Someone, centuries ago, decided that a year consists of 365 days and within that year there are twelve months which contain twenty-eight, thirty or thirty-one days. A week is seven days long and a day is twenty-four hours. Our parents know this, we know this and we teach our kids the same. During that twenty-four hour period, we are told that we need to sleep for at least eight hours, so that leaves sixteen hours of waking time.
Those sixteen hours have to include time to eat, talk to our partners and friends, spend quality time with our children, and work. Whilst at work, there are our managers to satisfy, our in-trays to empty, clients to keep happy, tasks to perform and check boxes to check. It’s a long, stressful round of constant juggling, balancing one time-consuming job with another, trying to make sure that everyone has a piece of us. Everyone, that is, except … us.
We’re the ones that lose out in this hectic timetable. We’re the ones trying to squeeze an extra hour here and there, exchanging a lunch break for spreadsheets, skipping kids time for client calls, and who needs sleep anyway?
It can be even worse if you work from home. It’s way too easy to just keep going, working throughout the day and allowing it to slip into the evening, while the world continues around you. I’ve done it myself. Before you know it, it’s midnight and you ‘just need to finish this’, which leads on the next target, then the next and finally the sun rises, but you don’t notice it over your shoulder as you type away.
Job satisfaction is great but not at the expense of your health and your relationships, and believe me, your health will begin to suffer.
According to the American Psychological Association, allowing work to dominate your life can induce some pretty major health issues, both mental and physical, including:
- Headaches
- Blurred vision and dizziness
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Infertility
- Indigestion
- Diabetes
- Back pain and repetitive strain injury
- Ulcers
- Insomnia
- Depression and anxiety
All the research shows that continuous work stress can also lead to a loss of productivity, failure to think clearly, and an inability to work effectively with colleagues. If you feel a migraine coming on then you can find the most effective home remedies for migraines here
What Can You Do to Re-address the Balance?
The first thing is to assess your work timetable, and be realistic. Don’t just estimate the shortest time you spend doing something; build in a little extra time. We all know how a tiny setback can pull us off schedule.
Decide what are your priority tasks and which can wait for tomorrow. It’s great to achieve goals but not at the expense of your health, so put off what you can. If you manage to get your priority tasks finished today, there’s nothing stopping you, if there’s time, starting on the next level down the list. But try not to let the working hours expand again.
Next look at what makes you happy — maybe taking your partner out, watching the game, or playing at the park with your kids. Think about what you enjoy, and what you’ve missed out on as the work level has increased. Set yourself a challenge — try to do one happiness-inducing thing every day.
Now comes the tricky bit. Increase that time to include some major enjoyment. Once a week, find time to raise money for a good cause, learn a new language, or take up a sporting challenge (although, remember to include any training time). Whatever you choose, make it big, and make it good.
Build this up gradually. Taking time away from the desk can, initially, cause a sense of loss and guilt that you should be busy working when, instead, you’re having fun. But, the improvement to your health and your increased productivity will pay off in the long run.
If you are suffering from work-related health problems, it’s important to seek medical advice. But there are some simple home remedies you can try too.
For indigestion, mint tea is very soothing. It can also help with stress-induced stomach ulcers. Steep several fresh mint leaves in a cup of hot water, add a little honey to taste and enjoy.
Gentle exercise can ease back and joint pain brought on by sitting at your desk all day, whilst time away from the screen will relax strained eye muscles.
Finding the right work/life balance, and keeping it stable, will make such a positive improvement to your life, and the lives of those around you, and you’ll still hit those goals.
