Productivity Advice on Achieving Work-Life Balance Is All Crap
Not everyone will have a balanced life, and that should be OK.
I once had a friend. When she asks me, “How are you?” most of the time, I would reply with, “I am tired.” or “I feel tired.”
And she always tells, to fight it off, that it is all in my head, and her reply would always make me question my feelings until I found out, that’s gaslighting.
In 2021, as we move into some form of normalcy, we start hearing again productivity advice that could have worked for them but could be dangerous for other people.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing — it only hastens fools to rush in where angles fear to tread. — Samuel Johnson
We have seen that the future is too uncertain. By now, most of us have looked back at our lives and question our decisions on how we have spent our lives.
Most of the productivity advice out there tilts the balance in favor of work more than life.
What’s the meaning of work-life balance?
One of the frequent productivity advice I read or hear is that it will make your life better if you follow the ways to achieve work-life balance. We’ll cover everything the gurus have to say, from how much sleep you need, to how to manage your time. And my all-time favorite advice is:
The good news is, achieving a sense of balance isn’t as hard as you might think it is! — Productivity Gurus
1. Understand why achieving work-life balance is important
Work-life balance is essential to a happy, successful career.
If you don’t have any time outside of work, you’re going to get burned out easily. If you do have a lot of time outside of work, your focus will be off your work, and you won’t get the most out of your career.
According to Harvard Business Review, “research shows that those who have a work-life problem are ‘significantly more likely to leave a job that doesn’t satisfy them’ as well as ‘to contemplate leaving their current job to achieve their professional goals.’
Meaning of life balance is a defining factor in what you achieve in the work-life. You’re going to need to coexist with your personal life and work-life too.
However, what if you don’t have the money or time to give your life balance? What happens then? Either you continue working on yourself or put yourself in a different situation. You can work towards a work-life balance like me or like them!
Your life is created by who you surround yourself with.
2. How to manage your time better to achieve work-life balance
Managing your time is the key to having a work-life balance.
Time management is probably the most important skill a person can learn to achieve a work-life balance.
Here are some of my favorite time management hacks: I see time management as the intersection of goal-setting and time management. It combines the things you think you want to achieve and knows when you actually need to do them.
I aim for at least an hour of reading per day.
If I manage that, then that’s because I know what I want to read. And I make sure to read random articles on extraordinary lives. Finally, I make sure I don’t spend more than an hour on social media — otherwise, I’m scrolling too much. My inner self-help compatriot and I came up with the idea to divide tasks into five “time buckets:”
“Time to Read, Time to Schedule My Life, Time to Build My Business, Time to Learn and Time to Relax.”
The sacred time for you is somewhere in the middle of the buckets!
This really helped me get organized. Whenever I work, let’s say getting things done for a client, I document how to do so. What I do whenever I’m reading, I also document. This way, when I begin to read more, I have everything I’ve read documented, so I know that I won’t make the same mistake again.
During this time of the year, when the world seems to descend into seasonal affective disorder (SAD), my strategy is to indulge in as simple as having a coffee once a day. This seems to be doing the trick because I haven’t been feeling too bad about myself.
3. How getting enough sleep helps you achieve a sense of balance in your life
Getting enough sleep is crucial for achieving a sense of balance in your life. Sleep allows your mind and body to rest and recuperate from the stress and anxiety you experience daily.
Morning walks can also increase your overall happiness and productivity because walking is proven to activate the region of the brain associated with memory and thinking.
For optimal productivity, you want to be a morning person.
Getting up at 5 am is time inefficient, and putting in extra hours of work takes a toll on your productivity and enjoyment.
Getting up every morning is where most productivity tips come from. But, many people aren’t getting any quality sleep. Research shows that people who feel tired in the morning are more likely to procrastinate and stay up too late into the night.
But, when exhausted, there are only two things you can do.
The first is to take the “caffeine nap.” Sleeping a few hours afterward will allow you to fall asleep much faster. The other option is to privilege rest.
Getting enough sleep will enable you to be more productive in the long run by allowing for more creative ideas and better decisions on how to utilize your time.
If you find your brain racing, start a relaxing timer.
If you can’t do it because of work, a podcast or visual aid like Calm will help you approach your day calmly.
4. Why it’s essential to take some time for yourself each day
The most important thing in your life is you.
The first thing you should do each day is to take some time for yourself. Go for a walk, take a bath, meditate, or do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself.
Time management is about knowing when to take breaks, how long you should take them for, and what time you should have free each day. A well-rounded and balanced life would have one hour free at noon, an hour free at 5 pm, an hour free during REM sleep, and an hour free after a full day of work.
To achieve a work-life balance, you need to schedule your free time appropriately.
Schedule work assignments, meetings, and tasks in advance to let you know when you need to do them. Schedule tasks during times that avoid your “rush hour,” 5 am to 11 am.
It would be best if you also cataloged when your work-life balance is compromised. Ask yourself these questions.
- How often do you go to bed before your tasks are completed, or before your appointments are finished?
- How much time do you spend playing video games or scrolling social media?
Go over your schedule to see if these types of events are arising that you didn’t anticipate. Also, look for patterns — do you arrive home late from work? Are you sleeping in late because you’ve been addicted to video games or scrolling social media? Once you’ve identified things to fix, you can set quarantine lengths and deadlines to let yourself know when you need to work on a task.
You don’t have to limit yourself to eliminating screens in your bed, but it can be a helpful first step towards getting off your phone.
A 2013 study found that “technology use is positively associated with daytime sleepiness,” which can interfere with our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
If you can, limit your screen time and seek out calm evenings with Netflix, reading, and other relaxing activities.
Final Words
If you are still up for hearing another piece of advice, all I can say is balance comes when you are ready to stop compromising your set of values for others, when you recognize that your life journey is uniquely your own.
How you spend each day should be left to you alone. Productivity can be helpful, but it can also hold you back.
Be kind to yourself, and that is one piece of advice I take to heart.
