With the long hours of daylight available and that all-important summer vacation on the horizon, now is the ideal time to consider how to achieve your work activities in the most effective way possible. This will help you to achieve that essential work-life balance throughout the summer months and beyond. Before we offer advice on how to achieve the balance, ask yourself these questions:

  • When you arrive home from work, do you immediately head to the comfiest place in your house so you can switch off and recoup your energy before the next begins?
  • Are you able to spend time doing activities that you enjoy, or is this only something you would entertain on the weekend?
  • What is your life experience like outside of the office?

Whatever your response may be to these questions, there is always room for a better balance in the summer. Follow these steps to achieve a better work-life balance:

Respect Your Personal Commitments

Understandably at times, there is always a genuine reason for putting something in front of a casual meet up with friends or family. However, personal commitments are just as important as working commitments and one of the major factors you need to be mindful of is choosing one over the other.

Time spent with friends, family, loved ones, or even alone doing something you enjoy is equally if not arguably more important than getting that report turned in on time or sending emails out to your team with the latest performance figures. Do not constantly make personal sacrifices to meet with working commitments as this erodes your personal time and can really impact your relationships in the long run.

Work Smarter, Not Longer

Focus your time on working on matters that add greater value to the business. Doing more isn’t always the same as adding more value. Low-value activities need to have a lesser priority, and, in many cases, these tasks can be delegated or “ditched” altogether.

Prioritize your tasks in order of those which deliver the most value back and do not let those matters which arise creep in and take control. Meetings for meetings sakes are an easy way to lose hours of your working week. Stay focused and always assess the overall value of any activity you undertake at work.

Always Take Breaks

So many people work through breaks and lunches with the view that they will get more done and it will help them to finish their tasks and working day more promptly. Research proves that taking regular breaks helps to give you a better level of focus and just a short break away from tasks or the computer can help you perform more optimally than if were to stay at your desk all day. Aside from the obvious health benefits, in order to remain sharp and productive, you need to take your breaks.

Follow these three quick and easy steps in your daily and weekly working routine, and you will start to appreciate a better work-life-balance for yourself sooner than you think. Would you like more tips on how to use your time more efficiently? Read my blog post How to Manage Time More Effectively: A Few Helpful Tips for Executives.