stress. However, if employers are to offer practical help in this area, they need first to understand the impact of work-related stress, as well as the things that cause it.
Stress is not an illness. It is a state caused by excessive pressure that results in a reaction that strains a person’s capacity to cope. While it is not an illness, overstress can result in issues with one’s physical and emotional health. It is widely acknowledged that work-related stress is now a common problem in the working population and is not confined to particular sectors of the economy.
The condition is hurting the health of workers, as well as a negative impact on business performance. It results in a loss of productivity, poor performance, increased accident and sickness rates, and a high staff turnover. With such a high cost to health, it is no wonder that stress at work is emerging as one of the most common health and safety issues.
Stress can cause many physical problems, including cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychological issues such as depression. Stress can also exacerbate many other health problems; research has shown that stress can act as a catalyst for conditions such as asthma and irritable bowel syndrome.
Delegating responsibilities
Delegating responsibilities means knowing your limits, prioritizing, and being prepared to bargain for extra time should something important need to be done. Eventually, this will result in a decrease in your control over your working life. Delegation can be to people inside or outside your work; for example, you could ask colleagues to take on some of your tasks or a task that isn’t part of your job but you have taken on, and it’s for the better of the team, or you might ask your partner to do the shopping.
Sometimes, you’ll be unable to delegate because of “how long it takes to explain to someone else to do it, I may as well just do it myself.” It would help if you avoided falling into this trap. In delegating tasks, at times like this, you may learn something about the task you didn’t know before and even bring it to a more efficient completion next time. No man is an island, and no work shouldn’t be left in the hands of one person. Trying to take on all the work yourself builds stress, and work imbalance is inevitable.
Creating a Healthy Work Environment
If you are an employer, establishing clear and open communication is the most straightforward action to create a healthy working environment. Dialogue promotes a clear understanding of what is expected from each employee concerning their performance.
It also gives employees a chance to vent work-related stress. Employers can often uncover the sources of work-related stress and fears by allowing a forum for discussion and the freedom to speak openly, enabling them to take action to alleviate these concerns. Allowing flexible work hours or telecommuting can be a sensitive topic for employees who are worried their commitment may be questioned.
To promote work-life balance, employers can implement these policies as a test for specific groups or individuals so that performance can be measured. If successful, it will communicate to all employees that such policies will benefit their careers.
Employees must be aware of resources provided by their employer, such as counseling, stress management programs, or employee assistance programs. Often, it is only after severe distress that employees discover such resources. By making employees aware of these resources and the benefits that they can provide, employers can promote early intervention and prevention of future mental health problems.
Establishing open communication
John (2014) claims that an open communication channel between employers and employees is necessary for establishing a healthy work environment. In this kind of atmosphere, employees feel comfortable discussing work-related issues, such as job duties, work conditions, compensation, and prospects within the company.
Research by Kube et al. (2012) echoes this sentiment, suggesting that misunderstandings between employees and employers regarding job duties and expectations can be a significant source of job strain. By promoting a work environment of transparency, employers can make it easier for employees to function effectively and be productive. One method of achieving this is by ensuring effective two-way communication between employee and employer.
In a study on employee engagement, Harter (2012) points out that 50% of employees who lack regular communication with their manager feel disconnected from the company. This can be detrimental to the employee’s performance and lead to feelings of job insecurity.
These findings emphasize the importance of consistent communication to increase employee engagement and satisfaction within the company. By feeling more secure in their job role, employees become less likely to seek employment elsewhere, reducing costly employee turnover rates.
One study estimates that replacing an employee costs 16-20% of the employee’s annual salary (Boushey and Glynn, 2012). This is often due to direct recruitment costs and higher costs associated with productivity loss when a new employee gets up to speed in a new job. Open communication can be a preventative measure for these issues down the line.
Promoting work-life balance policies
Work-life balance can be sustained through appropriate work-life balance policies. These policies can take many forms. A study by Hayman and Fry (2006) of 1094 Australian employees identified four categories of work-life balance policy. These include leave from work to cater to family, help with child care or other caring responsibilities, exceptional support for employees with family responsibilities, and flexible work arrangements.
A well-accepted policy that supports work-life balance is the use of flextime. This allows employees to vary the time they begin and end work. This includes adjusting the total hours of work and the pattern of work, as well as time off during business hours without affecting salary.
This initiative has been implemented successfully in Australia by many organizations and has been positively received by employees (Doherty, 2004). Another successful policy that supports work-life balance is the ability for employees to work part-time. This reduces the work overload of employees, thus reducing the likelihood of work interfering with family and personal life.
Other policies can include reducing work hours, lessening work intensity, or implementing leave policies.
Work-life balance policies are useful for organizations in preventing work from interfering with employees’ personal lives. Research has identified this statement to hold. A recent study of Australian managers declared that the provision of work-life balance initiatives and policies can be associated with the placement of lower work demands on employees and, ultimately, lower work intensification.
The correlation between work-life balance initiatives and reduced employee work hours supports this. By this, findings from a case study by Kossek, Lautsch, and Eaton (2005) of US employees imply that having flexible work schedules is available policies may reduce turnover intentions through the lowering of conflict between work and family roles.
Providing resources for employee wellbeing
Employers can demonstrate their commitment to mental health through policy and open discussion. For example, a self-assessment tool for organizations has been developed by the UK charity MIND, allowing employers to assess their current work and identify areas for improvement.
