Tips To Balance Your Personal And Work Life

In a world where more and more people are working in roles that could be considered as "always at work," how do they achieve and maintain a balance between work and personal life? How do companies and leaders do to promote this way of life?

Every day millions of people struggle with these questions. At the same time, leaders struggle with solutions. It is difficult to reach agreement because the answers vary.

As a manager and member of the porch.com home improvement network leadership team , helping people find this balance is important to me. It's something I did not always have.

There were times when it represented the behavior of a bad balance . Once I had a sign in my office that said "Never leave for tomorrow what you can not do today". I was the king of emails at 3 am and wore my work ethic honor plaque 20 hours a day, seven days a week. Then something very funny happened.

I realized that I could be a better leader, employee, manager, husband, and friend when I focused primarily on balance. I knew that I was living a happier, healthier and more productive life.

To help entrepreneurs, managers and employees achieve the right balance, here are five secrets with a best coach..

1. Be open about your needs. I think the first thing that people need to do is identify what they really care about and communicate it. Do not hide it and do not expect others to guess what makes you feel balanced and satisfied.

Do you need to leave work at 5 pm so you can have dinner with your family? Do you need to leave at 12 pm to go to your yoga class? Whatever you need find it and be transparent about it. Employees must have an open dialogue with their managers and managers need to understand what works and what is possible. Different jobs require different approaches, but everyone can benefit from having an open and honest conversation about what the balance means.

2. Respect the limits. You can not achieve your balance if you do not respect the limits. It will be difficult at first but you need to stick with them to develop your routine and lead a somewhat predictable lifestyle. There will always be another email to respond or another problem to fix, but you need to personally respect your own limits. If you do not do it, you can not expect others to do it.

3. Understand what really matters. Over the years I've seen a lot of people spend some time working on things that do not really matter. Time is the most important comfort in life; Is the only thing you can not buy more.

Focus on what really matters. Are you working on the priorities that drive the company's overall goals or are you just making noise?

Examine your day and take advantage of every hour, minute and second to do the most important things. For some this will require a high level of planning and structure .

4. Accept that there is a power off button. Almost every piece of technology has this button, so use it. It is not easy and, for many people, is the most difficult thing to do. To begin, do it in phases. Do not take your cell phone to the table for dinner. When you are on vacation, do not be absent. Do not bring your tablet to the beach, once you've done it several times it's easier to set limits.

When you disconnect and step back you will begin to experience one of life's greatest treasures , perspective . You will solve problems more clearly. You will allow yourself the freedom to be more analytical and less emotional when you move away and think versus just immerse yourself and respond to the moment.

5. Take your time. To have a happy, healthy, long and productive life and career you need to understand the value of reassuring yourself. There are times when you need to explode and others where you do not. The self - awareness is crucial. Doing this will help you to enjoy the journey as well as the destination.