15 Best Ways To Achieve Work-Life Balance and Its Benefits

Balance, a term that associates with almost everything that we do knowingly or unknowingly. Today’s work culture revolves around the concept of balance to a great extent. Here, the balance I’ll be talking about is the one between work and life. Times are hectic, humans are more engaged, and achieving a perfect work-life balance seems like a far-fetched dream.

The work schedule now is not only confined to usual office hours. Earlier, when most of the work was manual, getting some free time away from work was not that hard. Professionals were able to relax and take care of other priorities. But with the amalgamation of the tech and IT revolution, the entire scenario changed. Accessing resources is no longer a concern, and work emails may come knocking anytime.

And because of this employees are now spending longer hours at work than ever before. And this is something that any HR leader or employer shouldn’t ignore.

Work-life Balance and Its Impact on Organizations

“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.” – Betsy Jacobson.

One may view work-life balance as the approach to maintain an equal number of hours between work and play. But it’s not!

Having a well-balanced work-life is not only about coming to and returning from working on time. In a broader perspective, it’s about prioritizing things as per their importance.

Prioritizing things helps one save both their time and energy. Thus, allowing them to set a perfect balance between their work and personal life.

Talking about its impact, work-life balance is imperative for employees, but it also affects the organization. Employees who can put equal importance on their well-being are undoubtedly happier and more satisfied. And this does reflect in their performance and behavior at work.

Further, the employees who enjoy a great work-life balance are also the potential advocates of their respective organizations. And this sets a pretty good reason for enterprises to rephrase their company culture to promote work-life balance.

The positive side of it doesn’t just end there. Here are a few points that further reflects why organizations must take note of it like:

• Attracting the best talents.
• Higher retention rates.
• Improved work-culture.
• Enhance employee engagement and more.

What Can be Done for a Healthy Balance Between Work and Life?

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

As an employer, you have a significant role to play to ensure your employees aren’t trapped in the work-life balance feud.

Similarly, to encourage a good work-life balance, you can take up several measures.

Here are The 15 Best Ways to Achieve Work-life Balance

1. Taking Time Off Between Work

Taking time off in between work helps in dealing with stress. The human body is not designed to endure for long hours at a go. Physical movements like a light walk or some desk exercises can be really helpful here.

Such short breaks will help you recover from fatigue and enhance agility at work.

2. Volunteering Time Off

Volunteering is a great way to stay social and build interpersonal connections. Encouraging the employees to volunteer for social causes helps them de-stress and commit socially.

Moreover, this also helps boosts a company’s CSR, i.e., Company Social Responsibility initiatives. Thus, earning goodwill for the organization and its employees.

3. Proper Planning

Planning the day-to-day activities at work is another way for managing a good balance between life and work. It helps individuals to prioritize their actions following the importance of a task.

Moreover, adhering to a well-laid plan also helps save a lot of time at work. Thus, allowing them to focus on things other than work or take it to rejuvenate themselves.

4. Encouraging a Healthy Lifestyle

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle plays a big role in an employee’s quest to achieve a healthy work-life balance. Healthy employees are like the jewels on the crown for every organization. An unhealthy work-life balance disrupts the employees' physical and mental health. Considering this fact, it hampers their productivity to a great extent. Encouraging the employees to take up a healthy lifestyle eliminates various health risks.

Just like having good physical health helps one to stay energetic, a stress-free mind is a room full of clarity. This helps the employees to excel both in their careers and in life. A healthy lifestyle is also a great stress management solution and helps the employees cope with stress smoothly.

5. Encouraging No Work at Home Policy Post Work Hours

Most often, the employees carry their work home to make up for the deadlines. The inability to leave work at the workplace is a major issue resulting from the excess workload born by the employees. Committing to work during off-hours hinders the amount of rest needed by the human body.

Further, it maligns the social life of individuals that is necessary for a healthy mindset. Employers can make sure that this doesn't happen by adopting a strict “No Work at Home” policy.

6. Flexible Work Schedule

Maintaining a good balance between work and life isn’t possible if there’s no personal time left after leaving work. In such a case, having a flexible work schedule becomes very important. Flexibility in work timings helps the employees lay equal focus on their own personal and social side of life like that of their work.

Further, such a schedule can positively affect an individual's performance at work. As well, it works as an alternate <a href="https://blog.vantagefit.io/stress-relief-activities/"target="_blank">stress management technique.

7. Time Management

Time management is a very important aspect when it comes to having a proper work-life balance.

Most individuals tend to ignore this phase. As a result, they end up getting overwhelmed by work at the end of the day with no time for themselves. So, one must make sure they have a proper routine in place for the day.

Adopting time management hacks like the Pomodoro technique would be helpful in this regard.

8. Encourage Hobbies

Every one of us has a hobby like reading, painting, photography, dancing, collecting old stamps and so on. A good work-life balance is not only limited to giving importance to work and family. It’s also about giving importance to the things that one loves doing on a personal level.

With all the hues and cries between managing work and family, we often miss feeding our own hopes and aspirations. Having a hobby encourages an employee to take up some time for themselves.

This indeed helps them fulfill the thirst for a good life according to an employee’s preference. Having a hobby helps the employees to make up time for themselves even amidst their tight schedule.

9. Encourage Work From Home

Encouraging work from home at least once a week or whenever required could help detox from the daily stress at the workplace. Working from home with the loved ones nearby or pampering the pets while working leaves a positive impact on an employee’s mind.

