2022 is almost upon us—and with it, an opportunity to reset goals for the new year. We’re taking advantage of that fresh slate to set some new intentions for the work year. At Xenium, we’ve been honing in on the challenges of work-life balance. Remote work doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and the lines of work and home continue to blur.
As we look forward to the new year, we’ve gathered some tips that can help improve work-life balance for you and your organization. From scheduling time for yourself to setting healthy boundaries, there are lots of ways, big and small, to bring a little balance back to your days.
1. Model the behavior you want to see
Leadership sets the tone for the rest of the organization. If leaders are constantly sending emails at all hours and working over the weekends, they send the message that it’s expected of everyone else. It’s important for leaders to set boundaries around communication, encourage taking time off, and generally behave in ways that make space for employees to prioritize their own work-life balance.
2. Set boundaries with your work life
It’s easy to allow our work lives to meld into our personal lives—especially when working from home. Between our laptops and our phones, it can be difficult to step away and truly unplug. Try setting rules for yourself throughout the day, whether it’s not signing on until the workday officially starts, taking a screen-free lunch break, or making weekends and evenings your time to step away and stop checking those emails.
3. Know when you’re overdoing it
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of overextended by default. Between hustle culture, rise and grind, and our collective obsession with wringing productivity out of every moment, balance is so rarely prioritized. Make 2022 the year of checking in with yourself. If you’re constantly tired, having trouble finding time for things you love, or can’t remember the last time you just had an afternoon to do nothing, it may be time to scale back.
4. Plan your day out in advance
If you’re the type of person who loves approaching life with a plan, planning balance into your workday can be a great way to make your work life more sustainable. It’s not just about planning tasks and meetings, it’s about planning time for breaks, lunch, and the non-work errands that you may need to fit into your schedule.
5. Take regular breaks in your workday
We’ve all been there. You sit down at your desk first thing in the morning, sign in to your first meeting, and the next thing you know, it’s 5:30 and you haven’t stepped outside all day. Try scheduling regular breaks into your workday. Whether it’s a walk at lunch, a few 15-minute breaks scheduled throughout the day, or the Pomodoro method of 25 minutes on, five minutes off, taking the time to step away from your desk is key to balance.
6. Block out time for deep focus
So often we move through the day bouncing from meeting to meeting, without enough time to do any actual work. Though our calendars can seem like the enemy, they can be turned into a tool for getting some balance back. Get into the habit of blocking out some meeting-free times throughout the day for your deep focus work. You’ll feel more productive at the end of the day and have the chance to check a few things off your list.
7. Get intentional with transition times
When the transition between “at home” and “at work” is walking from your bedroom to your home office, it’s important to establish rituals that tell you and your body that you’re officially on “work time” or vice versa. Whether it’s showering and putting on your work clothes or taking a brief walk to signify the end of the workday, make 2022 the year of finding transition rituals that work for you.
8. Learn how to take care of yourself
Prioritizing yourself isn’t always easy. Make 2022 the year that you focus on yourself and your health. This looks different for everyone—it’s all about what you need. That could be less screentime, healthier patterns around bedtime and sleep, focusing on healthier food and regular exercise, or developing a meditation or journaling practice. We all set work goals—setting personal goals is just as important.
9. Be present in the moment
We’ve all been there. It’s dinner time with the family but you can’t stop thinking about tomorrow’s big meeting. Or maybe it’s the other way around and your personal life is top of mind while trying to finalize that spreadsheet. It’s not easy, but finding ways to focus in and be present in the moment (whether it’s your work life or your home life) is something we’ll all be working towards in 2022.
10. Accept the peaks and valleys
No one would say that work-life balance is easy to achieve. There will be times when work is hectic, challenging, and you’re all in. There may be other times when life is throwing all sorts of things at you, and work is the last thing on your mind. Balance isn’t just about the perfect balance in every day, but finding balance over time, accepting the peaks and the valleys, and working through it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
While there are many more tips and tricks out there, these are a few that the Xenium team will be putting into practice this next year. Let us know which of these tips you’ll be trying out—or if you have others that have made a difference in your life. We hope that this next year is your most balanced year yet.