How to Balance Your Professional and Personal Life

Life

Method 2 Creating Boundaries

1.Assess your situation. As hard as you try to strike a balance, there may be some situations where crossover is necessary, especially if you have kids. Consider your personal and professional lives to identify situations where some crossover may be necessary. Think about your family members and your personal responsibilities. How often do these people and responsibilities require your attention while you are working?

For example, if you have young children, then arranging your work schedule around your kids’ schedules may be necessary. Or, if you are the primary caretaker of your children and you work from home, then you may need to put work aside and take a break whenever one of your kids needs something.
It is also possible that work may have to take precedent over your personal life sometimes. For example, if you work as an on-call healthcare provider, then you may sometimes need to cancel something in your personal life to do your job.

2.Be protective of your health. The needs of others at work, school, or home can quickly overwhelm our own physical needs. Unfortunately, neglecting your health can have costly consequences, such as missing work or classes and being unable to participate in social or family events. Being anxious about getting everything done creates stress, and if it is not tended to stress can have debilitating effects on your physical and mental health.
To counteract stress and nurture your body be sure to get involved in some type of physical activity several times per week. It can be joining a company sports team, jogging around the block with your partner, or visiting a local gym.
In addition to exercise, you can combat stress by consuming several balanced meals each day, getting adequate sleep, and pursuing your outside interests.

3.Shield your passions. When work, school, or relationships become too demanding, we might give up our hobbies or interests to meet those demands. The problem is, giving up these things take away our ability to debrief from professional and personal stress. Make an effort to protect your leisure time and continue any social outlets or hobbies you participate in.[12]
Try treating yourself with a short break to engage in a hobby after completing a significant amount of work.
Another way to shield your passions is to schedule them in. Work your pottery class or book club into your calendar just as you would with professional projects or family obligations.

4.Learn to say "no". It may seem rude or selfish at first, but, with practice, you may find that selectively turning down different projects or opportunities is quite freeing. Say "yes" to those requests that meet your top priorities and that do not constrain your already packed schedule. Here's how to say "no"
Show that you understand the significance of the request by saying something like "It sounds like a great opportunity, but..."
Give a brief explanation, such as "Honestly, this is a bit outside my area of expertise" or "I have too many deadlines approaching."
Recommend an alternative. For example, you might say "I can't, but I think I know someone who would be a great fit".

5.Cut back. If work and home are constantly competing for your time, then you need to make the choice to cut back on one or the other. Otherwise, you will keep yourself stressed and unhappy. Take a look at your life to determine which side needs greater boundaries.
Do you regularly get called away from home for work? Does your boss drop assignments on your desk at the last minute? Are you financially able to work a bit less? If the answers to most of these are "yes", work may have been intruding on your life, but it looks like you can afford to talk to your boss about cutting down your hours or workload.
If you are a working mother, cutting down on your work hours may be the key to feeling more content. Research shows that women are generally happier when they cut back on work for the sake of meeting family needs.
Does your partner or spouse frequently interrupt your work day for non-emergency family or home issues? Is your work performance suffering because you stay up all night partying with friends or your partner? Do you have to leave work to handle errands or do excessive amounts of housework? If you said "yes" to any of these, your home life may be stifling your capabilities at work. You need to decide if you need to set boundaries with individuals in your home that often intrude on your career.

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