Many people struggle to maintain a work-life balance at the best of times so when things start to get tough, this can be even harder to achieve. With many people now having to work from home, maintaining a good work-life balance is proving very difficult. Many people are finding themselves working more than they need to do and this is affecting their personal life. Of course, it goes without saying that working from home is the preferred option when many businesses have suffered massive losses over the past few months.
In this blog, I am going to offer up some tips to help you maintain a work-life balance in challenging times. Use these tips from Campbell Ure at the The Alternative Board Glasgow to improve your current situation.
Set working hours
One of the best ways to achieve a good work-life balance is to separate your working hours from your personal time. Many business owners find it hard to switch off because they do not have standard working hours, but this often leads to personal problems when there is no distinction. If you can, set yourself some working hours and stick to these as much as possible. Get up on time, have your laptop or computer ready and you’ll be able to stick to your routine much easier.
Take breaks
When things get stressful, it can be easy to work much more than you usually would. This often leads to a lack of breaks and this can be damaging to both your physical and mental health. Reports have suggested that COVID-19 could be having a negative effect on our mental health and so it is even more important to address this now. In order to achieve a good work-life balance, you need to be willing to take breaks. If you can, take a day off here and there. This will allow you to focus on your personal life and balance things out.
Find time for your passions
As a business owner going through a challenging time, you might think that you have no time to focus on your passions at all. However, if you want to achieve a good work-life balance then you need to find time for this, or else you won’t be happy in the long-run. If you have something you are passionate about – great! If you don’t, spend time figuring out what you enjoy and put time aside to work on this instead of your business. You might even find that you have learnt something new over the past few months and want to continue with this passion in the future.
Switch off
The final tip that I have for those who are going through challenging times is to remember to switch off. I touched on taking breaks earlier, but you need to make sure that you are not falling into the trap of checking your emails and answering calls. Switch off as much as possible when you are not working, and this will allow you to focus on your personal life. This is where having a separate office can come in handy. Leave your laptop in there, lock the room when you are not working, and you’ll find it much easier to switch off.
Get advice
If you are struggling to maintain a good work-life balance in challenging times, it might be time to seek assistance. Getting support can help you fall back in love with your business. Get in touch today to get advice from like-minded business owners.
You might also be interested in reading our work-life balance white paper for even more tips and opinions from other business owners like you.
