Having a good work-life balance helps you maximize happiness. It lets you see the world in a different light. From relationships to careers, you’ll see an increase in energy accompanying you everywhere.
If you are going through hardship and want to quit struggling in a bottomless abyss, then it’s time to focus on setting goals to bring stability back to your life.
You will be able to progress toward the life you deeply yearn for. Below are 9 work-life balance goals to set and pursue in your day-to-day life.
9 Work-Life Balance Goals
1. Give Yourself a Personal Day
Supporting the demands of your personal life and career can be challenging. Failing to set goals to look after your well-being sets the stage for burnout and other negative emotions.
It’s better to achieve a proper work-life balance so you aren’t buried in the stress of everyday life.
Consider setting limits to have more time to enjoy fun hobbies and relax. If you are at work, get your priorities straight, and don’t stretch yourself too thin. And if you can, ask your manager about other flexible schedules available.
In your downtime, ensure you get enough physical activity in your day. It wouldn’t be game over if you took a 10-minute walk around your neighborhood park.
It would be best if you dedicated time to hobbies that you enjoy, like reading, kayaking, or even sitting out in the sun.
Continuously overworking yourself will cause you to be exhausted and listless. As days go by, you won’t have the mental capacity to progress. Your productivity will plummet, and you’ll be less efficient.
Many successful CEOs know that developing work-life balance goals is pivotal to maximizing life’s enjoyment. They set practical goals that support their well-being, and you should naturally follow suit.
2. Limit Your Screen Time
Spending too much time on a digital screen can be dangerously addictive. Nowadays, almost everyone uses electronics daily. We use it to check our emails, text friends, and catch up with our favorite celebrities on social media.
Excessive screen time sucks away the precious time we have. Stop checking your phone every 10 minutes when you get a notification. Only some notifications require your immediate attention.
It’s important to set boundaries for yourself. For example, if screen time affects your sleep, don’t use your phone in bed at night. Have it entirely out of sight and perhaps even in another room.
Of course, screen time isn’t entirely unhealthy. Looking at a screen is unavoidable when you want to read the news or take an online course. But the idea is to let go of your digital devices if it’s interrupting your relationships, career, and sleep.
Trimming down your screen time and setting hard limits can help refocus your attention on what truly adds to a fulfilling life.
Starting a successful business, advancing your career, or spending more time with loved ones—these pursuits are far more valuable than the usual humdrum we see online.
3. Encourage Healthier Habits
A fantastic work-life balance goal is to encourage healthier habits. Most people allow poor habits to limit their future accomplishments. They need a supportive routine that keeps them inspired and focused.
Closely inspect the habits in your life. Find what’s successfully working, what needs to be removed, and what new habits you should develop to manage your life better.
- Could you watch less TV every day?
- Do you shop at the clothing mall more than you would like?
- Are you partying out with friends every single week?
Building healthy habits allows you to live your ideal life, so do whatever it takes to have a consistent routine to keep you on track.
Good habits will intertwine to form an unbreakable system to protect your life from chaos. At that point, it will be a matter of time before you accomplish greatness.
4. Apply the Pomodoro Technique
Have you ever worked tirelessly for hours and hours, feeling mentally exhausted afterward? The fact is that we are all humans and aren’t designed to operate at peak performance 24/7.
Fortunately, the Pomodoro Technique is a great way to increase your productivity and focus. You work in a specific block of time, followed by a short break. Then you continue working on the task and repeating this cycle.
It’s common to set a 25-minute timer to work on a task before taking a 5-minute break. However, I would experiment with different time intervals to see what leads to the best results.
In my case, I found it practical to work for one hour, followed by a 15-minute rest. My break usually entails sitting on my porch to clear my mind and get some sunshine.
Everyone has a different routine that works best for them. Figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Using the Pomodoro Technique gives you leeway to rest and maintain your willpower. And it’s not an exaggeration to say you’ll achieve more work in less time.
On the other hand, working long hours with no breaks isn’t a brilliant idea. Spending loads of time and energy on a task doesn’t always mean better results.
The first three hours will be your most productive. But the fourth and fifth hours usually won’t contribute significantly.
Hence, life isn’t a race to the finish line—no need to rush. Take things easy and conserve your energy; take rests, and you will travel further.
5. Automate Your Tasks
We all have those tedious, repetitive tasks we do routinely. It can be paying the bills, deciding what to wear outside, or cleaning your home.
