5 Practical Self-care Habits to Improve your Work-Life Balance

Posted by Nikolina Kvesic Feb 6, 2019
Do you find yourself saying yes to more activities and responsibilities than you can reasonably handle? Often this happens not only at work but at home. According to a 2016 Statistics Canada report, women still do 50% more unpaid work at home than men, and they also reported being less satisfied with their work-life balance.

You’re not alone

Many women struggle to find a balance between work and personal life. Every day, the challenge of splitting your waking hours into time for work, family, friends, household duties, makes it easy to forget to make time for yourself. 

Not having this appropriate balance can cause many issues including stress and exhaustion. In some severe cases it can also lead to depression and illness. Take some time to focus on yourself and what’s important and watch all other areas of your life improve as well. 

Self-care is vital to work-life balance and it keeps you healthy, focused and productive, ensuring you can manage the demands of everyday life. Imagine feeling a greater sense of ownership of your life. Here are five practical ways you can implement self-care into your daily routine so that it becomes part of your lifestyle. 

1.     Get back to the basics
Practicing self care is about taking care of yourself so you can be your best version – mind, body and soul. If you’re feeling stressed out and not sure why – ask yourself some basic questions. Are you getting enough sleep? Eating a balanced diet? Exercising? If not, focus on improving these before a more elaborate self-care routine. 
2.     Identify your top priorities
Define what is most important to you. This will help you focus on what matters. So often we find ourselves spending time on things that don’t matter. If we outline what does, we’ll be able to schedule time more easily around the things that do!
3.     Learn to Say NO!
If you find yourself saying yes to everything, the simple fact of the matter is you’ll no longer have time for the things you want to do. Your focus becomes doing the things others want you do. Stand up for yourself and figure out when others are asking too much of you. Evaluate the situation and learn to put your own needs first. Be firm in your decisions. 
4.     Get away from the screen
When’s the last time you left the house without your smart phone? If you find yourself in possession of your phone 24/7, chances are you’re wasting a lot of time on it more so than time that could be spent on self care. Try to break the addiction and remember ways to live life by not focusing solely on your screen. 
5.     Practice Gratitude
Cultivating gratitude doesn’t cost you anything or even consume a lot of time but the benefits are endless. Grateful people are likely to achieve more and be healthier overall. (Related article: Developing an attitude of Gratitude)

Bottom line 

Taking good care of yourself is about the habits and mindset you engage in every single day. Create a lifestyle that helps you keep stress to a minimum and enjoy a healthy work-life balance. You’ll be forever grateful. 


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