The summer feels as if it’s come to an end, with so many workers across the UK using up most of their annual leave allowance by now. This is an important time for employees to rest and refuel their tanks. But why do we rely on our holidays to unwind, and not throughout our normal day to day working life? It’s becoming increasingly important to readdress the work-life balance and ensure that at least a little R&R is incorporated within our working week in order to live a happy and fulfilled life. Here are our tips on how to do this…

Unplug

Technology allows us to remain constantly up to date and accessible. Despite the fact that this has many advantages, it can also stop us from winding down. E-mail alerts and phone calls can constantly interrupt your time off at home. Even just the urge to check your emails over the weekend or during the evenings can interfere with much needed down time. Consequently, work tasks are taken home and the cycle never really ends. While a quick response to an email might appear to only take a few minutes, it quickly becomes an unhealthy habit that impacts your life outside work. By simply switching your electronic devices off at certain times, such situations can be avoided. Having your phone turned-off for two hours a day, for example, allows you to actively enjoy quality time with friends or family, instead of being distracted by work.

Prioritise & Plan

Many employees struggle to separate work and home life due to the pressure they feel to constantly achieve more at work. Although this can be a good trait (to an extent) it can also become destructive to work-life balance. Not only can it harm your wellbeing, it might stop you from spending significant time on more important tasks. This is why it’s important to prioritise. Ask yourself what is important to me? This can be done by creating a list and noting all the things you’d like to spend more time doing. However, prioritising also means learning to say no to unimportant tasks. Just remember to keep your lists realistic and don’t forget to look back at (and enjoy) all the tasks you have already completed, rather than just concentrating on the black hole of your to-do list.

Exercise and meditate

In the day to day grind of daily life many people can forget to plan in time for themselves, to maximise their own wellbeing, doing something they enjoy. Finding time for regular exercise is an easy way to clear the mind and activities like meditation and yoga allow the mind to rest and feel refreshed after a long day’s work. Of course finding time for yourself can be difficult if you have a busy job and a family to look after,, but exercise doesn’t have to take up a huge chunk of your day – it can be as short as 20 minutes hits of high intensity exercise which will clear your mind for the day and of course benefit the body too.

No 50/50 split necessary

It’s important to understand what is valuable to you, so you can map out your plans according to their priority in your life. This can be spending more quality time with your family, travelling, continuing your personal development, or spending time on hobbies like reading, blogging or cooking. A healthy work-life balance doesn’t have to be an equal split, but it should align with your own priorities and be realistic. The important questions here are ‘Am I fulfilled? Am I happy? Do I want things to change?’ If the answers to these questions don’t make you happy, it is a sign that you should probably rethink your work life balance and make some positive changes for the future.

Martin Ricketts is CEO of Plutus Health
www.plutushealth.co.uk