09.08.2019

Resilience and your work life balance

A report from MetLife UK has found that while there is an increased awareness of the impact of mental health issues at work employers need to do more to increase workplace resilience. The company’s research found 57 per cent of employers admit they have to increase the focus on helping staff build resilience while just 40 per cent believe they are doing enough. Nearly two out of three (66 per cent) employers questioned say organisational resilience has to be driven by the company’s leadership.

AXA PPP healthcare have written advice on how employees can adapt more resilience in the workplace to help them battle amounting workloads and the pressure of day to day tasks.

From time to time, the challenges of balancing home and a busy work life can start to have an impact on your overall health and wellbeing. This presents a problem, not just for you and your team, but for the productivity of your business.

Making sure you’re able to find the right balance between competing demands of home and work, and supporting your team to do the same, can often be tricky to achieve. Below are some suggestions to help you and your team achieve a better work-life balance and help maintain your resilience.

Understand your current position

Work-life balance means different things to different people at different stages of their lives. Jobs and careers, children and other dependents, leisure pursuits and impending retirement will each assume a different level of importance as you move through your working life. Understanding your own needs and priorities is the first step to improving the balance.

What needs to change?

What are the three most important things in your life at the moment?
To what extent does the time you spend on them reflect their importance?
What types of tasks are on your ‘To Do’ list? Are they your priorities or someone else's?
What wastes your time? Could you do anything to stop it happening?
What pressures are you under at the moment? Can you prioritise them?
Could anyone help you with any of these tasks?
What would you rather be doing?
What can you change to help you achieve what you'd rather be doing?

Maintaining the balance

The list of suggestions to maintain a balance is extensive! Although most of them are common sense, some are often over-looked and often succumb to outside influences. Here are a few of them:

Don't over-commit yourself
Delegate tasks where possible
Make a list, or plan, and stick to it
When you identify a problem, talk to someone about a possible solution
Focus on critical tasks
Don’t take work home unless absolutely necessary
Don’t miss meals to save time
Plan a holiday

Your wellbeing is down to you to protect

By introducing some rules to running your daily life, and being consistent in encouraging the same behaviours within your team, you could start to achieve more of a balance and make improvements: