Healthy Work-Life Balance: Ways To Avoid Burnout
Self-care is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days, but even with this growing movement, finding the perfect work-life balance can sometimes seem impossible, primarily if you work in a stressful, high-pressure job that takes up most of your time and energy.
More people are affected by exhaustion and burnout than ever before, leading to potential physical and mental health problems, so striking a healthy balance between the two is possible and essential.
Here are some tips to help you excel in both of these essential areas of your life if you can’t quite find the right balance.
Work smarter
The go hard or go home’ toxic mentality that we see people boasting about in today’s hustle culture is genuine and can lead to many thinking that burnout is a sign of success because it means that you have been working hard.
This is quite the opposite, and this mindset can cause physical harm to your body, as well as your mental wellbeing, by releasing higher amounts of the stress hormone cortisol into your body for longer. However, working more hours doesn’t equal more productivity, and doing overtime for an extra two to three hours every day is nothing to boast about when you can do the same amount of work in less time.
Sweden, a country known to be obsessed with a healthy work-life balance, has trialed a six-hour workday for two years to discover that employees reported a boost in productivity and reduced sick leave. So instead of surrendering your personal life for the sake of your career, teach yourself how to work smarter by mastering productivity hacks.
These include effective communication, delegation (where possible), and the use of productivity tools that track your time. By streamlining how you work, you should find that you can do a lot more in less time, leaving you with more energy to spend on activities outside of work.
Unplug and limit your screen time
Did you know that the standard adult in the US spends over 10.5 hours looking at a screen every day? That’s a lot of screen time, taking up nearly half of the 24 hour day, with the cycle carrying on when the workday finishes with millions of people swapping out their work computers for phones, tablets, and TV screens instead.
Not only can this lead to several serious health problems, including headaches, mental health issues, and worsening vision, but imagine all the things that you could do if you cut down your screen time by even one to two hours a day.
Avoid burnout and take steps to limit your screen intake as much as possible when you are not working. Try not to look at your phone first thing in the morning and before you go to bed, take some time to read instead, or opt to go for a walk and spend some time outside after work to allow yourself to unplug. You’ll see that you will get used to it, and the longer you keep this practice up and see the benefits, the more you’ll find that you don’t even miss being on your phone and tablet all that much.
Take the natural route
Natural aids can be a great help when it comes to treating the fatigue, anxiety, and restlessness caused by our busy and demanding lives. Many natural herbs are scientifically proven to promote calmness and other positive effects on our bodies and mental wellbeing, possessing ingredients that can even provide you with extra emotional support.
Extracts such as chamomile and lavender are famous for their soothing effects, while kratom can significantly reduce stress levels and anxiety. It can even boost your mood by helping the body regulate and balance out your hormones, such as cortisol, alongside many other benefits.Get your hands on the kratom tinctures, or use the extracts in the powdered form. Either way, the herb can limit restlessness, promote a better mood, and calm your mind. Click here to check the benefits of Red Maeng Da Kratom.
Move your body
It’s no secret that exercise results in a multitude of benefits for both body and mind. Yet, even with this knowledge, many people aren’t active enough. With an overwhelming 80% of current jobs being sedentary, engaging in regular physical activities has never been more critical in engaging in a healthy work-life balance and avoiding burnout.
Beneficial for your mental and physical health, exercise improves metabolic control, makes muscles and bodies stronger, and can even boost your immunity to help you better fight off viruses and infections. It also helps to release the feel-good ‘happy chemical’ in our brain known as endorphins, with workouts and physical activities such as long walks, resulting in a surge of happiness.
Make sure to fuel your body when upping your exercise routine, and consume a diet full of lots of healthy fruits, vegetables, and proteins to support your muscles.
Wrapping up
Burnout is becoming more and more frequent but is also entirely preventable, so it is vital to take care of yourself to reduce the risk and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Making small but mindful changes will not only improve your daily life and benefit your health, but it will also make you more productive at work.
A continuous process creates goals to make your work and personal life more manageable by working smarter and mastering productivity, limiting your screen time, turning to natural aids, and being more active.
Articles reference in the article:
- https://eurocite.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Winroth-6-hour-working-day-Sweden.pdf
- https://www.insider.com/how-much-screen-time-is-too-much
- https://work.chron.com/jobs-sedentary-lifestyle-31136.html
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/study-reveals-how-exercise-improves-metabolic-health
- https://www.insider.com/does-exercise-help-immune-system
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
