How to Balance Life and Work
It seems as though work and personal/pleasure are merging together more and more in our lives. If work was blue and personal was yellow, we would be looking at a sea of green. It is difficult to see where work leaves off and personal begins. Once some decisions are made regarding work time and personal time, you will be able to work more efficiently and more fully enjoy your personal time.
Know What is Important to You
I once heard someone say, "Don't let the urgent crowd out the important". It is so easy to give attention to the little urgencies that crop up in everyone's life that soon you have no time for the important things. Work and personal/family life are both important, but what within those categories is important to you. Perhaps at work, you have a particular project that is important to you; make this a priority. In your personal life, you may be attempting to get back into great physical shape; make time for exercise and eating healthily.
Set and Respect Boundaries
Learn to say "No". It is not necessary to reply in the affirmative every time someone asks something of you. They knew before they asked that they might get a negative reply. It won't end their world. They will find someone that will do it, or perhaps, they will do it themselves. Protect your time boundaries, and don't let others infringe on them.
Learn How to use the off Button
With the cell phones and tablets that we have today, sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between work and personal calls, emails, and texts. You may not want to turn your phone off while you are playing golf or at a movie in case a friend or family member should call about something important. Did you know you can set your phone to "Do Not Disturb" but allow calls from certain numbers to come through? This way, you know that you will get the important calls, and the rest will go to voice mail.
Set Your Priorities
Track the time that you spend doing different tasks. You will find that if you center your attention on one task at a time, it takes only a fraction of the time that it takes if phone calls or people coming into your office constantly interrupts you. This also means no more multitasking.
Also, when you are with one person or a group of people, give them your attention. Nothing is ruder than checking your email or text messages while someone is talking to you. If they are not worth your full attention, perhaps you should not be giving them any attention at all.
Do you remember that saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? Your friends and family deserve more than a "dull boy". They deserve your full attention; not interrupted by work. Your employer also deserves your full attention during work hours. Give this to him, uninterrupted, except for emergencies.