New Year, New Habits for Better Work-Life Balance

At Education Advanced, we talk about balancing work and personal life quite often. We are encouraged to take personal time off, to spend quality time with our families and friends, and to go on vacation. (Our CEO likes to remind us of the importance of getting that vitamin D!)

In a recent conversation with a colleague, however, I discovered that many of us are quick to encourage others to take advantage of these workplace culture benefits, but not so quick to apply them to our own habits. This revelation led to a work-life balance mini session before one of our weekly State of the Company meetings where several of us shared some of our favorite work-life balance tips.

1: Calendar EVERYTHING!

Whether you use a digital calendar or an offline calendar, calendar EVERYTHING to stay organized and to hold yourself accountable. Including even your personal reminders, like kids’ dress up days at school and soccer practice, will help you see the full picture. Putting EVERYTHING in one place will give you a better view of what time you have and how to best use it. Additionally, using productivity techniques like time-blocking and/or chunking can lead to greater focus and increased efficiency.  

2: Use color codes.

Strenuous cognitive activities require your brain to use more energy to perform the work. So, why not help your brain out?! Color coding your calendar helps the brain process the events of the day, rather than just seeing an overwhelming list of to-dos. You can color code your events by urgency, audience, task, or level of difficulty. Pro tip: Spend some time thinking about how you interact with certain colors before you select your palette! You want to be sure you choose colors that work for your specific needs and personality.

3. Avoid workday creep.

If you work from home, this scenario is likely familiar. You wake up and grab your coffee and head to your home office to check emails. Then at lunchtime, you grab something to eat at your desk while you work through your to-do list. After dinner, you sneak back to your office to take care of a few more tasks before bedtime. Before you know it, you’ve worked a 12-hour day. Workday creep can become a real problem in remote work culture because normal workday cues are often missing. Set clearly defined working hours and adhere to routines to maintain boundaries between work and personal life.

4. Leave work at work.

When you work outside the home, leaving work at work is a little easier. There’s a sort of psychological switch when you leave the office. But when you work from home, this can be a real challenge. Whether you work outside or inside the home, you can help yourself with these tips:

1. Create a designated workspace and only spend time there during “working hours.”
2. Don’t answer emails outside of your normal workday – it blurs the line.
3. Have an “unwinding routine” to help you transition from work to personal time.
4. Put work notifications to sleep during your “quiet hours.”
5. Enlist your family to help – they're excellent accountability partners!

5: Walk away.

If you find yourself having a particularly challenging day, walk away. Take a break. Step back from the workplace and recenter. Struggling to just get through the day in these tough situations can lead to reduced productivity, increased frustration, workplace resentment, unnecessary conflict and even costly mistakes. It’s better to give yourself the space to reset and come back with a fresh outlook than to “power through.”

People are at the heart of our company’s core values. Fostering a culture where employees are encouraged to step away is a win-win. When people have a satisfactory work-life balance, they’re happier, healthier, more creative and more productive, which all lead to better personal and business outcomes. If you’re looking to join a high-performing team that knows how to get stuff done AND takes time to have fun, check out our Careers page for current opportunities.