How to achieve work-life balance

What is work-life balance?

Before moving on to the tips for achieving this perfect equation, it’s important to understand what we mean by work-life balance or work-life integration.

It’s about finding the optimal management of the time you spend working and the time you use to enjoy your free hours. By reaching that balance, it will be easier to develop ourselves and give our best in any situation.

Why is work-life balance important?

Not having a balance can affect people in various ways, mainly in their mental health. But it can also impact physical health and, of course, affect other areas such as productivity or personal development.

Working long hours and failing to disconnect can lead to experiencing the well-known burnout syndrome, which translates into stress. In fact, a study by the insurer Cigna 360-Vitality concluded that 96% of workers in Spain claim to suffer from burnout syndrome, and 60% feel unable to disconnect from work.

The lack of free time—or the inability to disconnect—will prevent you from performing your duties correctly, whether at work or in other areas, such as working out, spending time with family, or enjoying your favorite hobby.

How has work-life balance changed?

In recent years, due to the advent of new technologies, it has become possible to continue receiving work notifications, even when you are out of the office. This makes it harder to disconnect.

On the other hand, having a job with flexible hours and working remotely, as you can do at Engel & Völkers, can help with achieving a good family and personal balance.

Benefits of work-life balance

If you are wondering what the benefits of achieving this balance in your life are, you can find them below:

Increased productivity

One of the benefits of finding balance is increased productivity. Being able to disconnect allows us to perform better in our job, complete tasks in less time, and avoid feeling mentally exhausted.

Better time management

Having a job that consumes all our time will make it impossible to do everything we want during the day. However, if we manage to set boundaries, we can make better use of our free time. And here, everyone organizes themselves as they prefer: sports, art, hobbies, volunteering... Having a job with good time management allows you to enjoy all of this.

More motivation

And of course, having balance will make us more eager to carry out our routines or even start new ones, such as taking up a hobby or enrolling in a course to specialize in our field and improve our skills.

More time for family

A good balance allows us to enjoy more time with our family: whether it's children, elderly parents, siblings, or in some cases, "furry" family members—pets.

Is it possible to achieve work-life balance?

While it may seem like a complicated task, it's actually quite simple. It’s all about clearly establishing priorities so that you know what you want to achieve. Once identified, it will be easier to start setting goals, schedules, and strategies to reach them.

However, the type of job can also influence this. For example, working as a real estate agent at an agency like Engel & Völkers, where you can organize your time as you see fit, can be a great option for achieving this balance. Other professions, on the other hand, don’t provide that kind of scheduling freedom.

Tips for achieving work-life balance

But for all of this to be possible, it’s important that we evaluate not only our priorities and aspirations but also other areas of our lives. Some of these may seem irrelevant, like diet or sleep, but they play a key role in taking care of our personal needs.

Self-care will help us feel good emotionally, and that will be reflected in our work. To that end, we are going to share a list of tips to help you find that balance between work and personal life.

Turn off notifications

Once you leave the office and your workday is over, it’s important to turn off work-related notifications.

This way, it will be easier to disconnect and fully focus on whatever you’re doing at the time, regardless of what’s happening at work. In general, nothing is so urgent that it can’t wait a few hours.

Set schedules

If you want to engage in many activities, it’s important to divide your free time with clear planning and organization. This way, you’ll be able to see where you’ve spent your time and if anything has prevented you from achieving your goals.

Identify distractions

That planning will help you see if there have been other activities that have stolen your time. Once you identify them, you need to assess whether they were important or not, and if perhaps you forgot to account for them in the planning you made.

On the other hand, it may be that you simply didn’t consider the schedule and spent more time on one activity than another.

Healthy eating

There’s no point in wanting work-life balance if we don’t use our time wisely. It’s important to follow a healthy diet to promote better body function. So, make room in your schedule to monitor what you eat.

Exercise

Another key factor in achieving a balance between work and personal life is exercise. According to the American Psychological Association, exercise helps reduce stress levels. Therefore, dedicating some hours to it is a great way to feel better and connect with yourself.

Sleep 8 hours

To be able to perform well in both work and personal life, rest is crucial. Sleeping 8 hours a day is the best way to recover and continue with your daily activities without feeling drained.

Foster hobbies or aspirations

In addition to engaging in self-care activities, you should value and practice those that bring you joy and help you disconnect. Taking up a hobby, reading, or furthering your education can be great ways to find balance between professional and personal life.

Make time for relationships

One thing that should not be neglected is social relationships with family, children, or friends. To ensure this, it’s best to always reserve time to spend quality moments with your loved ones.

Stress-relief techniques

Another way to achieve this balance without affecting your health is to practice exercises that help release all the stress we accumulate daily. For example, meditation or mindful breathing can help eliminate feelings of overwhelm.

As you can see, achieving a balance between work and personal life is possible. Even so, many people choose to establish themselves as independent workers to organize their work according to their needs without neglecting their personal lives. A good example of this is Sonia Catalán.

This mother of three, despite having no prior experience in the field, became her own boss as a real estate agent. This profession allows you to manage and organize your time as it suits you, without the need for strict schedules.

And if you also want to achieve this balance as an independent worker, you can start by joining our team and working as a real estate agent.