These days, work-life balance can s

These days, work-life balance can seem like an impossible feat. Technology makes workers accessible around the clock. Fears of job loss incentivize longer hours. In fact, a whopping 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they worked more than 65 hours per week in a Harvard Business School survey. Experts agree: the compounding stress from the never-ending workday is damaging. It can hurt relationships, health and overall happiness.
Work-life balance means something different to every individual, but here health and career experts share tips to help you find the balance that’s right for you.
1. Let go of perfectionism
A lot of overachievers develop perfectionist tendencies at a young age when demands on their time are limited to school, hobbies and maybe an after-school job. It’s easier to maintain that perfectionist habit as a kid, but as you grow up, life gets more complicated. As you climb the ladder at work and as your family grows, your responsibilities mushroom. Perfectionism becomes out of reach, and if that habit is left unchecked, it can become destructive, says executive coach Marilyn Puder-York, PhD, who wrote The Office Survival Guide.
The key to avoid burning out is to let go of perfectionism, says Puder-York. “As life gets more expanded it’s very hard, both neurologically and psychologically, to keep that habit of perfection going,” she says, adding that the healthier option is to strive not for perfection, but for excellence.
2. Unplug
From telecommuting to programs that make work easier, technology has helped our lives in many ways. But it has also created expectations of constant accessibility. The work day never seems to end. “There are times when you should just shut your phone off and enjoy the moment,” says Robert Brooks, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence and Personal Strength in Your Life. Brooks says that phone notifications interrupt your off time and inject an undercurrent of stress in your system. So don’t text at your kid’s soccer game and don’t send work emails while you’re hanging out with family, Brooks advises. Make quality time true quality time. By not reacting to the updates from work, you will developing a stronger habit of resilience. “Resilient people feel a greater sense of control over their lives,” says Brooks, while reactive people have less control and are more prone to stress.
3. Exercise and meditate

Even when we’re busy, we make time for the crucial things in life. We eat. We go to the bathroom. We sleep. And yet one of our most crucial needs – exercise – is often the first thing to go when our calendars fill up. Exercise is an effective stress reducer. It pumps feel-good endorphins through your body. It helps lift your mood and can even serve a one-two punch by also putting you in a meditative state, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Puder-York recommends dedicating a few chunks of time each week to self-care, whether it’s exercise, yoga or meditation. And if you’re really pressed for time, start small with deep breathing exercises during your commute, a quick five minute meditation session morning and night, or replacing drinking alcohol with a healthier form of stress reduction.
“When I talk about balance, not everything has to be the completion and achievement of a task, it also has to include self-care so that your body, mind and soul are being refreshed,” says Puder-York.
These exercises require minor effort but offer major payoffs. Psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, who is also professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book Chained to the Desk, explains that our autonomic nervous system includes two branches: the sympathetic nervous system (our body’s stress response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (our body’s rest and digest response). “The key is to find something that you can build into your life that will activate your parasympathetic nervous system,” says Robinson. Short, meditative exercises like deep breathing or grounding your senses in your present surroundings, are great places to start. The more you do these, the more you activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which “calms everything down, (and) not just in the moment,” says Robinson. “Over time you start to notice that in your life, your parasympathetic nervous system will start to trump your sympathetic nervous system.”
4. Limit time-wasting activities and people
First, identify what’s most important in your life. This list will differ for everyone, so make sure it truly reflects your priorities, not someone else’s. Next, draw firm boundaries so you can devote quality time to these high-priority people and activities.
From there, it will be easier to determine what needs to be trimmed from the schedule. If email or internet surfing sends you into a time-wasting spiral, establish rules to keep you on task. That may mean turning off email notifications and replying in batches during limited times each day. If you’re mindlessly surfing Facebook or cat blogs when you should be getting work done, try using productivity software like Freedom, LeechBlock or RescueTime. And if you find your time being gobbled up by less constructive people, find ways to diplomatically limit these interactions. Cornered every morning by the office chatterbox? Politely excuse yourself. Drinks with the work gang the night before a busy, important day? Bow out and get a good night sleep. Focus on the people and activities that reward you the most.
To some, this may seem selfish. “But it isn’t selfish,” says Robinson. “It’s that whole airplane metaphor. If you have a child, you put the oxygen mask on yourself first, not on the child.” When it comes to being a good friend, spouse, parent or worker, “the better you are yourself, the better you are going to be in all those areas as well.”
5. Change the structure of your life
Sometimes we fall into a rut and assume our habits are set in stone. Take a birds-eye view of your life and ask yourself: What changes could make life easier?
Puder-York remembers meeting with a senior executive woman who, for 20 years of her marriage, arranged dinner for her husband every night. But as the higher earner with the more demanding job, the trips to the grocery store and daily meal preparations were adding too much stress to her life. “My response to her was, “Maybe it’s time to change the habit,’” recalls Puder-York. The executive worried her husband might be upset, but Puder-York insisted that, if she wanted to reduce stress, this structural change could accomplish just that.
So instead of trying to do it all, focus on activities you specialize in and value most. Delegate or outsource everything else. Delegating can be a win-win situation, says Stewart Freidman, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and author of Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life. Freidman recommends talking to the “key stakeholders” in different areas of your life, which could include employees or colleagues at work, a spouse or a partner in a community project. “Find out what you can do to let go in ways that benefit other people by giving them opportunities to grow,” he says. This will give them a chance to learn something new and free you up so you may devote attention to your higher priorities.
6. Start small. Build from there.
We’ve all been there: crash diets that fizzle out, New Year’s resolutions we forget by February. It’s the same with work-life balance when we take on too much too quickly, says Brooks. Many of his workaholic clients commit to drastic changes: cutting their hours from 80 hours a week to 40, bumping up their daily run from zero miles a day to five miles a day. It’s a recipe for failure, says Brooks. When one client, who was always absent from his family dinners, vowed to begin attending the meals nightly, Brooks urged him to start smaller. So he began with one evening a week. Eventually, he worked his way up to two to three dinners per week.
“If you’re trying to change a certain script in your life, start small and experience some success. Build from there,” says Brooks.

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

Những ngày này, sự cân bằng cuộc sống làm việc có thể có vẻ giống như một feat không thể. Công nghệ làm cho người lao động có thể truy cập trên đồng hồ. Nỗi sợ hãi của việc làm kèo incentivize dài hơn giờ. Trong thực tế, một whopping 94% làm việc báo cáo các chuyên gia làm việc nhiều hơn 50 giờ mỗi tuần và gần một nửa cho biết họ đã làm việc nhiều hơn 65 giờ mỗi tuần trong một cuộc khảo sát Harvard Business School. Các chuyên gia đồng ý: sự căng thẳng lãi kép từ never-ending ngày làm việc làm hư hại. Nó có thể làm hại mối quan hệ, sức khỏe và hạnh phúc tổng thể.Sự cân bằng cuộc sống làm việc có nghĩa là một cái gì đó khác nhau để mỗi cá nhân, nhưng ở đây các chuyên gia y tế và sự nghiệp chia sẻ lời khuyên để giúp bạn tìm thấy sự cân bằng phù hợp với bạn.1. buông perfectionismRất nhiều overachievers phát triển xu hướng hoàn hảo ở độ tuổi trẻ, khi nhu cầu về thời gian của họ được giới hạn trong trường học, sở thích và có thể là một công việc sau giờ học. Nó là dễ dàng hơn để duy trì rằng thói quen hoàn hảo khi còn bé, nhưng khi bạn lớn lên, cuộc sống được phức tạp hơn. Khi bạn leo lên các bậc thang tại nơi làm việc và khi gia đình của bạn phát triển, trách nhiệm của bạn nấm. Perfectionism trở nên xa tầm tay, và nếu thói quen đó còn lại đánh dấu, nó có thể trở thành phá hoại, ông điều hành huấn luyện viên Marilyn Puder-York, TS, người đã viết The văn phòng Survival Guide.Điều quan trọng để tránh cháy là để cho đi của perfectionism, nói Puder-York. "Như cuộc sống được mở rộng hơn, nó là rất khó khăn, neurologically và tâm lý, để giữ cho rằng thói quen của sự hoàn hảo đi," cô nói, thêm rằng các lựa chọn khỏe mạnh là phấn đấu không cho sự hoàn thiện, nhưng cho xuất sắc.2. tháoTừ telecommuting để mà làm cho các chương trình làm việc dễ dàng hơn, công nghệ đã giúp cuộc sống của chúng tôi trong nhiều cách. Nhưng nó cũng đã tạo ra những kỳ vọng của khả năng tiếp cận liên tục. Ngày làm việc không bao giờ có vẻ như để kết thúc. "Có những lần khi bạn chỉ nên tắt điện thoại của bạn và thưởng thức thời điểm này," nói Robert Brooks, một giáo sư tâm lý học tại Harvard Medical School và đồng tác giả của The sức mạnh khả năng đàn hồi: đạt được sự cân bằng, sự tự tin và sức mạnh cá nhân trong cuộc sống của bạn. Brooks nói rằng điện thoại thông báo gián đoạn thời gian giảm giá của bạn và tiêm một dòng chảy ngầm của căng thẳng trong hệ thống của bạn. Vì vậy, không văn bản tại trò chơi bóng đá của bạn trẻ em và không gửi email làm việc trong khi bạn đang treo ra với gia đình, tư vấn cho Brooks. Làm cho chất lượng thời gian chất lượng đúng thời gian. Bởi không phản ứng với các bản Cập Nhật từ công việc, bạn sẽ phát triển một thói quen mạnh mẽ hơn của khả năng đàn hồi. "Đàn hồi người cảm thấy một cảm giác lớn của kiểm soát cuộc sống của họ," ông Brooks, trong khi người dân phản ứng có quyền kiểm soát ít hơn và có nhiều dễ bị căng thẳng.3. tập thể dục và thiền địnhNgay cả khi chúng tôi đang bận rộn, chúng tôi dành thời gian cho những điều rất quan trọng trong cuộc sống. Chúng ta ăn. Chúng tôi đi đến phòng tắm. Chúng tôi ngủ. Và chưa một của chúng tôi nhu cầu quan trọng nhất-tập thể dục-thường là điều đầu tiên để đi khi chúng tôi lịch lấp đầy lên. Tập thể dục là một giảm căng thẳng có hiệu quả. Nó bơm cảm giác tốt endorphins thông qua cơ thể của bạn. Nó giúp nâng tâm trạng của bạn và có thể thậm chí phục vụ một one-two punch bởi cũng đưa bạn vào một nhà nước suy nghi, theo Mayo Clinic.Puder-York recommends dedicating a few chunks of time each week to self-care, whether it’s exercise, yoga or meditation. And if you’re really pressed for time, start small with deep breathing exercises during your commute, a quick five minute meditation session morning and night, or replacing drinking alcohol with a healthier form of stress reduction.