A successful working individual will have an active professional life but he must not forget about his personal life. It is important to maintain a proper balance between the two. As humans, if we focus too much on one part – professional and not enough on the personal front, we may not be happy. But if we focus too much on personal and not on professional then you may not like your career path. We also need to keep both sides separate and they shouldn’t be merged. This is because you need to have downtime from work. Frank Cahill HSBC has given a perfect example and tips to maintain a balance between them and keeping them separate.
- It could be that you are passionate about your work but you need to have a specific demarcated time for working. Have a starting time but also have a stopping time. This would mean that you have sufficient time for work, but also don’t ignore your personal needs. Use your downtime for yourself or to keep commitments with family. Have that dinner with your wife or take your kids out for a fun evening. But don’t stay late at work often.
- Keep your social media and email accounts separate for work and personal use. The most common mistake a person can make is to have the same account for work and personal use. This way you cannot quickly differentiate between urgent and non-urgent ones. Plus, you wouldn’t want your colleagues to know on Facebook that you were out on a date when you said you were sick.
- When you are working, you need to focus a 100% on it. This means that you need to minimize distractions. Don’t text friends or open social media accounts while you are working. This may not be illegal but it definitely acts as a distraction when you try to work. Postpone private discussions with colleagues to lunchtime or after work hours. This way you ensure that you are achieving the desired productivity during the designated working hours.
- You need to manage and overcome procrastination when working. Many times, we delay completing something. But you need to manage this type of thought and behaviour. If you don’t stop it, it would mean that one day, the workload would eat into your personal time. That way you cannot give sufficient time to your personal side.
- When you leave for work, you must leave home behind – physically and mentally. You need to stop all thoughts in relation to your personal life and prepare to focus on work. Similarly, when you leave work, all thoughts related to work must cease. If you don’t do this, you will constantly be distracted about other things when you should be focusing on work or home.
In an online world, we are always connected to friends and colleagues. But you must separate your personal and professional life at such an age. This is very important so as to maintain your mental health. There be burnout or stress if you don’t manage your work and personal life.