How do you keep work-life balance?
Ryan Gilbert
24 replies
With many of us WFH now, work-life balance can tend to blur.
What are you doing to help maintain this balance?
Replies
Ryan Hoover@rrhoover
Product Hunt
It's much easier to manage when you love what you do. I'd optimize for that first.
(yes I don't have kids, yadda yadda)
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Totally agree with @rrhoover, I love what I study in college and love what I did so far.
My tips are:
1. don't think about balance, think about harmony. Balance is about getting sth with losing sth, Harmony is merge both with common interests and achieve it.
2. build strong communication skills, have your partners (both work and life) understand what you are doing is super important, belief reduces issues and worries.
I (personally) did not find a major separation between work/life feasible, especially when working remotely. For me, it's been a lot more valuable to invest in working with my team to establish asynchronous communication & decision methods so that each of our work/life balances can be respected and maintained. We still have meetings, but where possible we try to move things forward via chat and crisp documentation.
How does this lead to balance with personal life? I can use that time I'd otherwise be dealing with work stuff to play with my kid and dog, decompress, etc., or focus on something work-related for a while, and I can get to stuff I need to catch up on when I'm ready to.
CultureBot
Delineating between work and life is key. Do a walk in the morning before work, or go the gym, do something. In the evening, do something similar — play music even (that’s what i like to do).
I’ve found getting access to a coworking space and forcing myself to go twice a week helps as well re-establish balance.
HiveMind
Hey Ryan!
I have been working from home since way before the pandemic and have talked to dozens of remote teams about remote work.
Firstly, I think the term work-life harmony better suits 100% remote workers. This is due to that they are innately connected. I talk about this learning a bit more here: https://tscreativ.substack.com/p....
As for balance:
- set time for working, but allow your energy levels to guide this. If you are not in the zone, don't work.
- try to have a space for certain types of work, see: https://tscreativ.substack.com/p...
- make sure to step away as often as possible
- always prioritize life first
If anyone needs more clarification or wants to go deeper, let me know!
The Hulry Newsletter
Don't have work apps on your phone. This draws a hard line between work and personal life.
Sembly AI
Sembly is made for that — allows to take control about online meetings and increase WFH productivity 🙌
Virtuelly
I think there is way too much focus on work-life balance and a general propaganda around one needs to work 8 hours a day. It's completely personal choice - I work 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week because i really enjoy what I do. Moreover I am ready to sacrifice a few years working my ass off to reap the rewards of no work or working on my own terms in a few years.
That being said I try to define clear work hours and have a routine. Spending time with dog is a big de-stress, cooking food and just having fun with friends is a great way to switch. After a couple of month I do take a 2-3 day break as well to reset and recharge. But I am the unhappiest when I have had a non productive day so to each his own but if you are a founder you know you have to burn the mid-night oil
I WFH since 2007.
Working out is crucial.
Add an extra cardio session without thinking to change the mood or cut a non-ideal flow.
I started to work and travel from different countries. Inspirations from diverse landscapes, nature, animals and people are helping me to meditate and nano-manage my work-life balance. I'm focussing myself and my teams on a culture of async-first, documentation-first and remote-only. Calendar autonomy is one of our core values. People should be able to decide every hour anew where to invest their time and what's most important for the second, the health of their children, family, and friends, their mental state or work? By nano-balancing this in a self-responsible manner, productivity and happiness profit at the same time. The key is to find a way of life full of inspiration and balance this with the creation of a most valuable and just as inspiring product.
ComplYant
Our team blocks out time to do the things they need to do outside of work on their calendars - be it getting some exercise or taking a break. We also encourage teams that have large projects to take a day (or days) off after the project has finished!
AtomPay
I actually decided to do "fake commutes" where I get up and take a walk or jump on a bus for 30 minutes. I feel it helps me close my day and put a clear end to my work for the day! It's healthy too!
Microns
I walk with my dog in the park. Speak to my wife and spend some time with my parents. It helps me maintain balance in life.
Its more of a feeling for me
By definition, work-life balance involves the minimization of work-related stress, and the establishing of a stable and sustainable way to work while maintaining health and general well-being. https://www.clickcounter.info/
Prioritize and focus on your tasks, get the things done. Spend time with your family and loved ones. Go for outing if you feel like going out, just to change your environment. Work on your hobbies in the spare time. And don't forget to workout everyday.
There's a time for work and I don't accept calls/messages after work. There should be a line between working hours!
great question, as it can be really hard, but so necessary, to do. I live by my calendar so I block out time for things like exercise and self-care (even cooking and walks with my pup) in my calendar the same way I do for meetings. that way I know nothing will get scheduled over them and I respect that time I set aside for myself in the same way I would if I were meeting with someone else.