When employees have such benefits, it frames a great sense of gratitude in their minds towards their employers. It also makes them the advocates for your organization. Thus, giving the boost to a great employee and employer relationship.

10. Paid Vacation Time

In today’s time, vacation is no longer a luxury. Rather it’s more of a necessity. It’s high time employers realize how vacations from work have become an important part of today’s work culture. Letting the employees take long breaks without sacrificing their wages is very effective. Employees feel more rejuvenated and relaxed after returning to work, yielding better productivity.

11. Time-to-Time Feedbacks and Work-life Balance Surveys

Time-to-time assessment of the employees is an essential part of creating a healthy work environment. Situations may differ with changing times, and keeping track of these changes becomes very important in order to put effective solutions in place. These enable the employers to fix problems that may act as blockades towards achieving a healthy work-life balance.

Taking feedback and conducting surveys from the employees further helps organizations to know them better and work on the issues raised.

Bonus Points That Will Really Help Secure a Good Work-life Balance

12. Maternity and Paternity Leaves

The joy of being a parent can never be ignored, and every one of us is entitled to enjoy this moment. However, this joy comes with several responsibilities that no one is immune to, and this could create a hindrance when it comes to work-life.

So, to mitigate this issue, you can plan to introduce maternity and paternity leave schemes for all your employees. This benefits your employees directly, but it will also enhance your brand image to a great extent.

13. Child Care Facilities

Most parents whose children are below at least five years of age face a tough time juggling between responsibilities. This becomes even more difficult when both parents are professionals, and they have to choose between work or life. And this could severely affect their career, sometimes not allowing them to progress ahead.

Here, as a responsible employer, you may never want this to happen to your employees, for which you can plan on arranging child care facilities within the organization or somewhere that’s really close.

14. Pet-Friendly Workspace

Pet-friendly workspaces are booming all over the world as millennials and Gen z’s are joining the workforce. These generations of employees are full of life and love for their pets. Allowing your employees to bring their pets along will give them mental peace and create a cheerful atmosphere around the workplace.

15. Allowing Remote Work

The ability to work from anywhere is a dream of every professional. It isn’t like they will be traveling all the time but because they get to choose their own place for working properly.

This facility would help attract the best talents on board. Moreover, it’ll allow all to fulfill their social commitments without missing out on work.

Related: Remote Workers Could Be Your Biggest Asset. Here's How!

Few Benefits That a Healthy Work-life Balance Can Bring to Professionals

The importance of a good work-life balance can also be determined by the fact that it yields:

A Decrease in Employee Health Problems

“Employees working three or more hours longer than the work schedule had a 60% higher risk of experiencing heart-related problems”, as found in a study by UCL.

As humans, we have a specific limit of endurance. For employees who are already under a lot of pressure, overwork can prove fatal both for their mental and physical health. If these issues aren’t checked on time, then it could give rise to various chronic illnesses too. And all of these directly affect their productivity and decision-making skills at work.

So, you must go ahead and encourage your employees to take measures to ensure a healthy work-life balance. Thus, helping them cope up with stress and reduce the risk of various diseases.

So, you must go ahead and encourage your employees to take measures for ensuring a healthy work-life balance. Thereby, helping them cope up with stress and reduce the risk of various diseases.

Enhanced Employee Mindfulness

Employees working under work pressure are prone to mental ailments like workplace stress and anxiety. It is a known fact that demotivated employees tend to lose their focus at work which hampers their productivity.

As a result, organizations too suffer from the challenges of an unproductive workforce. A healthy balance between work-life eliminates this issue to a great extent. When employees feel relaxed and satisfied at their work, they develop a better focus on their work. It also helps them gain more control over their work, thereby delivering the best results.

For an employer having people focused on their work is the perfect key to unlock better productivity and achieve the desired goals.

Increased Employee Engagement at Work

Motivated employees are the real gems of any organization. It is their contributions that drive their respective companies to success. But very often, poor work-life balance creates a barrier for them to engage themselves at work altogether. Absenteeism, fatigue, sick leaves are some of the problems hindering employee engagement at work.

Encouraging employees to achieve a good balance between work and life will help improve the company’s overall work culture. Having better employee engagement also helps the companies to attract the top talents. Thus, emphasizing the need for a healthy work-life balance.

Decreased Employee Burnout Rate

Increasing work pressure is one of the major problems for employees these days to quit their jobs. Overworked employees are the ones who are the worst affected. Also, employees who are under the pressure of meeting deadlines get exhausted both physically and mentally.

As an employer, you may know well how extreme workload hampers the employees. Taking measures for stress management for establishing a well-balanced work-life is the best way to ease the workload.

At the End

Is Managing a Healthy Work-life Balance Tough?

“Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.” – Hillary Clinton.

Most often, people think of having a good career as having a good life. But it may not always be the same way. One may face different situations that could disrupt the usual schedule. With this, the chance to spend some quality time after long hours at work might cede. Thus, resulting in a poor work-life balance.

Maintaining this balance isn't that hard if you set your things based on priority. For which, I have listed the few points above which if you wish to follow can yield positive results with regards to work-life balance.

There could be others that I might have missed, so please feel to share your ways with us in the comments below.

Working as a SEO Analyst and Content Marketer at Vantage Circle, Angshuman always stays curious and is passionate about learning new things. Got any question? Drop a mail at editor@vantagecircle.com