Work-life balance
When a task pops into your head, or when you remember that you didn’t do something as well as you could have, how do you manage it?
The way you experience stress
When stressful thoughts occur to me, I hunch over and clench my teeth. I tend to experience emotions physically. To counteract that overbearing physical burden, I exercise almost every day. Working out is the foundation of my mental health care routine and the foundation of work-life balance.
Many people experience stress differently. Maybe you are someone who can find tremendous relief and satisfaction by accomplishing your to-do list quickly. If you handle stress that way, I bet you’re a great employee.
Sometimes people suppress stress so that they do not consciously register their irritation, but then direct their pent-up negative emotions towards someone else. That’s a destructive emotional cycle. Given that stress is unavoidable, it is important to nurture a realistic and moderate relationship with stress. You need to manage stress with a work-life balance.
Stress is inevitable
To establish a healthy relationship with stress, first you need to accept what is not optional. You must make money. You must perform a job that will cover your expenses. If you live with other people, they will annoy you. Accept this reality and establish boundaries.
Many bloggers who have written on this subject presuppose that our jobs are stressful but our homelife is rejuvenating. However, a good portion of humanity has found that their homelife is filled with resentment, anger, and fighting; so sometimes people will use their work to escape that. This is called escapism. Escapism is the enemy of balance.
Be realistic about what causes you stress. Do you feel like you’re bringing real value to your workplace? Do you feel respected? When you come home, what do you do? Are you using substances like sugar or alcohol to regulate your emotions?
It is true that emotions should not be the only metric to guide your decisions. Some real-life stress is unavoidable. For example, visiting an elderly relative even if the drive is long or the conversation is irritating or uncomfortable for you, but meaningful to your relative. Sometimes you must subject yourself to stressful situations because it’s the right thing to do
However, in establishing your daily routine, you should consider the impact of your decisions on your total emotional body. Set limits. Stop working when it’s family time. That is why MultiLine by Movius lets you set your working hours. Keep work and home separate in your schedule. You can learn those preferences here.
Owning your time in work-life balance
If you are a young working professional, then you can afford to spend personal hours on yourself. If you have a family or other responsibilities, then you probably have less than eight personal hours for yourself, but you should still ensure you allocate some time for you. Resting, exercising, or cleaning your house is not time wasted.
Sometimes people like to preschedule how much time they will spend on each task throughout the day. I cannot always predict how much mental energy a task will take so instead I try setting limits like, “I will not take more than an hour on my email.” Another way of protecting your time is by setting business hours, which is why MultiLine by Movius allows you to set business hours on the app. Keep personal and business separate. The phone won’t ring.
Sincere reflection
Another major aspect of managing stress and work-life balance is the reality of your situation. If your boss keeps changing her expectations, or you never satisfy your boss regardless of your effort, then you will feel stressed even if you only work three days per week!
If you come home and fight with all the people in the house, you will feel stressed regardless of how work went. If you lack spiritual development, then you might be mistaking hopelessness and purposelessness for stress.
Finally, consider if you believe that your value to the world comes from your accomplishments. If you are living your life as if you have something to prove to the world, then you will probably feel stressed regardless of how you design your schedule.
Find more about the business hours settings in MultiLine by Movius here
