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Four tips to get you started

Worklife balance tends to allude many of us and right now you see lots of articles about New Year Resolutions and tips on how to keep them. Which is good. But if we are not realistic about our goals, it does tend to make us feel like we are forever failing.

The fact is 95% of people actually give up on New Year Resolutions by the end of January. Perhaps there is no coincidence that this coincides with returning to work and falling into the same old habits as last year – and possibly the years before that.

Being sent conflicting messages such as lose weight, do more, learn more, oh but don’t forget to relax! – it’s no wonder we simply throw our hands in the air!

“They” are constantly telling us we aren’t good enough if we aren’t doing this or that. Well, let’s find out where ‘they’ live and give ‘them’ a poke in the eye – because a worklife balance is something which can be learned. Here are four convenient suggestions to get you started.

1. Write down what you did RIGHT in 2015

Quit beating yourself up about what you didn’t do and congratulate yourself on what you did achieve. Think of everything right down to ‘less butter on my toast’.

Feeling good about yourself gives you the confidence to continue ‘the good fight’. Feeling like you always fall short makes you think “why should I bother?” See the difference?

This isn’t to say rest on your laurels. You have exactly the same hours every day as Churchill did and he got quite a lot done. It means, take stock of what you did, learn from it – and move on.

2. Devices – Do they rule you?

Consistently checking your email, text messages and the computer makes you their slave. A friend recently saw a teenager on a skateboard without a helmet, going downhill on a busy road, scrolling on his iPhone at the same time.

Will this young man’s dying words be (after being hit by the car which didn’t see him) “I wish I’d watched more cat videos on YouTube.” I suspect not.

3. Be Mindful of how you spend your time

Can you give your kids more responsibilities? What were you expected to do at their age?

Why should you come last? Some of the best ideas can come organically whilst reading a book or going for a walk. Doing a “thing” you enjoy puts your brain in the right gear.

When ProducePronto first started out we delivered to residents as well as businesses. However, the company grew incredibly fast and staff were spread thinly. It was time to be mindful of where our time and energy went we realised businesses were our core customers, at least for the meantime.

This gave ProducePronto the opportunity to focus on quality, offer top service all the time and find new ways we could make life easier for our customers. Stepping back and re-evaluating has paid off both in a business and personal capacity.

4. Find the exercise you like once and for all.

If you have joined the gym (again) because you thought you should, cancel your membership. Exercise you hate is just another chore isn’t it? Think about whether you are a team person or love individual challenges?

What did you enjoy playing/performing at school? There are adult classes for absolutely everything these days and Google is a great help here.

Starting can often be the hardest part, but if you ask yourself a few searching questions and put pen to paper, you are setting yourself up for a great worklife balance – without any guilt.