Career

The Importance of Work-Life Balance: 5 Reasons Why It Matters for Your Health and Happiness

 

We all want to achieve a sense of fulfilment, happiness, and purpose in life, but with our busy routines and work schedules we often find ourselves on the brink of burnout with our health and happiness at stake. With technology blurring the lines between work and personal life, it’s ever more important to achieve a work-life balance for yourself.

With the boundaries between work and me-time getting blurrier day by day, how do we maintain a healthy balance between our professional life and personal life?  Achieving a healthy work-life balance can be done in several ways, including clearly defining boundaries between work and personal time, giving key relationships and social events top priority, and giving self-care pursuits like exercise, meditation, or hobbies priority.

Your ability to contribute at work without jeopardising your health and happiness needs to be part of your daily mindset. Let’s take a look at the top 8 reasons why its important to have a good work-life balance to save yourself from burnout and pursue long-term satisfaction.

1. A good work life balance will improve your mental health

When you make it a point to add balance to your life you will automatically have more mind space to think and handle any negative emotions that come your way enabling you to become more self aware. A healthy work life balance will provide you with head space that one often needs to handle any stressful situations. If you are overwhelmed with work and do not maintain a proper balance any negative occurrence will only add to stress and cause anxiety.

2. Keeps you active

Being stuck in front of the computer the whole day will have a negative effect on your body. Increased fatigue, stress, aches and pains as well as weight gain are just some of the side effects. By making sure you prioritize your personal life and focus on staying active, you ensure that you have enough energy to complete professional and personal tasks efficiently. Physical activity and proper nutrition are extremely important and provide you with greater focus when you do log in to work.

3. Stronger personal and professional relationships

If you’re constantly working and stuck to your computer, you’ll stop seeing the world outside of your workplace. The more obsessed you are with work, the less time you will have for yourself and for you loved ones. This eventually will cause your personal relationships to suffer. A balanced life allows you to spend time with your loved ones and maintain healthy relationships. Be it at work, at home or with friends.

4. Increased creativity and job performance

When you make it a point to balance life and work, you have more time to take part in other activities that can stimulate your creativity and innovation, making you more valuable to your employer. Not only are you more creative, but also by maintaining a balanced  work-life you are able  to maintain a clear focus, enabling you to perform better at work and achieve your goals.

5. Leads to more happiness and fulfilment

It’s all about maintaining a proper balance. When you do, you have more time to pursue your passions and interests, spend time with the people you love and have time to engage in activities that make you happy. With more control over your life and how your day goes, you feel more fulfilled.

So let’s all make it a point to achieve a good work-life balance because it’s essential to our happiness, success and overall health.