How to Achieve Work-Life Balance for Long-Term Career Success

Work-life balance is a very common phrase you hear all the time. Unfortunately, many of us do not fully understand how much it can impact both our personal and professional life.

It is not just about leaving work on time or going on vacations. It is about creating a lifestyle where your career/job does not affect or take over your personal life.

When there’s no boundary between your work and personal life, it leads to burnout, health issues, family conflicts, etc.

So, finding the right balance is very important especially for your long-term career success. In this article, you’ll learn why work-life balance matters and how you can achieve it.

Importance of Work-Life Balance

Here are some of the importance of work-life balance:

1. It Reduces Stress and Burnout

When you are so obsessed with your work and have no place for your personal life, you feel constantly stressed and tired. You try to meet deadlines and handle all your work responsibilities, leaving your personal life neglected.

In the long run, you are bound to collapse and experience burnout. This is why you need to intentionally find a way to keep a balance between your work and your life.

2. It Increases your Energy Levels and Productivity

A 2024 statistics reveals that workers who maintain an healthy work-life balance are 21% more productive.

So, when you separate your work from your personal life, you are able to rest and take breaks at the right time. And when you rest, you feel more energetic and more productive compared to when you work all the time.

3. It Improves Family Bond and Reduces Family Conflicts

A famous quote by Paul Tsongas goes “No one on his death bed ever said, I wish I had spent more time at the office.”

This is to tell you how important family is. Living a life where work-life balance is prioritized will give you time to spend with your loved ones and family. You will develop meaningful relationships and create bonds that stay with you for life and stand by you during hard times.

4. It improves your mental and physical well-being

Studies have shown that having a poor work-life balance negatively affects your mental and physical health. A healthy work-life balance will reduce your stress levels and anxiety. It also keeps you in better health and lowers risk of high blood pressure and other health issues.

How to Maintain or Strike a Balance between Your Work and Life

Now, let’s talk about how you can create a balance between your work and your personal life:

1. Set Clear Boundaries

This tip is always mentioned anytime work-life balance is discussed but we tend to underestimate how important it is. You need to learn how to separate your personal time from your work time. If you fail to do this, you will get overwhelmed and stressed.

When your work is over, let it be over. Don’t take your work home and carry on from where you stopped. If you do this, when would you have time for yourself? When would you have time for your family?

2. Learn to Delegate Tasks

Trying to do everything on your own is a recipe for burnout. It is okay to ask for support and help. If a task is eating too much into your personal time, then delegate it to someone else.  It doesn’t mean you are not committed to your work. It just means you prioritize your time and your family as well.

3. Learn to Say “NO”

This is a very simple yet powerful way to create a balance between your work and life.

As someone who values their professional life, it is reasonable that you want to do more to show how productive and valuable you are to your organization. However, doing too much can affect your health and your personal life.

So, don’t just say yes to every responsibility thrown your way, especially if it is not in your job description.

4. Spend Time with Your Family and Friends

There is a time for everything including a time to rest. Taking regular breaks will help you strike a healthy work-life balance. It will also improve your family relationships and bonds.

5. Practice Time Management

As a professional who wants to enjoy career success and a fulfilled life, you must learn how to manage your time. You must be intentional about planning your day.

Always, try to plan your day and carry out the most important tasks first. Also, let your goals be realistic and let there be a time to take breaks as well.

Either you run the day or the day runs you: Jim Rohn.

6. Develop Interests and Hobbies Outside Your Work

It is okay to work during the week but in your weekends you should have other interests and hobbies to do. It could be church activities, going out with friends, watching movies, etc.

Also Read: Maintaining a balance between Side Hustles and 9-5

Examples of Jobs with the Best Work-Life Balance

Here are a few jobs where it is easy to maintain a healthy work-life balance:

• Professor/lecturer.
• Remote Content marketers
• Therapists.
• Teachers.
• HR Teams.
• Project Managers.
• Nurses.
• Photographers.
• Content Creators.
• Customer Service Representatives.

Note:

1. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance depends on you and how you manage your time. It is not always about the job; it is also about you. You could work in any of these roles mentioned above and still not be able to balance your work and your personal life.

Ii.  Generally, jobs that offer flexible hours, hybrid/remote work options can be a very good choice if you’re looking for something that supports a healthy work-life balance. You will have more control over your time and you will feel less overwhelmed or stressed.

Work- Life Balance Quotes to Encourage You and Inspire

To help you stay motivated and encouraged to prioritize your personal life apart from your work, here are some work-life balance quotes to keep in mind:

1. Work to live. Not live to work- Jane Green.
2. Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life- Dolly Parton.
3. You can’t do a good job if your job is all you do- Katie Thurms.
4. No one on his death bed ever said ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’- Paul Tsongas.
5. You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it- Charles Buxton.
6. You don’t have to make yourself miserable to be successful -Andrew Wilkinson.
7. A career is wonderful but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night – Marilyn Monroe.
8. Don’t confuse having a career with having a life- Hilary Clinton.
9. There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither- Alan Cohen.
10. When you are gone, would you rather people say you are a great employee or you are a great friend and a great parent? – unknown.

Note: Write/place some of these work-life balance quotes somewhere you can see them often. They will remind and encourage you to take a break and not get overwhelmed by your work.

Conclusion

Work-life balance is different for everyone and there is no strict division between work and life.  What matters is that you are finding a way to work better without neglecting your personal life. i.e none suffers for the other.

Now, take a moment to ask yourself? Do you have a healthy work-life balance? Is your personal life suffering because of your work? Think about it.