8 Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance This Fall

Is there a time of year more difficult to concentrate on work than fall? While the sun hides behind clouds in the Pacific Northwest, you may find yourself daydreaming about ditching your desktop and falling into a pile of leaves. With so many fall activities beckoning, it’s easy to get a little distracted.

To get out and enjoy fall (while remaining employed, of course), you need to find work-life balance. Here’s a few reasons why you need to incorporate this balance sooner rather than later:

• Lower stress levels
• Higher productivity
• Personal contentment

Now, what that balance looks like is unique to pretty much everyone: coaching your daughter’s softball team; going to yoga; serving food at the homeless shelter; or golfing 18 holes once a week. The key is to choose a few things and make them a priority. Here are our 8 work-life balance tips to help keep you productive (and relaxed!) this fall:

1. Get outside. Bike to work in the morning. Eat your lunch at a park. Hold meetings on your building’s patio. Pick up dinner at the farmer’s market on your lunch break—find an excuse to soak up those rays during your free time. That way, you won’t feel as if you’re missing out on all the good weather.
2. Exercise. Find a nearby trail for a lunchtime walk or swim laps at the local club or community pool. It will recharge your batteries and make your afternoons more productive.
3. Stay focused on the work. Office life can be distracting. Chatty co-workers, instant messages, social media and email can derail productivity. Designate a specific time for checking Facebook, answering emails and socializing in the break room. Keep a list of what you need to accomplish and hammer away at it first thing before checking your inbox or listening to getting on the phone.
4. Keep a detailed calendar. It will keep you organized and on task at work and will free up your personal time. Make sure to pencil in personal time.
5. Use your vacation days. You’ve earned that time. Don’t feel guilty about it, and don’t worry: the office will still be there when you get back. Even if it means taking a few half-days on Friday, a long weekend can do wonders for your mental health.
6. Delegate tasks. You don’t have to do it all. Take up your neighbor’s offer to pick up the kids from summer camp. Ask your spouse to be in charge of dinner. Hire yard service once a month so you don’t spend all weekend pulling weeds.
7. Be a tourist in your own city. Fall is jam-packed with festivals, outdoor pumpkin patches and other special events meant to attract tourists. Get to the office an hour early and then leave work a little early or spend a long lunch to enjoy some culture with your officemates.
8. Don’t be hemmed in by the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday. Increasingly, professionals use traditional work hours to take care of personal tasks such as child care needs and then make up for lost time in the evenings. Thanks to mobile technology, it’s easier to complete tasks at home after the kids are in bed.

Work-life balance might seem like lofty concept, but it can be achieved if you make it a priority. By cutting out the activities that detract from your well-being and spending more time outside of work on the things that leave you feeling fulfilled, you will become a much happier, healthier and more productive employee. Most employers recognize that and are willing to offer flexibility. Just be reasonable with your requests and get your work done.

Pacific Office Automation believes an organized, efficient workflow can take the drudgery out of menial office tasks leaving employees with more time to get important work done. Contact us today to find out more about our workflow solutions.