5 tips to improve work-life balance

It's finally here! Some extended decent weather. Update that wardrobe, book your mates in for lazy evenings down the pub, and make sure to book that holiday! You're tired. It's been a long winter, and perhaps now things are starting to feel on the up.

Until... You start to fret about money. You realise you're counting down the days to the holiday. You reluctantly reach for that credit card. Run late to the pub because you forgot an important deadline. End up in a fight with a loved one. Argh!

This wasn't how the summer was meant to go, right?

No matter... Push... Push on a little bit more. Don't worry - only 20 more days to go...

Sound familiar? You're not alone. And we haven't even begun to delve into unconscious relational patterns, personality style or neuro-type. So what's the answer? 

In this article, I’ll run down my top-five practical tips to beat burnout and restore balance.

1. Rethink your holidays for a better work-life balance

Trade in some of those extended holiday days to make room for multiple long weekends spread throughout the year. 

Perhaps this year might be a couple of city breaks, a rural retreat and the virtues of a beach closer to home? 

The aim is to improve your work-life balance and encourage you to look at your life as something you are allowed to enjoy, rather than the 'holiday' becoming the event that keeps you going throughout the winter months. The event that keeps you trapped in a miserable work cycle where your fuse is short, your cortisol is high, and your back aches all of the time. 

Shake it up - give yourself permission to take multiple breaks away from the workplace. Trust that the company won't fall without you.

2. Create a sensory-friendly workspace

Are you in a position to recreate the space in which you work to be more reflective of who you are or who you want to be in the world? Think about your five senses and how you might feel more engaged, present and comfortable. It will do your nervous system the world of good. 

If your workplace prohibits this, consider a small box or bag that has something in it that connects you with your five senses so that you can take time to reconnect throughout the day. 

To honour your five senses, think of scents you like, textures that feel good, photos or items that make you smile, maybe a relaxing or energising playlist or podcast for your lunch break and mints, gum or snacks that serve a nostalgic purpose of connecting you to who you are and what you love. 

Give yourself permission to exist as who you are beyond that which you're employed to do. 

3. Move your body and change your environment

Take your work with you and get some sunlight and some air. Whether you're working from home or in the office, when a work colleague or problem is tricky, get away from your desk. Take a walk. Find a garden or lose yourself amongst the suits and the city sounds. In this instance, taking yourself out of one environment can help your nervous system relax enough to consider more creative solutions.

Similarly, just moving around, even inside, or for those of you inclined (and in a private space), singing your dilemma can help release it from unwanted tension and sometimes provide out-of-the-box solutions.

If your workplace doesn't adhere to sensible break allowances, perhaps it's time to talk to your union? Talk to your boss or even occupational health about whether your needs can be met. If all else fails, have a frank discussion with yourself about how long you are capable of working this particular shift pattern. 

If we don't allow our body freedom from tension and adequate rest, the body will do it for us in the form of extended illness, weakened immune responses or worse. 

Give yourself permission to rest, recover and rebuild.

4. Set and hold healthy boundaries

Understand what a boundary is. All too often, we think of a boundary as what we just won't put up with anymore. It often comes with guilt and anxiety about another's perceived response.

That isn't a boundary. A boundary is what we will do once our limit is reached. It is how we decide we will communicate our limit and how we will handle responses to our decision. 

You choose all of that. Perhaps how you choose to communicate that limit will take up a lot of thinking time in the early days, but practice improves any skill. So try it out with a friend.

Pick a scenario (e.g. coffee with a friend):

• Express your limit (you would only like to sit by the window).
• Acknowledge your boundary (we will get coffee to go and head to the park if a window seat isn't available).
• Ask your friend if that would be OK beforehand, and if they suggest just sitting somewhere else in the moment, remind them that you would prefer to head over to the park.
• Then see what happens... Maybe you go to the park. Maybe you decide it's not worth the hassle. Whatever way it pans out, I encourage you to consider and perhaps intellectualise (not rationalise) why it happened.

Want a quick tip on knowing the difference? 

• To rationalise would be to say you didn't have time to adhere to your boundary/ your friend wanted to stay put.
• To intellectualise would be to posit whether you are naturally conflict-avoidant or you were surprised at how OK or not OK with the plan your friend was. 

Traditionally, intellectualisation is free of emotion. If you're up for it, you're very welcome to layer up your self-awareness with an exploration of how what happened made you feel.

Give yourself permission to understand your needs, set your limits and hold your boundaries.

5. Ask for help

Finally, my absolute top tip for beating burnout is to ask for the help that you need.  Sounds simple, but it's often the scariest of contemplations. Until you realise that you are just as important as everybody around you, it will never feel natural to ask for help in an adult, respectful way.

I won't over-explain this one because I'd like you to reflect on perhaps why you can't ask for the help that you need.

Talk to a therapist, grab a friend or write a journal. However you reflect, allow yourself permission to spend the time considering your relationship with asking for help.

The brain is a massive fan of autopilot, and that extends to how we live. We become what we have always done.

I want to propose something different. 

Give yourself permission to make work adapt to who you really are. Allow yourself some short-term relief, some mid-term planning and some long-term Ikigai!