We’ve all heard about the concept of work life balance, but this is easier said than done. We tend to live in an “always on” society where we are constantly connected to our email, work websites and more. As BBC Breakfast reminded us this very morning people have become increasing addicted to their smartphones with people taking them everywhere (including the toilet!) and checking them every 12 minutes.
Your Work Life Balance Review
It can be all too easy to fall into the habit of working every waking hour just because we have all this connectedness at our fingertips. Then our relationships and our health start to suffer. If you’re wondering whether your life is out of balance, here are 14 signs to look for.
1. You’re Tired All the Time, even After a Full Night in Bed
This is a sign that things are too much for you.
2. You Have a Headache, Backache, or Sore Jaw Regularly
These are signs of stress manifesting itself in a physical form. The jaw ache can be from grinding your own teeth (bruxism), often in your sleep, because you are so stressed.
3. You Spend Far Too Much Time at Work and Not Enough at Home
This indicates that you are a workaholic and could be damaging your home life.
4. You Are Out of Shape/Obese
This is a sign you are not practicing good self-care. You might also be rewarding yourself with food because you have been working so hard, or are so tired that you are falling prey to unhealthy food cravings.
5. You Don’t Have Clear Goals
You are so busy you are being reactive, rather than proactive and working toward a plan.
6. You Struggle with Your Priorities
You need to work, but your family situation is intruding on it in various ways. Or, your family situation is a difficult one which prevents you from working as much as you would like and results in money issues.
7. You Feel Like You Have No Control Over Your Own Life
You want to make decisions for yourself, but still seem to be stuck in the same old rut.
8. You Procrastinate
You delay in doing things because you lack motivation, so that even with the work piling up, you can’t seem to move forward. You might also procrastinate because you are a perfectionist, or because you don’t really feel that what you are doing has any value.
It may also seem that your life doesn’t belong to you anymore.
9. You Sweat the Small Stuff
Any new challenge seems like a huge ordeal, rather than just another obstacle that needs to be overcome.
10. You Are Too Detail-Oriented
You might spend time going over your projects again and again trying to find errors, or adding to the projects so that it barely ever gets finished on time. You need to learn to accept that good is good enough.
11. You Are Disorganised
Your workspace and working habits have gotten away from you. Filing is piling up and emails go unanswered. Your home is a pigsty and is starting to annoy anyone you live with or who comes to visit you.
12. You Withdraw from Others
You start to avoid colleagues, friends and family because you are so busy, and because you feel so stressed about the work you are doing. Instead, you should seek out the right people as a sounding board and support network to get you through the tough times.
13. You Spend Long Hours at the Office and/or Working from Home
You seem to be at your desk constantly, but you’re not quite sure what is getting accomplished.
14. You Are Irritable
If you are moody and irritable, this is a sign that things are not right with your work life balance because you are so stressed.
Get Your Work Life Balance Back!
If you recognize these signs, don’t ignore them. They indicate that your work-life balance is off-kilter. So what are you going to do about it?
In a series of articles on Work Life Balance (click on the link) I look at various ways of getting your life back in balance – but right now what can you do about any of the 14 points mentioned in this article and more importantly what are you going to do?