The importance of time off: 6 secrets of work-life balance

Overview

What to say that was not already said on this topic? I can share the importance of time off looking at my personal experience and how it works for me. We work to live, right? We would be doing something else if it were not for the circumstances that lead us to do what we do. It is unavoidable and therefore needs to be balanced well in order not to cause more bad than good, apart from the money earned.

1. The Uniqueness of Work-Life Balance

For sure there is no simple formula that can work for everyone, as we are all different, but I can say that a work-life balance is particularly important for long-term efficiency and productivity. Not taking time off will inevitably lead to complications with our physical or mental health that will at some point make it hard for us to perform our tasks or make others not like to work with us. We can push hard for some time, being motivated by reaching our goals, but this cannot endure forever.

2. The Crucial Role of Balance

Like for everything in life, the balance in work-life balance is crucial. In Europe, even more in Slovenia where KLR has its HQ, employees are already very well protected by regulations. Limiting the number of working hours/days, mandating paid time off, and necessitating employers to stimulate a healthy relationship of employees with their work.

3. Personal Determination and Health

But still, our own determination can be our biggest enemy. Soon it will be 10 years of my work with KLR and lately, also due to being in my mid-forties, I found myself being stopped from being able to work, by my body. Getting ill or being hit by acute back pain that made it impossible to stand for some time. This was very much due to work-related fatigue and a consequence of the kind of work that we do, that requires us to sit long hours at our desk where our brains work hard, but our body does nothing at all, if not being put in awkward and unnatural positions for prolonged periods of time.

4. The Missteps in Sporadic Exercise

Trying to do sport sporadically did not make the situation any better. Probably worsened, as an untrained body suffered the determination of the mind to try to recover quickly all undone trainings, adventures, and so on. This even worsened the body situation.

5. Quality Over Quantity in Work-Life Balance

Therefore, for a successful work-life balance, at least in my case, it is not so much about dedicating the right amount of time to work and to life, but rather the quality of the time spent at work and at life. Always we need to feel good at work and at home; if we do not, we are going in the wrong direction and there is no excuse for this.

6. Building a Sustainable Routine

So now I will try to rebuild a new sustainable life routine that can work till I will not change again and will require new adjustments. I will take breaks often, stay hydrated (as five coffees a day are not hydration), stretch and do movement in the office, move my body as we are built to move. And hopefully, I will be able to work forever as work will be no pain, just gain.

The Key to Long-Term Success

TLDR: My recipe for a successful work-life balance is to strive to feel good, both at work and in life. If you are feeling bad you are doing it wrong. Being able to feel good often is the key to a long-term and successful relationship with our work and having a good life where we gain, without too much pain 😉.