How can our work impact our health? What is a healthy work-life balance?
Work is an essential aspect of human life and serves to provide meaning and a form of income for us. However, there is more to life than just work and sometimes people devote so much of their time and energy to their professional life, they start neglecting their personal life. This can cause a lot of problems for us; particularly if our work is extremely hectic or if we don’t enjoy it.
We may start suffering from mental health problems, which consists of symptoms of irritability, lethargy and inability to focus on our work. All of this may affect our mind and emotions resulting in a reduction of our productivity. Not giving enough time to or displacing our stress may also harm our relationships. Eventually this may have a negative impact on our physical health and we can develop illnesses like digestive troubles, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
So how do we deal with stress at work? By maintaining a healthy work-life balance! Here are some steps that we can take:
- Identifying our priorities; it is important to recognize our priorities, decide how much time we are going to devote to each priority and accept that working towards one goal might reduce the time we have available for other things.
- Acknowledging our limits; it is important to know how much time we can give to work or to others without burning out. Creating time for ourselves on a daily basis can prevent burnout in the longer run.
- Learning to say no; if we are aware that we are facing burnout, we might have to say no to our bosses or family members. It is not selfish to ask for time for self-care, as in the long run our wellbeing is beneficial for everyone involved. When we are well rested, we are more motivated, productive and are able to enjoy time with our families.
- Drawing strength from our relationships; one of the most important parts of our health is having healthy relationships. Relying on our social support system by improving our relationships can help us deal with the stress we are experiencing. This includes family, friends and loved ones.
- Practicing healthy coping skills; we can adopt coping skills like exercise, mindfulness, taking up a hobby, or talking to our loved ones as a regular part of our routine to reduce our stress. To learn more, check out the various coping skills mentioned in the manage distress section.
To learn more about the different aspects of health, visit the healthy life section.