Work-Life Balance - Friday Focus

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy Friday! For today's post I will be talking about work-life balance, what it is, and what I do to help with my balance. I am definitely not at the perfect work-life balance and am constantly trying out routines to have the best productive week and also have that downtime after work and before work I need. 

I have always heard the term "work-life balance" and thought of it as trying to juggle it all with working and also having a personal life. I read up about it for today's post and it is more the balance of work and personal life and finding the right balance or routine that works well for you. Since the start of the year, I have been thinking a lot about my routines, habits, organization, and systems that I want to have in place to get all the things done that I want to do and being productive and my best at work too.

Some things I do to promote work-life balance is:

Morning routine - I start every day the same way by doing the miracle morning savers. I started this routine again 25 days ago and it always helps me start the day feeling accomplished in my personal life and what I want for myself as a person before I start my work day. 

Exercise - I have been doing 10 minutes exercise mostly stretching in the mornings and I do yoga on sometimes on my lunch breaks if I have time. I feel like going for a walk at lunch also helps me to take some time away from work for awhile and the fresh air helps. 

Setting goals in my work life and personal life - I set goals at work and create to do lists daily and priority lists. I got these ideas from Linked In learning courses on time management. I liked the idea and just jotted down a few priorities each day so I did the important things first so I could get those done and the rest I could either do at the end of the day if I was done or move to another day. In an article from Mental Health America they discuss how important it is to set goals at work each day that can be accomplished and to also work more efficiently to get the work done. I have been working on this and getting better at getting my work done on time and then not putting in too many extra hours to avoid burn out. Also for my personal life, when I set monthly that I also started this year again I know what I am working towards and feel like I am using my me time more wisely and feeling more productive and rested.

Time for recovery - my favourite magazine Psychology Today discusses the need for active recovery in our days comparable to those of athletes. We need to spend time after our busy days for ourselves. I like to spend some time after work just looking over my planner or reading or watching a YouTube video to just spend some time "recovering" from my day before I head into making dinner and winding down for the night. This helps me to have my me time after a busy work day and then I can feel more refreshed and ready to be present and feel better to spend time with my family. I added a photo of my kitten Millie because she really knows how to relax.

I am adding this in later in the day because I wanted to also mention that I find that working from home has improved my work-life balance because I can spend more time at home than before. I have more routines before and after work because of this. I am also able to spend more time with my husband and kitten during the week than I normally would. I also feel like my days are an even better balance of work and personal life because I can switch between the two easily because of working my my home.

The work week is busy and there is so much to do each week. I can say I love my work weeks and I feel like I have a routine figured out that brings me joy. These were just some ideas and things I do during the week and they may not work for everyone. What do you like to do during the week to promote your work-life balance? I also love blogging three times a week now and spending more time with you all that make my week better.

Have a great day!