Better work-life balance by improving time management

Work-life balance and time management are two sides of the same coin. Without effective time management, you cannot achieve a proper work-life balance, and without a healthy work-life balance, effective time management becomes an impossibility. Managing your time effectively during working hours will ensure efficiency and productivity so that you can make the most of your personal time. Maintaining this balance is essential to leading a fulfilling lifestyle and improving your physical and mental wellbeing.

What is work-life balance?

The definition of work-life balance is the separation between a person’s personal and professional life and evenly balancing both in the name of personal fulfilment and wellbeing. Managing one aspect effectively will provide more time to manage the other and work to improve different aspects of each.

Some people will prioritise their personal lives, seeing their work as a means of allowing them to make the most of their personal time. Others are driven by their work. It is their passion, what inspires them to get up in the morning. The balance can also be weighted for certain demographics, a prime example being parents with newborn children, who will want to spend as much time as possible with their children but understand they need to work to support them.

Recent studies have calculated that the UK only scores 34 out of 100 for employee work-life balance satisfaction. This is due to several factors, including lowered maternity/paternity pay, leave offerings, average annual leave offerings and a cost-of-living crisis. This dissatisfaction can have a huge impact on workplace engagement as employees are distracted by external factors, which then impacts their professional performance, creating a cycle of trying to regain a positive work-life balance. It is imperative to workplace and even organisational performance to achieve a satisfactory work-life balance. When a person’s life becomes dominated by professional concerns, it can begin to impact their personal life, leading to increased levels of stress which can spiral into a decline in mental wellbeing and suffering with burnout, anxiety and even depression.

How to achieve work-life balance?

Achieving a work-life balance is dependent on not just the individual, but also the organisation. Both must recognise the value in creating the separation between the two. There are ways to achieve this which have covered in our previous blog ‘The Importance of Work-Life Balance’ which detail some of the key techniques people can use to find a healthy balance.

One key thing to keep in mind when striving to achieve a healthy work-life balance is timing. Identifying clear times for both working and personal pursuits allows for prioritisation. Understanding the time constraints placed on you during these periods allows for a greater focus on different tasks, understanding what requires focus in that moment and what can be rescheduled to ensure your professional and personal focuses do not clash. When it comes down to it, time is the cornerstone of a work-life balance. There is only so much of it in a week, and it needs to be effectively utilised to achieve personal growth and fulfilment.

What is Time management

Effective and proper time management cannot be underestimated as it can make or break multiple aspects of a person’s life. Utilising the time available efficiently in either a personal or professional sense is central to health and wellbeing. It is approximated that the average working week is 38.93 hours long. This equals around 24% of a person’s week. We then spend on average 56 hours asleep which equals around a third of a person’s week which leaves us with 72 hours personal time. With the least amount of time spent in work, we need to ensure we are efficient with our time in working hours to ensure we are not bringing work home. This is where effective time management comes into play.

Time management is the practice of planning your tasks and activities, prioritising, planning, setting goals and making sure each is given the appropriate amount of time to be completed to a high standard. If this planning process is managed appropriately, then an individual should be able to get through their assigned tasks and responsibilities in a timely and efficient manner. Providing yourself this breathing space will reduce stress and prevent burnout, meaning you are able to maintain your mental wellbeing, and then begin effectively planning your personal time to do what you enjoy and focus on personal growth.

How to improve time management?

The value of strong time management becomes immediately noticeable when you begin to action the tasks in the appropriate time allotted for each. Distractions begin to fade away, you can maintain your focus and productivity and engagement are significantly increased. However, time management is a skill, and one that needs to be developed and worked upon. There are certain steps that can be taken to improve time management skills and become more efficient.

Establish goals

Setting goals for yourself isn’t always a straightforward process. Some goals might be viewed in the macro as overarching goals whilst others may be micro and feed into the grander task. However, establishing these goals makes tasks feel more tangible and achievable. Using things such as SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based) goals, carrying out tasks then becomes a far clearer and structured process.

Track time and progress

It may seem redundant to track time and progress when referring to time management, but by doing this, you are able to better understand how you work, how you perform with different tasks and begin to specify your process. This also allows for timely breaks so that you can reset your focus in between different tasks.

Find your process

There are multiple methods to effectively plan and manage your time. These might include processes such as the Eisenhower Matrix which helps you identify which tasks take priority through importance and urgency. It could be finding the correct software to help you track your tasks and progress to visualise what you are working towards. Once this has been identified and becomes clearer, the process of time management becomes more tangible.

Set limits

It is good to be ambitious and have faith in your own abilities, but you must understand your capabilities and limits are. Although the aim of time management is to alleviate stress and aid productivity, assigning yourself too much to do in too little time will either result in a lower quality performance or increased stress, pressure and guilt from not achieving the goal you have set for yourself. It is best to understand how long a task will task will take, understanding priority and effectively working towards that in a comfortable and efficient manner.

How can an Employee Assistance Programme help?

Effectively managing your time and finding the right balance between work and your personal life is a process, one that comes with its own stresses and concerns. When an external factor impacts your aims and plans, your work-life balance can be disrupted, and this can negatively affect your wellbeing. When you are caught in this cycle, you may need guidance to get back on track. With our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), our expert counsellors can supply the necessary support and aid with your wellbeing and mental health concerns. Whether it is discussing issues in the workplace and how it is impacting your personal life or how an external factor in your personal life is negatively impacting your workplace performance, our accredited counsellors are available on a 24/7 helpline, 365-days a year.

Conclusion

Time-management feeds directly into a healthy work-life balance. You cannot have one without the other. Effectively managing your time in a working environment helps drive success and growth. But this forward planning and management also ensures you have the time to focus on yourself, those closest to you and your wellbeing in your personal life. There will always be external factors that may disrupt this planning, but having the processes in place will assist you in effectively overcoming them.