The Modern Struggle of Work and Life Balance by Ali Merchant

As the culture of “entrepreneurship”, “hustle”, and “work is worship” grows, there is an upsurge of content and advice that aims to motivate people to do more, to keep working, to sleep for 3 to 4 hours a night and always be competitive. While we obsess over work, very few realize that in order to stay persistent in our journey towards our dreams, we must not only aspire to work more but also maintain a balance of work and life.

Most people today, especially young entrepreneurs and professionals always complain about being busy and having no time, says Ali Merchant, Founder and CEO of AM Infoweb. Here he shares some of his wisdom on work-life balance.

The Missing Balance

A recent study revealed that full-time workers spend 8.35 hours at work. And of the adults who are employed, 33 percent work on Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. 66 percent of full-time employees say they strongly believe they do not have a balance between work and life. 60 percent had low morale in the workplace, 36 percent reported poor productivity. To the millennial, the problem of work-life balance tends to be more critical.

Not having balance in the professional and personal life affects the mind, and can lead to a serious issue called burnout, which is a syndrome that causes negative self-evaluation, emotional exhaustion, and low accomplishment sense. If you want to avoid the problem of complete exhaustion then you need balance.

What is Work-Life Balance?

Everyone has a different definition of what they mean by work-life balance. The important thing to remember is to find the right balance for you. The more we set and adhere to proper boundaries and combat the obstacles that take away our productive time, the more stability we can seek, remain healthier and happier, and do more.

Value Your Time

Using time efficiently is something that many fail to do. One should be very specific about their activity timeline and work accordingly to maintain a proper work-life balance. Time management is not just confined to your work schedule, but, also your family commitments, holidays, parties, etc. Time is valuable, and you cannot afford to lose it when you are expected to make a lot out of it. So plan things appropriately so that you can take out time for everything.

Set Your Priorities

Set your own preferences, make your personal goals and discover ways to achieve them. We all have twenty four hours in a day with lots of activities to do and goals to meet. There may be instances where we may not be able to give time properly, but setting priorities can surely help you maintain balance.

Prioritizing can help one in categorizing the tasks on the basis of its importance and worth. This helps you to frame strategies to achieve the more important goals first and leaving the others for a later stage. Prioritizing can help in using your energy in a better way to let you focus on things which are truly important first.

Final Thoughts

Work is undoubtedly an important aspect of life, but don’t let your work overwhelm you. Make your own rules and maintain an equilibrium between your work and other aspects of your life to “become a success not just a survivor”.