A job exodus study last year revealed that two thirds of employees experienced a poor work-life balance. Overworking is detrimental to our Occupational Wellness, which is essential to our overall wellbeing. As you know, Occupational Wellness is one of the eight core elements within our 8Wise™️ approach as we’re aware of just how important it is in order for us to lead a healthy and happy life. Demands and pressures from the workplace can have significant negative effects on our wellbeing both physical and mental, and the best way to protect ourselves from this and to experience Occupational Wellness is to ensure that we have a healthy work life balance.
A poor work-life balance not only impacts our Occupational Wellness, but it also affects other 8Wise elements. For example, our Physical Wellness. Overworking has been shown to affect cardiovascular health, increase your risk of a stroke and coronary heart disease. If your job involves a lot of time sitting down at a desk, it can impact your joints, muscles, posture and even lead to obesity. Those who have a poor work life balance may also experience poor Social Wellness as they have less time to spend doing things they enjoy with their family and friends, and relationships may be impacted. Overworking has also been shown to increase the risk of mental health disorder such as anxiety and depression.
So, how can you implement a good work life balance to ensure you protect your wellbeing? Here are some of our top tips…
- Make sure you’re taking proper breaks throughout the day. Use your full lunch break for yourself – you can even head out for a walk if you feel like it.
- Take your annual leave! Many people fail to use up their allocated annual leave allowance, which is a sure way to burn out.
- If you feel like your workload is becoming too much, speak to your employer so that they can address your concerns.
- Set yourself working hours and stick to them. Once you have completed those hours, stop for the day.
- If you work from home, have a set area where you work. It can be tricky to separate ‘work’ and ‘life’ when you’re not working from an office, so this is a good way to create a distinct line between the two.
- Schedule in some time for yourself every day. Whether that’s an hour in the bath, some time to read a chapter of your book or catch up on your favourite TV show.
If you would like more information about Occupational Wellness, check out our book ‘8Wise Ways To A Healthier Happier Mind’.