Juggling your professional and personal life can be a little complicated at the beginning of the year. You want to get off to a good start with your business and new clients, but you don’t want to put in so many work hours that you’re burned out by March. When you’re kicking off a new year, it’s easy to feel like you have too many balls in the air and not enough hands to catch them, but with a few important changes, you can find work-life balance and set yourself up for a fruitful year.
1. Set Clear Boundaries
Set clear work hours and stick to them. That means avoiding work-related tasks like answering client calls, responding to emails, or updating your social media pages, during your personal time. In order to stick to your schedule, prioritize your must-do items and goals for each day. If something comes up that will not help you achieve those new goals, don’t try to squeeze it into an already overloaded day. Write it down and assess later on where it should come on your schedule. If you find that you’re really struggling to maintain your boundaries, try using a
time management app to help you keep a clear balance between work and play.
2. Be Clear about Your Priorities
Of course, it’s easier to set clear boundaries if you are clear about your priorities as well. You should know which goals are most important to you and your business, and you should work to achieve them. For example, getting your
new website up is more urgent than re-organizing that overflowing filing cabinet, but you must also prioritize taking care of yourself.
You need to eat well, sleep well, and exercise if you are going to have the energy to meet your business goals and have enough leftover to enjoy time away from work. Be just as diligent about your workout times, sleep and wake times, and mealtimes as you are your meetings, reports, and emails.
3. Try to Compartmentalize
If you spend too much time worrying about the goals you fell short on achieving in a given week or all the emails that need answering, you won’t be achieving the work-life balance you deserve. Instead, focus on the progress you made toward your goals and set new realistic ones for the next day, week, or month.
Leave work worries at work so that you can enjoy your personal time, and don’t allow personal life woes to bleed into your goal-oriented workdays. Meditation can be a great way to help you learn to
stay present so that you aren’t constantly feeling anxiety about what might have been or what could be.
Certainly, the pressure busy professionals and business owners feel is intense. But, if you set clear boundaries and priorities and allow yourself to enjoy your time off, you will have a much better chance of achieving a fulfilling work-life balance in 2017.