Work-Life Balance – How to Achieve the Golden Mean

What the work-life balance is?

Work-life balance is a very topical issue that I have to deal with on an everyday basis. Na matter if you work in a corporation, have your own business, or you are full-time moms – it’s worth reading this post and treating it as part of our “Strengthen Yourself!” Challenge. Remember that not only your physical but also mental health have an impact on your general well-being and can bring you harmony. 

 

How to juggle work and parenthood, feel fulfilled on a professional and private level, and at the same time not burn out, not feel guilty towards your loved ones and yourself? Do you tend to forget about your own needs while  taking care of your home and work? If so, believe me, it’s nothing special. We are all struggling with such problems nowadays.

 

Our ambitions as well as comparing ourselves with others in social media can make us develop an inferiority complex and throw us into the spiral of striving for perfection in every area of life. As a result,  we quickly lose sight of our priorities. Do you sometimes feel shattered because you have to choose between your job, yourself or your family? 

 

The end of the year is near and it is always a time to sum up, reflect, and set new goals. One of my goals for the upcoming year is work-life balance. You will find out how common this problem is by listening to your relatives, friends, and reading scientific publications. Today I am going to share my thoughts and the resources that I have used to learn about it.

 

The balance between work, family and personal life is a state in which we are able to deal with the internal conflict between the requirements of our time in such a way that our needs are met and we have a sense of fulfillment.

 

What science says about work-life balance

We have actually been able to talk about women’s work-life balance for quite a short time. When women’s professional work has become everyday life, and we, women, started to achieve unquestionable successes at work. But isn’t babysitting also a job? Shouldn’t we be talking about the balance between caring for family and time for ourselves, our partner and friends? The golden mean will be different for everyone. Italian researchers from the University of Milano-Bicocca, who studied 318 employees, came to interesting conclusions. The respondents believed that health is as important to them as family. Job satisfaction varied. These results were strongly influenced by factors such as age, gender and parental status. The study highlights the importance of health in work-life balance and emphasizes that it is crucial to take into account the specificity of various groups of employees. 

 

How to achieve balance? 

It is not easy to make time for yourself and take care of your health. I recommend a short questionnaire that helped me create an appropriate hierarchy of values and define goals.

• How much time do I spend working a day? 

• How much time do I want to devote to work every day?

• Does my job give me satisfaction?
• How much time do I devote to myself each day?
• Do I do something for my health during the day and what are these activities (yoga, meditation, exercise, regular check-ups, healthy diet, care, relaxation, rest, etc.)?
• How much time do I spend with children and how do we spend our time, do I give them all my attention?
• How much time do I spend with my partner, do I want to and can I change it?
• Do I have time for my friends and relatives, how often do I talk to them, and spend time with them?

 

You can’t simply add up points here and get an easy solution. Each of you should find your own way. A Jagiellonian University student came to interesting conclusions in her master’s thesis. She studied 70 corporate employees before the age of 35, the vast majority of whom were women. More than half of the respondents declared they enjoyed a balance between private and professional life. Nevertheless, the respondents felt the negative effects of chronic stress, had difficulty falling asleep, and felt irritable, with almost 62% of people admitting that they sometimes work during illness. Research shows that the respondents value their work to such an extent that they diminish the impact of their professional life on their health and relationships with their relatives.

 

An interesting model for reconciling work and family life has been proposed by Polish researchers, and it includes, among others: 

1. Promoting flexible forms of employment and working time organization.
2. Increasing access to childcare facilities (nurseries, kindergartens, babysitters).
3. Promotion of greater male involvement in family functions.
4. Preventing the obsolescence of parents’ professional qualifications during the break resulting from the performance of family obligations.

 

What are the conclusions? If you have the possibility, it is worth negotiating a flexible schedule at work, and when looking for a new job, pay attention to whether the working hours suit you and establish appropriate working conditions with the employer. Seeking support in childcare is also a must for working parents. If you do not have a helpful grandma by your side, maybe it is worth sending the children to kindergarten/nursery? We, women, often feel anxious about entrusting childcare not only to a babysitter, but also to our partner. Are you also affected by this problem? Finding balance also means letting yourself not be perfect in every area of life. It does not mean giving up on development at the same time.

 

In another study by a student of the same University, the importance of stress in the situation of maintaining work-life balance was studied, and it was noticed that the feeling of stress at work increases in difficult and unexpected situations. The presence of Covid-19 has also been an important factor here. The results emphasized that work-related stress often disrupted the work-life balance. It was also noticed that work problems were transferred home much more often than family problems had an impact on working life.

 

In real life, we don’t act like a computer, where we turn on one program and turn off another. It is not always possible to separate work and private life. What should your goal then be? The panacea is to vent negative feelings and emotions which result from stress at work and home.

 

 

My must-do to achieve balance!

Talking, being with nature, relaxing, listening to soothing sounds, yoga, training, and meditation can bring you relief, help eliminate back pain, headaches or insomnia caused by tension.

 

Balance is my indispensable assistant in recovering equilibrium. Balance is a unique place in the Diet & Training by Ann application. It includes sounds from the natural world as well as original, relaxing music. Thanks to Balance, I can feel like I am just walking in the woods or along the seashore in literally every place in the world. When I need to calm down, hear my thoughts and distance myself from my surroundings, Balance acts as a plaster on the wound. These several minutes are a special time for me with myself and for myself. Workouts and yoga are also a valuable way to achieve work-life balance. If you don’t have enough time, I recommend training with friends. Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it? You know I love challenges. During the challenges, we motivate each other, create one community, support each other and give each other positive energy. Challenges in the application and live meetings with you are also a way to achieve balance. Do you agree with me? Who do I see in the next challenge?

 

Bibliography:

1. Gragnano A, Simbula S, Miglioretti M. Work–Life Balance: Weighing the Importance of Work–Family and Work–Health Balance. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2020, 17(3), 907
2. Krzykus J. pod red. Gruszewska E, Roszkowska M. Równowaga między pracą zawodową a życiem prywatnym–wyzwania współczesnej kobiety. Współczesne problemy ekonomiczne w badaniach młodych naukowców. Analizy makro- i mezoekonomiczne. 2019 (3): 161-168
3. Majewska M. Równowaga między pracą, a życiem osobistym u pracowników korporacji do 35 roku życia. Uniwersytet Jagielloński. 2021
4. Mitera A. Znaczenie stresu w sytuacji zachowania równowagi między pracą zawodową a życiem prywatnym. Uniwersytet Jagielloński. 2020
5. Sadowska-Snarska C, Machol-Zajda L, Głogosz D, Elastyczne formy pracy. Poradnik dla pracowników, Wydawnictwo Wyższej Szkoły Ekonomicznej w Białymstoku, Białystok 2007