“When I talk about balance, not everything has to be the completion and achievement of a task, it also has to include self-care so that your body, mind and soul are being refreshed,” says Puder-York.These exercises require minor effort but offer major payoffs. Psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, who is also professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book Chained to the Desk, explains that our autonomic nervous system includes two branches: the sympathetic nervous system (our body’s stress response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (our body’s rest and digest response). “The key is to find something that you can build into your life that will activate your parasympathetic nervous system,” says Robinson. Short, meditative exercises like deep breathing or grounding your senses in your present surroundings, are great places to start. The more you do these, the more you activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which “calms everything down, (and) not just in the moment,” says Robinson. “Over time you start to notice that in your life, your parasympathetic nervous system will start to trump your sympathetic nervous system.”4. Limit time-wasting activities and people
First, identify what’s most important in your life. This list will differ for everyone, so make sure it truly reflects your priorities, not someone else’s. Next, draw firm boundaries so you can devote quality time to these high-priority people and activities.
From there, it will be easier to determine what needs to be trimmed from the schedule. If email or internet surfing sends you into a time-wasting spiral, establish rules to keep you on task. That may mean turning off email notifications and replying in batches during limited times each day. If you’re mindlessly surfing Facebook or cat blogs when you should be getting work done, try using productivity software like Freedom, LeechBlock or RescueTime. And if you find your time being gobbled up by less constructive people, find ways to diplomatically limit these interactions. Cornered every morning by the office chatterbox? Politely excuse yourself. Drinks with the work gang the night before a busy, important day? Bow out and get a good night sleep. Focus on the people and activities that reward you the most.
To some, this may seem selfish. “But it isn’t selfish,” says Robinson. “It’s that whole airplane metaphor. If you have a child, you put the oxygen mask on yourself first, not on the child.” When it comes to being a good friend, spouse, parent or worker, “the better you are yourself, the better you are going to be in all those areas as well.”
5. Change the structure of your life
Sometimes we fall into a rut and assume our habits are set in stone. Take a birds-eye view of your life and ask yourself: What changes could make life easier?
Puder-York remembers meeting with a senior executive woman who, for 20 years of her marriage, arranged dinner for her husband every night. But as the higher earner with the more demanding job, the trips to the grocery store and daily meal preparations were adding too much stress to her life. “My response to her was, “Maybe it’s time to change the habit,’” recalls Puder-York. The executive worried her husband might be upset, but Puder-York insisted that, if she wanted to reduce stress, this structural change could accomplish just that.
So instead of trying to do it all, focus on activities you specialize in and value most. Delegate or outsource everything else. Delegating can be a win-win situation, says Stewart Freidman, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and author of Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life. Freidman recommends talking to the “key stakeholders” in different areas of your life, which could include employees or colleagues at work, a spouse or a partner in a community project. “Find out what you can do to let go in ways that benefit other people by giving them opportunities to grow,” he says. This will give them a chance to learn something new and free you up so you may devote attention to your higher priorities.
6. Start small. Build from there.
We’ve all been there: crash diets that fizzle out, New Year’s resolutions we forget by February. It’s the same with work-life balance when we take on too much too quickly, says Brooks. Many of his workaholic clients commit to drastic changes: cutting their hours from 80 hours a week to 40, bumping up their daily run from zero miles a day to five miles a day. It’s a recipe for failure, says Brooks. When one client, who was always absent from his family dinners, vowed to begin attending the meals nightly, Brooks urged him to start smaller. So he began with one evening a week. Eventually, he worked his way up to two to three dinners per week.
“If you’re trying to change a certain script in your life, start small and experience some success. Build from there,” says Brooks.