Are you a workaholic, don’t have time for entertainment? You should fix that…
No matter how much important your career is for you, you have to spend some time away from your workplace. And if you are thinking, is it possible to manage work life and home life effectively? Well, the answer depends on how you integrate both in your life instead of just relying on getting the right balance.
To help you achieve work-life integration, here’s everything you must understand about work-life integration. Let’s start with the definition of work-life integration.
What is work-life integration?
With so many gadgets and our too much reliance on these devices, it is extremely difficult to efficiently manage home and work-life.
Sometimes forming a well-balanced life feels like a mission impossible. In fact, many of us are engaged in official chores when we are home or even on holidays. Work tasks always keep spilling over our personal lives.
However, separating the two is also not possible. So, at this point, work-life integration comes into the picture with the aim to unite your work and personal life in the best way.
Some work-life integration examples:
Leaving work a bit early and answering necessary emails from your home.
In-office workouts, exercise, walking clubs, or yoga.
Taking your child to your office after school.
What are the advantages of work-life integration?
Work-life integration is an excellent way to give equivalent time to all key areas of your life without compromising the other half. Here the obvious benefits of work-life integration.
It’s a realistic approach. Forming a perfect separation between work life and personal life might be your ultimate goal, but keep in mind it is not always doable. This is because there are many factors or events that can affect your mood in no time, and that perfect balance gets altered. For example, your boss asks you for overtime.
A new stance on work. Uniting your work life with your personal life makes your daily life less monotonous. Instead of counting the remaining office hours so that you can spend some time with your family and kids, you can work from home and fulfill both commitments simultaneously.
It’s an ideal way to prioritize both. By efficiently scheduling your 9-to-5 routine with both work and home chores, you can handle your tasks more systematically as per your exact needs. For example, you can go to the gym early in the morning, followed by making dinner at home, or picking your kids from school, then making up some time for work-related tasks in the evening.
Some effective tips for integrating personal and work-life
If work-life integration attracts you and you want to adopt that thing, don’t forget to plan together. Don’t think of it as dumping your professional duties and personal desires into a bowl and mixing them all.
Understand what work-life integration means to you
As they say, for all big life changes, it’s crucial to have a goal in your mind. Work-life integration is not the same for every individual as life is not the same. So you must precisely know what this thing means to you and how you will deal with these changes. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Will it offer you additional time for your new projects?
- Will it make you stress-free at work?
- Will it help you to better dad or mom or wife at home?
- Will it give you some spare time for self-care?
Don’t hesitate to try new things
You cannot achieve work-life integration in a day or two. Neither can you accomplish it just with one major change in your life. It can be a lengthy learning process that includes various experiments, tests, and errors. That’s why experts suggest that everyone should approach it as a scientific experiment. Try new things, assess the results, and then decide whether to continue or the process needs any changes.
When adopting the practice, start with small and minor changes to get you on the right path. For example, you can make a call to any of your scheduled appointments in the afternoon instead of waiting until “outside of work” times. Observe how these minor changes affect your life before adding other changes to your life.
Change the way you think and opt for a flexible routine
We completely agree that having a defined routine is vital, but it is also essential to prioritize what’s more important to you. For this purpose, we will advise you to prioritize your routine tasks as per their importance instead of putting everything into your day.
It is also seen that many new integrators pack their schedules full and don’t go for a flexible routine. Many users who practice work-life integration make strict blocks for small tasks that they will perform at a particular time. This is good but not works for everyone and in all situations. For example, if you have to pick up your children from school, you cannot be flexible on that timing. But you can attend your last meeting via call, or it is very much possible to check Slack while you’re on the stairs.
The point is you should adjust your thinking. And if your normal routine in a work-life integration demands some time for any vital activity, you will have to do some work-related tasks late in the evening.
Don’t feel guilty about these changes
Guilt is the major hurdle that you will face in work-life integration. But you will have to overcome it if you are serious about integrating your work and personal lives.
According to a recent study, about 68% of Americans dreadfully want some time for themselves, but every one in three is guilty about taking or asking for it.
According to the experts, the belief that one should always be working is unrealistic, and you should let it go. Looking for work-life integration is not a luxury, neither is it something that you should feel guilty about. Instead, it is necessary for your well-being, productivity, and mental health.
