Balance between personal and professional life: what it is and why it’s important

In a reality where productivity is widely admired, finding balance between personal and professional life can be a challenge.

We are often led to believe that professional success offers satisfaction in all areas of life, but is this true?

While career achievements can bring a sense of accomplishment, they don’t necessarily equate to overall happiness or fulfillment. Excessive focus on work can lead to neglect of important personal aspects such as family relationships, hobbies, and personal goals.

This imbalance can result in stress, burnout, and dissatisfaction. Recognizing the importance of nurturing all facets of life is crucial for achieving true well-being. Therefore, in today’s content, we will explore this topic and provide actionable tips for finding and maintaining this crucial balance.

Continue reading to discover strategies that can help you harmonize your professional ambitions with your personal life, ensuring a more holistic and fulfilling existence.

What is work-life balance?

You certainly know someone who became absent after they started working, just as you know people who have lost countless jobs because they prioritized their personal life.

Both cases are not positive, as both excessive work and the privileging of personal life to the detriment of professional life indicate an imbalance.

Work is an obligation as it provides us with financial resources to live. However, this sector of life also helps build self-esteem and personal satisfaction, as well as providing challenges that make us feel alive.

In addition to the money itself, there are countless reasons why we give great importance to work, since professional achievement helps us build a good social image.

For this reason, it is not uncommon to see people who do everything for their professional lives, even at the cost of their personal lives or even their health.

When we talk about work-life balance we are referring to a reality where work does not override values, people and events that are important to the individual.

So, if you have stopped attending family lunches or missed your daughter’s last ballet performance because of work, it is likely that this balance is not a reality in your current life.

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How to ensure a balance between personal and professional life?

If you notice that lately life has been limited to work, and friends and family no longer invite you to things, you probably need to find the right balance between personal and professional life.

Many times we dedicate almost 100% of our day to work in the hope that this will give a positive image to the boss, or help us obtain better opportunities. 

This can happen, but think: what’s the point of being promoted and not having someone to have dinner with to celebrate? Or else, earn more and not have friends to go out to spend it with?

Life happens outside of work too, and while you confine your existence to the professional environment, people and events from your personal life continue to pass by.

Therefore, it is essential to find balance in order to obtain good opportunities and take advantage of them with those who really matter.

Below are 3 tips for finding this balance.

1. Determine a work schedule 

A huge list of overtime and finding yourself alone in the office when everyone has left on time are clear signs of imbalance.

If you notice that only you stay overtime, start asking yourself: why don’t others stay? Does this impact their image? Why would it impact mine then?

The company is the one who truly benefits from you working 12 to 14 hours a day, since over time even your health begins to wear out.

Therefore, to find a balance between personal and professional life, the first step is to determine a work schedule and stick to it. Anything will fall apart for leaving on time, like all your colleagues.

2. Value your personal life 

Sometimes, the difficulty in finding a balance between personal and professional life occurs due to the absence of a personal life.

If you don’t have friends, feel sad or haven’t cultivated personal dreams, this emphasis on professional life is completely understandable, after all, your life has been limited to work.

Therefore, to find balance it is important that you cultivate and value your personal life. Make friends, dream, create and give meaning to your life.

Over time, you will stop valuing work so much and start wanting to invest in your personal plans.

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3. Set goals outside of your professional life 

We tend to direct our life plans based on professional development, so plans like these become common:

• I will buy a house when I get promoted;
• When I get a raise I will start leaving;
• In my next job I will find true friends;
• When I get promoted, I can finally slow down a bit to have kids.

It turns out that there are always steps to climb in professional life, and if you base your personal life on developments at work, you will always leave your private plans for later, as a new goal to achieve in your career soon emerges.

Therefore, learn to set your goals without depending on professional milestones. Want to have children, and not have children after being promoted. Want to own a house, not buy a house after getting a raise.

Your plans are yours, not your work. Remember that no matter how advanced your career is, no job is stable enough to support your dreams.

If you only intend to get married when you have been with the company for 5 years, what will happen if you are fired right after closing the party? Will you give up on this plan?

Life is unpredictable, and it’s essential to pursue your personal goals regardless of your job’s status.

Value your professional life as much as you value your work, and you will certainly be able to find work-life balance with ease. Balancing your career and personal aspirations is key to long-term fulfillment and stability.

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