Five Work Life Balance Tips for Employees

“The challenge of work life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles faced by modern man”
– Stephen Covey –

Work life balance is a common topic which is talked about when you have started as employee in a company. It is something which many people want to achieve, the work life balance, mostly by searching for ways how to reduce the ‘work’ part and increase the ‘life’ part. This one is a question of time management skills and efficiency and effectiveness really.

And yet we struggle in achieving the work life balance because many assignments which we feel have to be completed at the given day. Can it be that it is caused by lack of time management skills and also efficiency and effectiveness in the office?

The Concept of Work Life Balance

Work life balance concept is an important concept in our life, possibly about the time management skills needed to set both of them up. In here, we talk about two things which are in need of each other. You cannot have a life if you do not do a job or business because, well, you need source of money to do things which you want the most in life (most of us anyway) for yourself, for your family, and for the ones you care about. You also cannot work without having a life because by then, you will become overstressed by the pressure in which you must endure in your job and the worst is that you just work, not do it to have the life which you want. That is when work life balance comes to play as work should always be something which will make you and the people around you lead to a happier and satisfying life.



When talking about work life balance, most of the times for people, the work part has too much weight than its life counterpart in the work life balance. It is common now to see situation in the office where most of its employees are still in the office at 7PM or even more because of the deadlines in which they have to complete their job and submit them as soon as possible. This trend is of course unhealthy and can lead to a more stressful people in the company and which the result is unsatisfying life and also works which are not done in the most optimum way. Therefore, it is probably very important to have the time management skills and improve efficiency and effectiveness of us. Work life balance is important not only for the quality of the life but also for the quality work. It is because that if you have a happier life, you will tend to have a better work also.

Time Management Skills and High Efficiency and Effectiveness Tips

Now enough with the introduction about work life balance. The key now is, as being hinted earlier, to find a way how to do time management skills and improve efficiency and effectiveness, complete the job needed at the allocated time so that you can go for your life part on time every day (which means you go home on time). This translates into having your work in the work life balance completed in, usually, 8 hours which is standardly given by the company to finish the job in high efficiency and effectiveness in the normal office working hours. The need to work overtime usually arises when you do not work in efficiency and effectiveness as you should be in those 8 hours because, most of the time, lack of time management skills. Eight hours is probably a long enough time in which you could complete the work for today, even the work for the next days if possible. The important thing is have the time management skills to manage those 8 hours in efficiency and effectiveness which you got so that you can optimize it to work as many as possible with the best quality result. That is why tips on work life balance for employees is sought after, to improve the time management skills and efficiency and effectiveness of us.

Read also: Does Find Your Passion for Work is Really Important in Life?

There are five work life balance tips for employees from me which I believe will help to improve time management skills and have much of your working time in high efficiency and effectiveness, have a more work life balance as a result. These are:

• Make a to-do list and then prioritize it. This work life balance tips for employees is very important for you to do before you start your day. As being advised by most of time management skills of people, plan your day is something which you should do before you work and it is half the battle. Make a list of things what you want and can do in the 8 hours you got and make a prioritization with the earliest in the list are the things which are the most urgent right now. The word urgent means that you must determine them based on how fast you have to submit your result and how important the work is. This thing here will guide you during the rest of the day so you will not do something that will waste your time today and will work in higher efficiency and effectiveness.
• Avoid multi-tasking. Focus and focus on one work only at a time whenever possible as more work at one time will tend to lower efficiency and effectiveness. There is a term for this one, monoidealism. Have read it from the Personal MBA book by Josh Kaufman (a very good book) and I think it is a very interesting and useful concept. Basically, it says that a person usually needs 15 minutes to work on something before he/she can get into the zone. The zone is the time when you can be in the highest efficiency and effectiveness in that work and it can only be achieved when you focus on working in just one thing, not do two or more things at the same time. Some people say that multi-tasking is something which only the most productive ones do. Well, for me, it is something which the least productive ones do as the more focus you are to a job, the higher efficiency and effectiveness you will have.
• Come early rather than going home late and working overtime. Maybe this work life balance tips for employees is personal, as some of people also say that they become more productive in the evening or night time. But for me, you should always try to work as much as possible in the morning before the office hour rather than after it, as you will be more productive during that time of the day. It is because your mind is still fresh, not having a stress for too many things which happen in that day, and you have much more energy so you will work in a more optimum way. Working late means you have spent your mind and energy somewhere else so the work will not be too productive. Besides, your family will be happier if you go home on time to spend time with them more. Happier family leads to happier version of you in work. It is related to time management skills also if you prefer to work earlier too.
• Work on the future deadline too, if you have spare time. You should not waste your office hours as wasting it means a higher probability of you have to work overtime today or in the future. This signs off a lack of time management skills, If you have done your to-do list today and still have some spare time, try to work other things which you can do right now for future deadlines. This will be some kind of investment for yourself, as you will reduce your workload in the future and thus save yourself from future overtime obligation. This also tend to give you better result for your future work as there will be less pressure for you because of the long deadline when you do your work. A win-win in time management skills and efficiency and effectiveness.
• Remember that office works cannot be finished completely. There will always be work and there will always be next days to finish your work. You should always make it a prioritization also to come home on time from the office when it is not in a today deadline. Your family needs not only your salary but also your time and attention. As being said in the third work life balance tips for employees, happier family leads to happier you and happier you will lead to a more optimum work too.

Those are the things which I find useful in making the most of your time management skills and higher efficiency and effectiveness in work. Always see ways to make your work takes less time, but with more quality. Please share also if you have other tips on time management skills and improving work efficiency and effectiveness in which you think can make more reality to work life balance concept. I would be very happy to hear your thoughts about this topic.

Hope you also can find more work life balance in your daily life!
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