For many people, their main goal was to enter into a long-term quality career. Finding the right job and the right position can take a lot of work. It may have taken years of overtime before you were promoted into the position you wanted. However, even after achieving that goal, many people still feel empty inside. The truth of the matter is that work should not be your entire life. Instead, you should try to achieve a more healthy work-life balance.
1. Always Put Your Health First
Some people literally work their selves to death. You should keep in mind that you are not enslaved to a job. Instead, that job should work for you in many regards. The objective of a career, of course, is to produce income for you and your family to live off of. If you are working so much that it is harming your health, you may want to slow things down. Don’t be afraid to take sick days when you need them.
Take full advantage of your healthcare plan, and don’t be afraid to use workers’ compensation or disability insurance if you actually need to. Don’t work more than you actually need to if it is taking a real physical toll on your health and body. Find time to eat well and exercise during your work week.
2. Find Spiritual Enlightenment
Second, you should keep in mind that human beings are not soulless robots that should be content to only work endlessly. Instead, if you want to find a better sense of peace and mental well-being, you should try to find some sense of spiritual enlightenment. For most people, this can be accomplished through religion by attending church, the synagogue, or the temple. For millions of people, religion helps give them the meaning they need to face everyday life.
If you are curious, try exploring other sources of spiritual enlightenment that may be more obscure. For example, you may want to look into “who is Abdruschin?” and investigate his writings and teachings. There are many spiritual writings and books available that may benefit you. Have an open mind.
3. Develop Your Hobbies
If you just have a career and no other interests, you are not a well-rounded person. Instead, you should try exploring interests outside of your work. There are, of course, almost endless options to choose from. Perhaps you enjoy baseball and having a season ticket for the local team would be very rewarding for you.
You may enjoy painting or playing music. You may love fishing and the outdoors. Perhaps even collecting antiques could be your hobby. Overall, your hobby should be about your interests and passions. What other people think about it shouldn’t matter. It’s about you.
4. Keep in Touch with Friends and Family
When people get absorbed in a career, they can sometimes recede into isolation outside of the social contacts they have at work. If your friends or family haven’t heard from you in a long time, you should certainly change that. You need to have meaningful relationships with people who aren’t simply forced to be around you due to work.
You should have friends, family, and a significant other who genuinely care about you and your well-being. No person should be an island unto their selves. You need those personal relationships. They are, in fact, critical for your mental health.
5. Take Time Off
Once your career is rather secure, you shouldn’t be afraid to take the amount of time off you are allowed each year. Always use your vacation time. Use it to go somewhere fun. Even if you don’t travel very far, everyone needs a vacation every year. If you have any other form of paid time off in your contract, don’t be afraid to use those days either. If you have a cold, don’t be afraid to use a sick day. You shouldn’t feel bad about it.
6. Put Away Your Work When You’re Not at Work
One big issue with professionals that leads to burnout is that their work does not truly leave them even when they are off the clock. They are asked to respond to email and phone calls and even perform digital office work while off the clock. Unless you are being paid for all that, you are being taken advantage of. Don’t be afraid to say no and get to those things when you’re back in the office. When you’re at home or out, don’t be afraid to turn off your computer and your phone.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, work can’t be your entire life. You need to find a better work-life balance. This should include taking care of your health, developing your spirituality, meeting with family and friends, developing outside hobbies, taking the time off you need, and leaving work at work. Doing so can help you feel much more content than if work dominated your entire life.
