Work-Life Balance in the Digital Era: Tips for Success

We are in an era of digitalization that has totally transformed our lives and lifestyle. So much so that our way of working, or, in other words, our professional lives, have changed drastically. The Internet age has given us enough freedom, flexibility and connectivity in our workspace. However, such flexibility and connectivity sometimes create issues in balancing our personal and professional lives. Here, we’ll look at how to successfully combine life and work in the digital age.

WHAT IS WORK-LIFE BALANCE?

The meticulous way a person divides his time, puts effort and manages equally his work and personal life activities is known as work-life balance. In reality, it becomes quite difficult to maintain this balance, as the internet has made it easy for us to get access to our work from anywhere. As a result, at times, it can cause unnecessary tension and stress in our lives and make us less productive at work.  

SIGNIFICANCE OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN OUR LIVES

Maintaining a proper work-life balance holds great importance in our lives:

• Reduces Stress and Anxiety- Continuous work without any break can cause stress and anxiety in you. But balancing your work and life properly makes you calmer and reduces your unwanted stress and anxiety.

• Improves your Physical and Mental Health- Taking time out of your busy work schedule keeps you stress-free and relaxed. This impacts your mental and physical health greatly, on a positive note.

• Increases your Productivity at Work- Striking a perfect work-life balance keeps you more focused and committed to your profession, which increases your work potential considerably.

• Employers get Benefits- The employers who encourage work-life balance among their staff remain in an advantageous position since their employees generally work with full commitment and loyalty and outperform most of the time.

• Improves your Relationships- Spending quality time with your family and friends after work improves your relationships tremendously. Thus, it boosts your overall happiness.  

DIFFICULTIES IN UPHOLDING A WORK-LIFE BALANCE

In the digital age, an individual faces many difficulties in maintaining work-life balance:

• Continuous Work Mode- The digital revolution has made the entire world overly connected. Thus, people can now work from any place 24/7. But this doesn’t mean that you will work 24/7 or that you will work while on vacation.

• Obscure Legal and Moral Lines- Outsourcing in the digital age has blurred the legal and moral lines since attitudes, laws and judicial systems are not the same. Consequently, standards of moral behaviour and clarity continue to be illusive.

• The Compulsion of Achieving a Career Milestone- The extreme urge to give the best performance every time at work to achieve career milestones compels an individual to forget about the importance of self-care, personal growth, family life, hobbies, vacations and overall satisfaction in life that help them overcome unwanted work pressure.

• Digital Diversions- In this generation, the constant flow of alerts, mail, notifications and text messages generally diverts people’s attention from work, breaks their concentration and hampers individual pursuits.

Thus, it decreases productivity and creates excessive tension at your workplace.

SUCCESSFUL WAYS TO MAINTAIN WORK-LIFE BALANCE

To maintain a healthy work-life balance, you need to adopt certain strategies:

• Emphasize Personal Development and Self-Care- Prioritize your health because, without a healthy body and mind, one can’t achieve success in life. Regular exercise, yoga, and meditation keep you physically fit and mentally calm.

Invest time and energy in a pastime or endeavour you are enthusiastic about.

Travel, play a sport, or learn new things and recharge yourself in between your work.   

• Limit Your Working Hours- Maintain a complete disconnection from work after office hours by limiting the use of technology and devices required for work.

Stop checking and replying to work related mail and messages after working hours unless it is urgent. Instead, spend some quality time with your family and friends after work.

• Maintain your Boundaries in the Workplace- Set clear boundaries so that people don’t take unwanted access to your time, personal space and work by presuming that you are always available.

Stop trying to create a good impression about yourself among your seniors by obliging them to their demands even after office hours.

Learn to say ‘no’ and let them know that you may not always be able to do a task after working hours. This way, you won’t overburden yourself with excess work.

• Be Aware of your Abilities- Take up a certain number of projects at a time and agree to deadlines that are achievable for you. Otherwise, you will put yourself under immense stress.

Be pragmatic and logically evaluate your capabilities before committing to the deadlines and delivering your projects on the promised date without compromising your mental and physical health.

• Be a Pro at Time Management- Mastering the art of time management is very essential to maintaining a work-life balance. You must give priority to your tasks depending on their importance.

More precisely, first select the task that is of the utmost importance, then the less important one and finally the non-essential one. With such a practical approach and goal-setting techniques, you can easily finish your tasks within the given time frame, which reduces your stress and tension.

• Comply with the Work Culture of Your Company- There are certain companies where employers overburden their employees with excess work, leading to complete exhaustion. However, there are some organizations where the employers emphasize the well-being of their staff.

A favourable work culture creates a positive atmosphere at the office that leads to more productivity and contentment.

So, it’s up to you: do you prefer, a company that prioritizes employees’ well-being or a company that presses their employees with excess workload?

CONCLUSION

The digital revolution has made our work super-fast and many things are easily achievable. However, it has its set of drawbacks, like employers overemphasizing expectations from their staff, an overburdening and stressful work culture at the office, digital distractions, continuous work from anywhere, the compulsion to become the top performer and many more that put a lot of pressure and tension in your life. Due to this, your personal and professional lives get seriously hampered. But by adopting simple strategies like self-care, limiting your working hours, mastering the art of time management, setting boundaries at office, aware of your skills, accepting the office culture that suits you perfectly and prioritizing family life, one can successfully maintain work-life balance in life.