What is Work-Life Balance, and How Can You Improve It?

By now, we’ve all heard of work-life balance — but what does good work-life balance actually entail? For some, it’s setting realistic hours to have the freedom to spend more time with friends and family. For others, it’s a willingness to work longer hours — but with the condition that once they’re clocked out, they’re no longer on call. 

These ideas only begin to scratch the surface. Because each of us has our own ideas of work-life balance, there are seemingly endless possibilities of what the term entails. If you’re struggling to understand what constitutes work-life balance, we’re here to help. 

In this post, we’ll delve into the definition of work-life balance in the modern workplace, give tips on improving it, and discuss how companies can create a healthy culture. Let’s get started. 

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What is work-life balance?

In basic terms, work-life balance can be defined as the ratio of time spent doing one’s job vs. the time spent on life outside of work. It’s about striking a balance between one’s professional and personal life.

However, what’s changed with this definition at the turn of the 2020s is that work-life balance isn’t just about being at work but rather doing work. With hybrid and remote work becoming increasingly popular, personal life doesn’t start when one leaves the workplace. 

In years past, simply leaving the office meant one could give their undivided attention to life outside of work. However, the rapid growth of technology makes it harder and harder to unplug when we leave our respective places of work. 

For example, in 1994, if an employee left the office to see their child’s soccer game, their family had their undivided attention. These days, we take our mobile devices (and, therefore, email, Slack, and other communication channels) with us everywhere. 

Now more than ever, it’s essential that both employers and employees do their part to set boundaries for better work-life balance. In fact, studies have found that poor work-life balance leads to increased turnover, lower physical and psychological well-being, decreased productivity, and an uptick in stress-related health issues. 

Considering these negative effects, what steps can we take to improve work-life balance? Let’s take a look. 

How to improve work-life balance?

Improving work-life balance requires a conscious effort from all parties involved. Unfortunately, it may also include revisiting process documentation to focus on flexible work arrangements, boundaries, and best communication practices.

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Like all collaboration issues, it takes two to tango when it comes to work-life balance. That’s why we’ve put together some tips for employees and employers on building better relationships between work and personal life. First up, some strategies employees can use. 

Strategies for employees

If you’re an employee reading this post, I have some bad news: you will have to work hard to protect your time and articulate your needs. Even the best employers will push you to your limits at times. It’s on you to do your part to protect your work-life balance by: 

• Setting boundaries. We all want to do well in our respective roles, but setting boundaries is crucial. If you’re the type to go above and beyond, managers can’t help but uncover that you’re someone they can lean on when there’s extra work to be done. Learn to say no politely but firmly before it’s too late. 
  
• Time management. Not all work-life balance issues come from the employer. If you’re struggling to focus at work, even a manageable workload can start to pile up. If you feel like your issues are coming due to poor organization and focus, try some time management techniques for a fresh perspective. 
  
• Self-care. How can your employer take care of you if you aren’t first taking care of yourself? Make sure to speak up in one-on-ones, take advantage of any wellness benefits, and prioritize your mental health in and outside of work. 

Strategies for employers

If you’re an employer looking to help your team find a healthy work-life balance, you can employ several strategies. You can improve employee well-being, reduce retention, and increase organizational productivity with the right approach. You can start by: 

• Providing flexible work arrangements. 90% of employees claim that flexible work arrangements would help improve a poor work-life balance. Here at Hubstaff, we’re a fully remote, asynchronous team that is free to break up our work schedules however we like.
  
• Creating a supportive workplace culture. It’s crucial to create a culture where employees support one another. Whether your employees work in shifts or are salaried, make sure you have policies and best practices in place to ensure employees can cover for one another. This makes it easier for everyone to take PTO, step away to attend to family or personal relationships, or even take a sick or mental health day. 
  
• Implementing the right technology tools. It’s challenging to help your team foster a healthy work-life balance — especially when working remotely. Look to technology like time tracking tools to ensure employees aren’t overworking themselves. Use these tools to check in or schedule one-on-ones to reduce stress before burnout inevitably ensues. 

Find a better work-life balance with Insights

If you’re looking to go a step further to check in on the mental health and well-being of your remote team, look no further. With Hubstaff’s Insights add-on, you can supplement time and activity tracking data with real-time updates on: 

• Work highlights. Use the Highlights widget to see real-time analytics based on fluctuations in activity, hours worked, and more. You’ll be able to cut down on overtime costs and spot burnout before it happens.
  
• Time spent in meetings. Balance time spent in meetings vs. focus time to ensure employees have enough time to complete the work in front of them. You can also set utilization targets to see when your team is at capacity. 
  
• Classify work hours. Adjust priorities and identify the types of tasks your team works on. You’ll be able to see how much time your team is spending on minuscule admin work and clear the way for core work. 

How to implement work-life balance?

You won’t be able to achieve a work-life balance overnight. Instead, create a culture of open communication and allow your team to share their insights on any struggles related to work-life balance. Then, take that information and develop policies centered around communication, hours worked, and other contributing factors to start to set things in motion. 

While you work to adjust policies, there are some basic steps you can take to ensure better work-life balance like: 

• Encouraging teams to take breaks to recharge
• Improving time management skills by adopting new technology
• Try creating a work-from-home policy for better work-life integration
• Experiment with flexible schedules and consider them for your WFM policy
• Practice self-compassion
• Update your vacation policy and articulate how employees will help each other

Why is work-life balance at work important?

By now, you’ve seen the positive and negative impact of work-life balance and how it can impact employee mental health (and ultimately your bottom line). At the end of the day, you need to approach work-life balance the same way you would DEIA, vacation, or any other policy at your company.

When you make a conscious effort to carve out policies that incentivize work-life balance, you’ll likely see a positive impact on productivity, retention, and the well-being of your employees. Have any tips for finding a better balance in your personal and professional life? We’d love to hear from you.