Work life balance & mental health: How to strike a balance

Last updated on February 17th, 2021 at 08:00 am

The past year has been a whirlwind for everyone across the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Though now we have hope rendered by Covid-19 vaccine rollout, we must acknowledge that we are still in the middle of it and far from the endpoint. At this moment, everyone would resonate with the fact that the past year 2020 has taken a toll on everybody’s mental health. The new year 2021, as has brought hope of triumphing this virus, must highlight the need of giving mental health a priority and striking a balance between professional and personal life. 

Prioritizing mental health to be able to conquer work life balance is essential for everyone specially after encounter with pandemic, but where and how to begin is what can make one pause. Let’s explore few tips on how to prioritize mental health.

Set clear work boundaries: This can be very challenging, especially if one is early in career or have recently joined a new firm. The constant need to appease peers and boss can take a toll – when the earnest ‘yes’ from you becomes habit for others and hard for you to shrug off, you wouldn’t realize. For this its important to make a clear boundary at workplace. A polite ‘no’ at times wouldn’t hurt and would clearly mark out the boundary. 

Make a routine if working from home: When working from home, it becomes specially difficult to make a routine and stick to it, but it’s the most important thing to chalk out. Make a routine as if you are going to office. Having a routine eases out stress and increases productivity. 

Stay off that cell phone: Definitely one of the hardest things to do but achieving this would do tremendous benefit to your mental health and thus better work life balance. Study shows that checking phone up to 50 times a day can reduce productivity by 35%. Furthermore, sleep deprivation that is caused by cell phone white light adds to stress buildup due to sleep deprivation. 

These tips are important for achieving healthy mental health, getting a balance between professional and personal life, and thus increasing productivity. Mental health must not be underestimated now and ought to take a front seat now.