You need to make yourself a priority.

-Megan

Hello! Welcome to Episode 6 of I’d Rather Stay In. This week, we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of a topic that is tricky for many of us: work-life balance.

Why is work-life balance so hard these days?

We live in an always-on society. The internet and social media are awesome but they also mean that our work often follows us home.

Not to mention, we live in a culture where being “the most busy” is almost worshipped.

Some facts and stats on overworking

From Harvard Business Review:

“There’s a large body of research that suggests that regardless of our reasons for working long hours, overwork does not help us. For starters, it doesn’t seem to result in more output. In a study of consultants by Erin Reid, a professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, managers could not tell the difference between employees who actually worked 80 hours a week and those who just pretended to. While managers did penalize employees who were transparent about working less, Reid was not able to find any evidence that those employees actually accomplished less, or any sign that the overworking employees accomplished more. “

The stress from overwork can lead to impaired sleep, depression, heavy drinking, diabetes, impaired memory and heart disease.

From Forbes:

“Burnout can cause fatigue, mood swings, irritability and a decrease in work performance. This is bad news for employers because according to Harvard Business Review, the psychological and physical problems of burned-out employees cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year in healthcare spending in the United States.”

How we balance work and life

One of the biggest ways we try to strike work-life balance is by making work time more productive.

If you work from home, have a dedicated office or work space that is used primarily for work and keep specific “office hours.” Actually get dressed and ready for the day instead of staying in your pajamas to put yourself in a “work-mode” mindset.

Block out work hours on your calendar and utilize do-not-disturb mode on your phone, email or messaging systems.

Use apps to shut down social media during work hours so you’re not distracted by your Facebook or Insta feeds.

Try programs such as Asana to manage your task lists.

Hide your work email on your phone (either by making the app hard to find and/or muting notifications) so you aren’t constantly pulled into it after hours.

REMEMBER! You deserve a healthy work-life balance even if it is just you and your cat. Couples with kids aren’t the only ones who deserve this.

Other stuff we mentioned in this episode

Megan likes to use the Focus app for time management.

Stephie found an app called Rescue Time when researching this episode to help you better understand where your time is going.

Did you know your iPhone has a “Screen Time” feature?

Honestly…stay away from Unroll.Me for unsubscribing from emails. It’s a disaster.

Megan read a great article on UN Environment about students who discovered a way to break down plastic.

We both love Jane the Virgin. And you can watch all of the episodes on Netflix!