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With today’s bustling and growing economy, it is hard to maintain a balance between work life and our personal life. Some of us work for 10 hours a day and barely have any energy left to relax. Some of us are so preoccupied with work that it is hard to feel the need to take a break. Some of us feel that if we take a break, it will disrupt our work flow and some of us don’t want to work at all but just do to survive. So how do we maintain a balance between taking a break and relaxing versus working productively? Do not worry because we are here to tell you how.

Before learning to balance the priorities in your life, it is first important for you to understand what exactly your priorities are. Are you doing something you love or are you working at a job you hate? Do you put career before your life? What is your current life situation? What are your future goals? These are some questions you might want to tackle first before making the balance.

It might be hard to tackle all these questions in a day and especially at a time. Start by taking a notebook. Write down your priorities. Write down your questions. Write down what you would like to achieve in the future- your future goals big or small.

Once you have answered all these questions and got your answers in place, the next thing you do is, keep that book of answers in a corner safely. Do not touch that book until further notice. Now it is time to plan your life in accordance to the answers you have written in the book. If your main priority is to work, then work. If your main priority is to become a better person, then take steps towards that. Whatever it is you plan on achieving, start doing it right away. It may not be attainable in a day but practice is what makes a man perfect.

Now, coming to the second point, if you are a workaholic, how can you maintain a balance between your work and personal life? Do not worry, it is achievable. All you need is a little bit of perseverance and dedication along with self control.

First of all, you need to understand that work is not life. Life has so many things to offer and you are missing that by looking at your screen or sitting in meetings. Money can buy you a lot of things but definitely not happiness. Explore the world, create memories, do something adventurous that you haven't done before like skydiving or surfing. Life is too short and precious to waste it in front of the corporate world stuck in the capitalism simulation.

Secondly, an important aspect- it is okay to not be perfect. No one on this planet is absolutely perfect. It is okay to not work continuously and take a break. Working without taking a break can actually have a negative effect on your mental and physical health. It can even cause psychosomatic diseases, meaning you will develop stress in the mind that can lead to failure of multiple organs. It is okay to not be perfect. Let go of wanting to be a perfectionist. But this does not mean neglect everything and make mistakes all the time. It means that you do the best you can and do not compare yourself to others to see if you are doing better than them or do not stress yourself out and put yourself down for no reason at all.

The next step is, you unplug. Get rid of all electronic devices once you’re done with work. You will already be spending too much time looking at screens throughout the day. And now, especially because we are in a pandemic, it is obvious that a lot of us are working from home and rely on technology to connect us to work, peers and family. When you are done with your work for the day, turn off all your electronic devices. Spend time sleeping, cooking or relaxing. It is preferable that you do something that relaxes and rejuvenates you rather than stressing you out.

Have you ever received complaints from your family that you are too busy and that you do not spend enough time with them? Then do not worry because you are in the right place for the answer. As a working individual, it is obvious that you want to do great at your workplace and at the same time, be there for your family during the important and best moments. This is where you learn how to segregate your time. Once you finish work, come home and spend time with your family. As you enter the house, refrain yourself from indulging in any work calls or important appointments. Family always comes first. It is important that you learn the fact that you can make money and support your family. Losing a job means you can always get another job but losing a family member means they are lost forever. Make sure your family and yourself are your highest priorities. Do what you love not what you have to.

If you are undergoing too much stress, pick up a few stress busting activities such as picking up a new hobby, listening to music, reading books, exercising and meditating. Exercising and meditating have proved strongly to be effective ways to rejuvenate yourself for when you’re feeling stressful. They can also help you deal with negative emotions such as anger, depression, rage, sadness, stress etc. They also help keep you fit and healthy, benefiting your physical and mental health positively. A healthy diet can also help you keep going effectively at work for long hours without feeling lazy or lethargic.

This is a common activity we witness with most people. Since they have to work throughout the week, they have no time to hang out with friends and party. Hence, they party on the weekend instead. This is not a good activity and we will tell you why. You probably get one or two days off and you will have to hustle for 5 or 6 days in a week. Is it really worth it spending the one day you can take rest to go drink and then suffer with a hangover and probably get sick?

We are not advising you to not party. Partying is great every body loves a great party. What we are saying is, refrain yourself from doing it as often as every week. Limit yourself to hanging out from once a week to probably once in two or three weeks.

Here is a scenario for you. You are a working individual. You work for 10 hours a day and now you’re finally back home, ready to prepare a meal for you and your family and go to bed. However, over the course of time your workload increases and you have to work for longer hours. This means you have no time to spare at home to do the cooking or cleaning. What do you do?

Do not fret. You cannot tell your boss or employees that you can’t work so late but you can tell your family that you will now be delegating work. Ask someone in the household to buy the groceries and keep them cut and ready for you to cook. Delegating work among family members not only creates a stronger bond but brings about an understanding among all the family members. It also makes each individual more responsible towards their duties. Do not change the course of others existing lives but instead change the course of yours.

And last but not the least, take it easy. Do not expect the whole course of your life to change at once. After all, Rome was not built in a day. Take small steps and start small. Then, gradually change the course and design your life which benefits you and the ones around you.

Do not expect results to come easily or even in a day. With just a little bit of determination and hard work, anything is achievable. We wish you the very best for your future endeavors.

By Meena Atmakuri