Here’s how to maintain a work-life balance and improve the quality of your life.

Are you feeling like you have been held back, stress where you cant strike a work-life balance or rather stuck by what is going on in your life right now and that a lot you got a lot to do?

You probably could be wondering whether you are fatigued, sick, experiencing burnout or feeling like you no longer have interest in your work.

This calls for the need for a proper work-life balance. Sometimes, I tend to overwork longer than stipulated office working hours, which gets in the way of my plans, and I find myself having a lot going on for a while.

If you are in this situation this is a place, you aren’t alone strike a balance between your day’s schedule, family can be overwhelming at times. I have been here before so imagine how that feels like for you. Today’s article will try and dissect different dimensions of life that are all important to pay attention to but with moderation and balance.

Wheel of Life has the following eight dimensions of well-being namely: physical, social, spiritual intellectual, financial, family, vocational and environmental. Just reflect on these highlighted areas and see where you need to focus more /to improve on.

With the hard economic times, high taxation in Kenya right now, and ever-competing needs.  Many people who are currently working either employed or running a business are caught in a never-ending cycle of working for more hours than before hence neglecting one or two areas of needs.

How does this impact your overall well-being?

This ripple effect is burnout,  stress-related illnesses that psychologists would term as psychosomatic illnesses. This simply means an illness for instance flu that has no medical prognosis/ possible cause.

As you continue reading this article, I want you to reflect on your current lifestyle. How is it, are you concerned about how you are living your life in terms of the time you spend at work, with your family and friends?  Is there a balance?

If you are like me, employed for 8-5 work. I run a side hustle on the side this is to help me to supplement my income. Therefore, the urge to an extra shilling goes high which pushes one to put more emphasis on financial stability as a priority than meeting a close friend, leisure, or attending weekly church fellowship.

You see in this case, all the efforts and motivation are geared towards finances which could play a major role in improving the quality of life. However, it takes a huge chunk of social and spiritual aspects etc.

This kind of situation may lead to you experience burnout and fatigue, at this point, your body will be demanding to rest/break from these daily bustles. For some people, indulging in recreational drugs is their way of coping which is unhealthy.

It is, therefore, very important to consider striking a balance in your life as part of self-care. The elephant here in the room is how to unwind and strike a balance while all 8 fore-mentioned dimensions are considerably important.

What might keep you trapped and maintain this vicious cycle could be being a perfectionism belief system, or not being able to embrace change despite the hard economic times. Here is how to break free from this habit:

1. Love yourself. It’s about time to start living your life to the fullest and there’s no harm in pampering yourself.
2. Doing things differently, you cannot do things the same way and expect different results, what needs to change or to be adjusted.
3. Start small and don’t procrastinate.
4. Do Cost Benefit Analysis– The benefits of overworking and not creating time to unwind and the cost of not investing in self-care
5. Get a patio your buddy, an accountability person to keep you on your toes to ensure that your stick to plans. This person should be able to support you and challenge you as well.

Final Thoughts

All these dimensions of well-being are important that need to be factored into your daily/weekly schedules. The best way to look at the current situation is to look at what you’re currently doing /avoiding doing, this way you will be to consider the concept of everything needs to happen in moderation.

If you are wondering how to hack this/ bring about change in your life, you can start by creating a to-do list, planning ahead and reward yourself. Self-care is a skill that can be learned that requires time and commitment.

Tell yourself that you can make it if you believe it, what you think affects your feelings and behaviors. As a matter of fact, you can break a behavior/ habit within 28 days with consistency and discipline.