What if you could automate these small things? You would surely clear up extra time in your life. Since nobody has over 24 hours each day, managing every valuable second you have would make sense.
Here are a few ways to automate your life and free up more time every day:
- Schedule house cleaning with a robot vacuum
- Set up autopay to automatically pay your bills
- Use an app to decide on an outfit for a specific day
- Create an email signature with your name, phone number, etc.
Automating your life takes the brainwork out of the unnecessary. You will be less distracted by minor details and pay attention to more pressing matters.
For instance, Mark Zuckerberg wears the same outfit every day. He heads into the office with the same gray t-shirt.
He knows making as few decisions as possible on anything unrelated to his business is pivotal to reaching success. After all, life is short. You should naturally aim to make your life more meaningful.
6. Create an Action Plan
Some people can feel stuck and confused about where their life is heading. They need a guidepost to point them to the right path.
An action plan can do wonders for you and help you better balance your work and personal life. It might sound intimidating, but it only requires a bit of thinking ahead.
First, figure out what your ultimate goal is in life. Do you want to find your perfect soulmate? Want to start a successful business venture? Or do you dream of becoming an Olympic athlete?
When you know your goal, the next step is to divide your primary goal into smaller milestones. And make sure it is realistic.
Use the SMART goals framework to maximize your chances of success. All your goals should ideally be:
- Specific: Make sure to define your goal clearly. Instead of saying you want to lose weight, set an actual number, like losing 20 pounds.
- Measurable: You should measure your goal, so try to track your progress each week or month.
- Attainable: Don’t set too high of a challenge, and ensure your goal is actually achievable.
- Relevant: Your goal should align with your passion, capabilities, and needs.
- Time-based: Set a specific end date to reach your goal. For example, it can be to increase your business revenue by 20% in the next year.
By now, you have a simple action plan. Now it’s time to follow through the motions and tackle your milestones one at a time.
7. Learn to Prioritize
Prioritization is a powerful tool to keep your life in order. Since it’s impossible to juggle all of life’s demands, it’s better to let some balls drop.
You will stay laser-focused on what matters most by saying no to what doesn’t serve your biggest goals. List the 3-5 most important tasks each day and prioritize them as you see fit.
A solid sense of what’s crucial and what isn’t will allow you to effectively decide what deserves your time and manpower.
And if something detracts time from your objectives, such as video games or watching TV, consider deprioritizing them. This approach will push you to handle the more critical tasks first.
“You are all over the map, figure out the top 5 things you want to focus on and get rid of the rest.”
– Steve Jobs
8. Simplify and Declutter
It’s challenging to stay on top of things when our desk is overflowing with paper and empty coffee cups. Always be on the lookout to make space—mentally, physically, and digitally.
Here are a few ways to do this:
- Clean up your desk and close all your tabs and apps
- Donate old clothes or books you no longer use
- Take walks in nature to calm your stressed mind
- Jot down your ideas so that you don’t forget them
A hectic life results from too many things to think about. Aim to organize and declutter your life because, as they say, less is more.
And if you ever feel daunted by everything, know it’s okay to take small steps toward decluttering. You can aim to throw away an old item every other day.
After a couple of months, your home and work environment will drastically improve. A sense of clarity will swell up within you.
9. Reflect on Past Mistakes
When was the last time you thought about your past failures? I’m sure everybody hates thinking about their mistakes.
But if you want to manage your life, dive deep into the things that didn’t go as planned. More likely than not, you made a mistake that cost you some pain and anguish.
Having time to review your past is how you grow and improve daily. Ask yourself these three questions:
- What did I do wrong?
- How can I improve from this setback?
- What went right?
You get the idea. Reflecting on your past can seem counter-intuitive since you are stuck in what’s already happened. But know that reviewing your life is vital to attaining excellence.
Nobody wants to be stagnant, so carve out time to reflect on yourself. Make the right choices that take you to your distant dreams.
Final Thoughts
Life is full of twists and turns. Navigating through it all is an enormous obstacle. But with these goals to improve your work-life balance, you’ll make wise choices to maintain clarity and joy.
Keep in mind that goal setting is instrumental in investing in yourself. It would be regretful to lack goals to manage your work and life schedule.
Ultimately, strive to enjoy all that life offers. Expand your horizons to add a tinge of spice to your day.