Such tools help employers decide what changes must be made and track progress over time. MIND describes how understanding the experiences of individual employees is also crucial to promoting mental wellbeing at work. This entails creating an atmosphere where workers feel safe to disclose their experiences without fear of discrimination or exclusion. Once employers understand their workforce’s needs, they can look at implementing targeted initiatives and providing appropriate support.
A recent Canadian survey on working professionals found that stress was the number one concern about mental health in the workplace. The same study found that less than half of working professionals thought their workplaces were psychologically safe or healthy.
Stress is a significant cause of mental ill health; employers must take steps to address causes of stress at work to prevent issues from occurring and to protect employees already affected by problems.
Employers are in a unique and influential position to support employees experiencing mental health problems. Even where an employee is unaffected by mental ill health, they can still benefit from efforts to promote wellbeing and prevent the incidence of problems occurring.
The third component of creating a healthy work environment involves addressing employees’ wellbeing and mental health through resources that will help prevent mental ill health and support employees experiencing mental health problems.
Self-Care Practices for Better Mental Health
Another example of work that has caught my eye recently was a small randomized controlled trial of a tai chi intervention for older adults with depression. The scores on the geriatric depression scale, the primary outcome measure, were significantly better in the tai chi group than in a standard care control group.
This is an exciting study, and tai chi is an intervention that I do not have much personal experience with, so I would be interested to hear readers’ opinions and experiences on tai chi precisely and on using exercise as a treatment for depression in general.
One of the main barriers to convincing our patients to exercise is that in modern society, most people do not have to exercise for survival, as our ancestors did, and it may be challenging to encourage a lifestyle change when the direct gratification of sedentary activities is so present. I think this is the next big challenge in utilizing exercise as a treatment for depression.
The first factor in better mental health is making sure you move. Our bodies are built to move. Just consider the number of biomechanical design features that have evolved in humans to enable us to run long distances. Exercise improves psychological health and may also enhance social and occupational functioning. Exercising may also be a practical approach to preventing depression.
It seems that even moderate levels of exercise can reduce symptoms of depression. While the general benefits of exercise on depression have been known for some time, an updated a thorough analysis and meta-analysis of the subject has recently been published. The review included 39 studies, and the conclusion is that exercise is indeed an effective treatment for depression.
More studies are being published both on the potential mechanisms by which exercise may ease depression and on the specific type and intensity of exercise that is most effective. One recent study that caught my eye was a qualitative study in the UK where they interviewed adults with depression and also the GPs who were treating them about the role of exercise in the management of depression.
The themes that emerged from the study included the role of exercise in distracting from negative thoughts and providing a sense of achievement. The valued exercise included group and community-based activities and assistance to exercise with a professional to provide support and guidance.
Engaging in regular physical exercise
Regular physical activity is a solid mechanism for purging toxins in your system as a function of everyday living. These toxins usually embody the various stress hormones that will have accrued over time. Indeed, one of my clients once noticed that I never used to be the same after a workout.
I always laughed and said that was a perfect thing. He saw that the exercise enabled me to shed my amassed stress load. The day’s irritants are purged throughout the workout through profuse sweating and elevated body temperature. After the workout, there’s a feeling of release and clarity. This technique of elevated body temperatures taking place to drive out pathogenic components is utilized by numerous saunas and has been a practice in many cultures for thousands of years. This works towards maintaining homeostasis through the autonomic regulation technique of dissipating the net stress load on the system.
Practicing mindfulness and stress reduction techniques
Mindfulness and meditation work wonders for a stressed and cluttered mind. Overworking individuals tend to have constant thoughts about work because they cannot “turn it off.”
This over-identification with work can be damaging to one’s mental health. Additionally, over-identification with work is a cause of burnout. So, learning to disengage from work is crucial in maintaining a work/life balance. Mindfulness helps individuals do precisely this. Engaging in the present moment is both a means and an end. In developing awareness, individuals can appreciate their experience rather than judge it or over-identify with it.
This awareness can occur through different meditation practices or activities done in everyday life in a meditative way. In mindfulness, one is aware of the thoughts, feelings, and actions they experience. With this awareness, there is a greater possibility of “choice.” This chance for a change in habitual reactivity is a means and an end to ending suffering.
Meditation practices can develop this awareness further by focusing attention on movement or breath if individuals can more fully engage in an act they already do, to be fully present and to experience their lives more completely. Mindfulness has been shown to enhance psychological functioning and is linked with less emotional reactivity.
Taking breaks and vacations for rejuvenation
A yearly vacation from work is a typical Australian activity, with over half of adults surveyed in a 2008 Newspoll claiming to have taken a week’s holiday in the past three months.
The same poll revealed that many people don’t take their holidays due to work commitments, and if they do, a significant amount of that time is often spent doing work. This can be a time management issue and isn’t making the most of the time off, but with the technology revolution of smartphones and the internet, many people find it hard to ‘switch off’ entirely for that time.
In this situation, it is crucial to plan a vacation away from any work-related duties and take advantage of the fresh perspective a holiday can provide to your work when you return.
It is amazing what a 10-minute change of scenery can do to help regain perspective. The activity doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t work and differs from what you do during the break. You will return feeling recharged and often come up with some of your best ideas away from your work.
This is because breaks allow for cognitive shifts; in other words, they change how you think about a problem or task. This will often occur spontaneously when your mind is given a rest from the task, which is why creativity and insight are usually enhanced simply by taking a break and doing something else.
Taking breaks and vacations is very important to avoid mental exhaustion. Breaks can involve anything that moves you away from your work, like a short walk, a game of table tennis, or a weekend getaway. A vacation may be a few days or weeks away; it is time off taken for rest and relaxation.
