Top 5 Ways to Achieve Balance in Your Life

By Nigel Cox

I remember the time when I worked full time. I was in a sales role and it had seemed to take over my life. Often I worked until seven in the evening and after my commute and preparing my evening meal I often found that there was not much time left for me to do the things that I wanted to do! Sometimes we seem to live to work. After my daughter was born I decided that this definitely was not for me and I changed direction completely!
 
It is however not always necessary to completely change your career if you want a better work life balance! So what could you do?
 
Compressed hours

1) I know several people who have been able to secure an agreement with their company for compressed hours. You could for instance work longer hours from Monday to Thursday and have the Friday off! Don’t automatically assume that your boss will say no. After all, a happy employee is good for the company too!
 
Part time

2) Working part time is becoming more and more accepted for men and women! Part time does not necessarily mean working only 20 hours a week, you could ask for a shorter week and work 4 days. This would be beneficial for the company too in that they will save money on your salary and companies might be keen to take you up on this in this difficult economic climate.
 
Work from home

3) Have you asked whether you could work from home for some of the time? In this age of computer technology there is no reason why employees should not be able to work from home. You will save time by not having to commute and possibly being more productive because you do not have the distractions of working in an office environment!
 
Half an hour for lunch

4) Consider reducing your lunch hour to half an hour and you could leave half an hour earlier at the end of the day.
 
Tear up your gym membership

5) This may sound an odd one but I am doing this myself. I like to be fit but I am finding it difficult to find the time to go to a gym, so I have decided to save time and money by not going to the gym but using my commute as my daily exercise! And don’t underestimate this, if you were to walk or cycle to work on a daily basis you would feel fitter very quickly and you would have spare time and cash to spend your evenings doing something you love instead of travelling to the gym!