6 tips on how to keep the work-life balance and continue to grow

I’ve noticed that with every year, it becomes more and more difficult to keep the work-life balance in check. The problem is that we seem to always undertaking more and more responsibilities in different spheres of our life: work, social life, family, education, and more. And what happens next, is that we realize that there is no “me time” left in all this routine. The hardest truth seems to be the fact that it’s impossible to become successful and meet the need for high professional standards without growing your knowledge and skills - and for this you need free time!! So where to find this free time to learn new things to improve your life???

I have prepared 6 tips that will help you organize your time so you won’t have to delay your personal growth over and over again.

1) Write down your goals. I know you have heard this at least 1,000 times, but to start anything new, you need to clearly understand what you want to achieve as a result and why. The “why” is crucial part here as it influences your motivation.

Write down any plans, dreams and desires that you have. For example, I want to get into sports to feel better and look nicer, or to read 2 books on development to increase my professional skills.

2) 30 minutes of planning. Now start planning the implementation of your to-do-list. Open your calendar and start creating the events for the next month. This should take you only 30 minutes, but will bring to you a lot of value! Find a webinar or training that will help you to grow your skill and apply for it. Maybe you’ll have a few interesting events per month. It will be easy to attend them once you get them on your schedule. After I started doing this, I never miss any interesting event because I felt I did not have time.

3) Avoid burn-outs. It’s very important to have time for fun and hobbies. So just do what you like but switch off your phone, forget about social networks and just enjoy your time. This is a must to avoid emotional burn outs. You should do this at least once a week to avoid depression.

4) Family and Friends time. The people, that we are close to, need our attention, love, and support, so make sure you give it to them. Create your own family traditions, spend time with your friends, and don’t get distracted by work during these precious moments. My suggestion here is put your phone in silent mode, put it in the bottom of your bag, and focus on the people.

5) Work effectively. Start your working day by carefully planning your tasks and setting deadlines for each task, and most importantly don’t get distracted by time wasters like social networks and jabbering until you complete your tasks. We work effectively and fast only if we are focused on 1 task at a time, so avoid multi-tasking as well.

6) Use right tools. You can work effectively by using the right tools that save time. There are thousands of useful apps that will automate tedious routine for almost every business. For example, if you are a Salesforce developer, you can use a powerful IDE like The Welkin Suite that can save you from 30 minutes to 2 hours a day on some tasks, so when you increase your development efficiency up to 30% - there is more free time left for fun.

So don’t let your life pass by - start implementing the tips even if you heard about them many times before. The secret is in action! Start planning the events today so they will lead you to a happy life tomorrow.