Creating work-life balance

Work-Life balance connotes striking an equilibrium between the time spent earning a living and the time spent outside paid employment (i.e. time spent catering to needs of family, friends and social life). It is now a much sought after practice in human resource and even employers are consciously encouraging employees’ in activities and practices to help achieve this balance as it has been discovered to occupy a large quantum of mental stability.

Therefore, the onus of achieving this important practice is as much the prerogative of the employee as it is of the employer. This is to prevent the bout of regret that usually plague people at the point of retiring from work when the realization that they have short-charged themselves out of life by devoting the larger percentage of their life serving their employers and missing out on other aspects of their life.

Taking an inventory of daily life is the first step to achieving equity among all the facet of human life. There is a need to take inventory, set priorities and eradicate clutters; clutters here refer to those unimportant activities that an individual engages in. Learning to say “No” is a huge step towards removing clutter from your life. This involves staying away from activities that are neither important nor beneficial and keep you “too busy,” it also includes avoiding extra time jobs at the detriment of self and family time. There is a need to create time for “self-time” which is to help relax and regroup.

Another step towards effectively juggling the various facets of human life for an employed individual is to put a stop to converting annual leave to monetary incentive. Yes, converting annual leave to money incentive is creating alternative stream of income but it also takes you farther away from family and friends. It equally involves taking weekend jobs and foregoing family function.

Without much ado, maintaining an equilibrium in all facets of human life may not be cut- and – dried as most human resource books make it seem but making better choices through setting of priorities, removing clutter, taking only jobs you are capable of doing without interfering with family, self or social time, giving 100 per cent attention during working hours in order to cover much ground during work time and meet up with daily schedule will help achieve balance.

Adeola Adeniji,

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