Many people assume that companies couldn’t care less about life/work balance. On the contrary, many companies are now trying to make sure their employees are healthy, happy and balanced. As a result, they want to ensure any new employee they take on (or anyone they promote) embodies these same characteristics. The reality is that only by being a balanced employee can you attract a truly balanced employer.
Below, you’ll find some ways you can become the balanced employee companies want, as well as how life/work balance can help advance your career. These are all ideas you can implement at the office and at home.
Note: I call it “life/work balance,” instead of the more commonly phrased “work/life balance,” as I believe that only by putting life first can you start to have true balance.
Start Hitting the Gym Again
If you’ve been thinking about getting healthier, you can now add another reason to the list of why you should: companies know that healthy people help make them profits.
Think about it — healthy people take fewer sick days, look good and have a lot of energy. More specifically, companies know that unhealthy people cost them their bottom line. To put it into numbers, unhealthy employees cost companies $1.1 trillion in lost productivity. Many companies have tried to combat this by implementing healthy initiatives that encourage employees to take care of themselves, like lunchtime yoga or run clubs.
If it’s been a while since you’ve hit the gym, you may want to get yourself a new membership and stick to it. As a bonus, we all know that exercise helps us deal with stress, an attribute that’s essential for high-level jobs.
Practice Determining Priorities
Having priorities and acting accordingly not only helps you become less stressed; it also shows a company that you can handle getting the important stuff done. Furthermore, multitasking actually makes people less productive, so prioritizing allows you to follow through on your responsibilities at your highest capacity.
You can start by ridding your schedule of anything that only makes you seem busy. For some, this may mean leaving for lunch instead of working at their desk. For others, it may require dropping committees they joined but have no interest in. Take a look at your calendar and start getting rid of anything that isn’t essential.
Learn How to Outsource and Delegate
At an executive level, you will be expected to outsource and delegate to other employees or departments; however, this a skill many people can’t seem to master. If you have the tendency to want to do everything yourself, stop it and start asking for help.
By delegating to others, you give yourself the space to tackle your most important tasks for the company. It also lifts a weight off your shoulders when you realize you don’t have to do everything by yourself. This is a skill that hiring managers are really looking out for, so make sure to give them concrete examples of how you delegate tasks to others.
Start Setting Clear Boundaries
Employees oftentimes find themselves stressed and unproductive because they didn’t put proper boundaries in place. Maybe they have an open door policy and people pop in at all hours of the day, causing them to lose their focus and take on too much. Or perhaps they’re still answering work emails in the wee hours of the night. Neither of these scenarios help employees get their work done, and they could have negative long-term effects on their health. The only way to combat this is to set boundaries and stick to them.
In order to get the most out of your career, you must make sure you’re taking care of yourself. By implementing some of these strategies, you not only start living a healthier life; you also express the qualities companies are looking for in a leader.
How can you take steps to achieve great life/work balance? Share in the comments!
This post originally appeared on Chameleon Resumes.
Image: Flickr
