Note: This article is from blogger Martin Bjergegaard, who gives us 6 tips for achieving a balance between work and personal life.
I was employed by a multinational management consulting firm for a while as a strategic consultant. My work was challenging. I did not sleep well during that period, let alone spend time with the people I love.
When I reached a stage where I could not sleep at all, I decided to leave that job. We were working in Kuwait City at the time, and we stayed in a luxury hotel. However, I remember walking in the corridors of the hotel at night, trying to overcome feelings of growing anxiety and despair, and after three nights like this, I resigned from the job that everyone told me I should be proud of.
After a brief period in 2006, I launched my own company with three friends, and today, we have 200 employees in our offices in London, Berlin, and Copenhagen. We have invested in about 150 startups around the world, and we have established business relationships with hundreds of entrepreneurs.
During that time, I took six weeks off every year, traveled the world with my family and friends, and worked an average of 45 hours a week, so I discovered that if you apply some simple tips, it's not difficult to strike a significant balance between your professional and personal lives.
Six tips for balancing your professional and personal lives
1. Choose a job that motivates you
It doesn't matter whether you work for yourself or others. All that matters is that you put your efforts into something beneficial to you because that gives you energy and activity. If you are frustrated with your job or feel that what you are doing is a waste of time; you will never achieve balance, and your energy will be drained. On the other hand, you will feel more powerful and content with your life in general if you work at a job you find meaningful.
2. Defend yourself
We often try to please others, but this comes with contradictory results because we use our abilities to serve others instead of ourselves, so find out what is in your interest and stick to it. For me, I must practice 4-5 times a week, meditate regularly, and take a nap at midday sometimes. Of course, others try to spoil this program with their repeated requests, but I have taught myself to defend my needs and not be ashamed of them.
3. Invest your time in practicing mental flow
I used to increase the hours I worked, believing that the more I spent on the job, the more successful I became. Fortunately, I came across successful people who clarified my mistakes and taught me something else. When we are in a state of mental flow, we can be ten times more efficient than when we work so hard. Mental flow is the state in which you are fully immersed in the task you are working on, not thinking about anything else, even time or space. It is an astonishing state, and when you are done, you will be surprised by what you have accomplished.
Today, I organize my day so that I have a high chance of getting a lot of time for mental flow, and this often includes walking in the park in the middle of the day or any other kind of refreshing break. From my point of view, it is reckless not to take this break when you need it. Similarly, I often isolate myself for a few hours to enter a state of mental flow, for example, by working from home on some days.
4. Create a to-do list right now
Indian businessman Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, shared his secret to balancing his professional and personal lives: he creates a list of today's tasks. As simple as it sounds, I also realized the strong potential of this simple trick, as most of us are used to creating long lists of tasks. It is a comprehensive list, including everything that needs to be done in the near and distant future.
This list is good for freeing your mind from remembering everything, but spending a long time arranging it is a bad idea. It will cause you stress and make you feel exhausted, and you may miss some quite critical things.
So, as Narayana did, create a list of 2-3 things you want to accomplish today, make this a habit, and only include essential activities that will bring you closer to your most important goals. Complete these tasks before lunch, and remember to feel good about it.
5. Do not respond to provocative emails
Long and provocative email correspondence is just a waste of time in most modern workplaces. If you receive an email that provokes you, don't reply. Instead, call them or arrange a time to meet so you can have a private conversation about it over coffee.
When it comes to emotions, emails are a terrible tool for communication. Issues that can be resolved in a ten-minute interview can be misconstrued and misread in an email, and you might spend half of your day settling arguments that are unnecessary.
6. Leave some tasks for tomorrow
My boss once gave me advice that helped me a lot, and he said something along the lines of, “You are going back to work tomorrow, so do not conclude your day going over unanswered emails, cleaning your desk, and going through your to-do list; instead, get up and go home.”
My boss does not believe everything will collapse if they miss an email or leave the office an hour earlier than usual. He has been working quietly and deliberately and is happy with that, and this has provided us with a healthy and productive atmosphere in the company. So do not make a big deal out of it if you have to leave the office before finishing all your tasks; you will return to work in a short time anyway.
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