Work-Life Balance: 7 Important Ways To Achieve It In Nigeria

Do you wake up feeling disconnected from the world? Does the thought of work set off your anxiety? Do you spend your work days on autopilot? Do you feel your job is taking a toll on your mental health? When was the last time you had meaningful interactions with your friends and family? I am no psychologist but if your answer to more than two of those questions is yes, I am sorry to inform you that your work-life balance is out of whack.

What is work-life balance, you may wonder. It refers to how an individual manages both their work and their personal life. If you have a healthy work-life balance, are efficient at your and to decompress. Neither suffers.

Prioritizing your health is crucial because the current healthcare situation is below par and gets worse if you are a low — middle income earner. Striking a healthy work-life balance in post-Covid Nigeria is hard but your health is more important than your finances or job. You are making a slow death for yourself if you work hard and have no time to rest.

The economic stagnation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the sack of many employees. The ones with means of reasonable income put in longer hours to prove their indispensability. As if that pressure wasn’t enough, everyone is one phone/Zoom call away. So it is not enough to be physically absent from work, a supervisor or client can contact employees throughout the day.

Studies on the impact of work-life balance on job satisfaction in Nigeria have shown that people who have better work-life balance tend to work 25% harder than those who feel overworked. Many people spend their time working and making money and none to make a life. It is no surprise that an increasing number of people feel depleted, overwhelmed and discouraged. In worse situations, there have been cases of burnout, strained mental health, relationship problems and a lower satisfaction with life in general.

Ready to work towards a healthy work-life balance? Here are some things you can do to help.

1. Prioritize Your Time:

Time management is one of the key recipes of a healthy work-life balance. An effective way to do this is utilizing your peaks and troughs. Make a to-do list of your daily tasks. Break those tasks into four categories: Urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important and neither urgent nor important.

In peak periods (your busy phase) focus on the first two categories and leave the last two for when you are less busy (trough) or delegate them.

2. Nurture Your Relationships:

Your job is important, but it should not be your whole life. Don’t let your job deprive you of the activities or hobbies that make you happy.

Spend regular quality time with your family and friends. It doesn’t matter if the interactions are quick and unplanned or longer, just be intentional about it. On days when you need a pick me up, they will be the ones there for you.

3. Take Care of Your Health:

Health is wealth. This popular maxim is self-explanatory. Your primary concern should be your physical, emotional and mental health. If you get ill, don’t be afraid to call in sick. Don’t let your leave days pile up without using them. If you have mental health struggles, do things that help you feel better. Take a step back from situations at work that will trigger your anxiety.

Heather Monahan, founder of the career mentoring group, #BossinHeels said, “Prioritizing your health first and foremost will make you a better employee and person.”

Taking care of your health doesn’t have to include radical or extreme activities. It can be as simple as a routine blood pressure/sugar check, daily meditation or exercise.

4. Exercise Regularly:

It’s easy to cancel a gym session, the evening run or the kickboxing class because of impending deadlines. Eventually, this adds up and your body begins to take a toll.

You don’t even need to train like a UFC fighter. Academic studies have shown that exercising for at least 30 minutes daily helps reduce stress. So give exercise as much priority as your clients and making money. If your body is sound, that means your mind is fresh too and you are able to function optimally.

5. Do what you love and love what you do:

A study by the University of Southern California found that loving your job boosts your productivity and enhances performance. It went on saying “People who enjoy their jobs are more likely to be optimistic, motivated, learn faster, make fewer mistakes, and better business decisions.”

But what if you haven’t found that dream job or don’t even know what it is yet? Are you supposed to live in frustration and desperately searching for the perfect job you can be passionate about? Not at all.

You can and should find enjoyment in your work. It doesn’t matter if you live in Ogba and work in Lekki or the role isn’t ideal… That can be OK, for now. Try to find something to like about it. Apart from your job, is there something you are passionate about? Do you like football, mixed martial arts or music? Why not start a blog or vlog in your free time? Do you have a wonderful friend, lover, or a family that you adore? Congratulations! You’ve discovered some of life’s great turn-ons for you.

I am not encouraging you to stay in a job that takes a mental toll on you. If you don’t like what you do, search for a better one but while searching, enjoy the present one and pat yourself for a job well done.

6. Leave Work at Work:

One of the barriers to work-life balance in 2021 is easy communication channels. Google meetings, Zoom calls, phone calls, emails are few of the many channels employers contact staff regardless of time. People get home from the office and continue working instead of decompressing. This should change. Disconnect when you’re at home.

According to Psychologist Amy Sullivan, PsyD, “Put down the phone. We don’t need to be available 24/7. Constantly checking and responding to texts and emails raises stress levels, makes it difficult to connect with family members and negatively affects your sleep.”

7. Treat Yourself:

Remember the recurring episode of Parks and Recreation where the characters take time off work to spoil themselves? Do the same. Step out. Go to the beach with your loved ones. Go on that destination holiday.

Chris Chancey, career expert and CEO of Amplio Recruiting said. “The truth is, there is no nobility in not taking well-deserved time away from work; the benefits of taking a day off far outweigh the downsides. With proper planning, you can take time away without worrying about burdening your colleagues or contending with a huge workload when you return.”

Make time for a holiday and book in breaks, at least quarterly. Even a long weekend in a Badagry resort every quarter is better than nothing.

If none of these make you feel better, get professional help. If the stress is really getting to you and impacting your mental health, don’t hesitate to talk to a therapist. Although the Nigerian culture prizes hard work, you don’t have to let your job take over your life. It’s alright and incredibly important to take care of yourself first.