As the boundaries of work and life continue to blur, with many people shifting to the more flexible approach of working from home at least part of the time, how can we then better define the distinction between work and life? Finding this separation and drawing a clear line between the two is vital in pursuing the traditional idea of a work-life “balance”, however other terms have started to emerge around this topic as well, to better encompass the complexity of how life and work can relate.
Terms such as work-life integration, work-life interface, work and non-work life reconciliation, and work-life wellness have been suggested. Using terms such as work-life “wellness”, provides more opportunities for us to think of ways in which your work and life can enrich and enhance each other, instead of aiming to find an often-unachievable sense of “balance”. There are a few different strategies that we can look at, to better understand how to achieve this work-life wellness:
- Start by reflecting on your personal preferences and current levels of work-life wellness. Here is an online resource: The Work-Life Wellness Tool that can provide you with some insights on how you are doing in terms of your work-life wellness.
- What energizes you? It can be helpful to think about which activities energize you and to consciously make time for those throughout the day, either at work or in your personal time. Sometimes even if you spend half an hour a day doing something that brings you energy, it can help you achieve a higher sense of well-being.
- If most of your time is spent in work activities, identify work opportunities that better align to your values, interests, personality, and skills. Use your values to help you determine how to prioritize and organize our time and which goals to set. If you need support with this, we can help, you can connect with us here!
