We often hear the phrase “Health is wealth”. But this phrase is very rarely practiced among the working class in the current times. We always run behind in money, forgoing our physical and mental health, which in turn, leads to an extremely stressful personal and professional life.
It is said that the key to success in every aspect of life is ‘Balance’. When we think about getting jobs, the first thing that comes to our minds is having a perfect job that gives you a good and steady income, a place to make your dream come true, and provides you with a perfect work-life balance. But in reality, we can achieve a great work-life balance at any job we do. It doesn’t have to be your dream job at your dream company, but only a few changed routines in your daily life to improve your mental health which, in turn, will change your career.
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How important is Work-Life Balance?
‘Work-Life Balance is a term that is used to indicate that you can use meet your schedules at work and also use the time to enjoy your personal life. However, COVID-19 revolutionized this concept and 70% of the workforce shifted to Work from Home. Hence, the line between work and life blurred and 24/7 work started. Now, people could set up their laptops on their kitchen tops and work while cooking. Stress is an important factor in work-life imbalance. Stressors can lead to multiple health disorders, both mentally and physically. In short, you could destroy your health in search of wealth.
According to the statistics, 1.2% of the suicide cases in India are contributed by problems in career and professional aspects. This itself makes it crucial to keep a healthy work-life balance. As Dalai Lama said, “If you feel ‘burnout’ setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself.”
Read about How Exercise can lead to better work-life balance here:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140109101742.htm
Recent studies have shown that exercise or any physical activities can lead to a better work-life balance. People who exercise regularly were more confident in dealing with their day-to-day jobs and handling their work pressure more effectively. The main reasons why exercise helps in controlling stress are as follows:
- Increases brain activity
Imagine you are walking on the street with your headphones on. When your favorite song comes on, you automatically match your step with the song and you feel energized. Why? That’s because when you put extra effort while matching your step, your body starts working out and your heart starts pumping more, releasing oxygen and blood flow to your brain. This increases brain activity and you feel distressed.
- Attain sharper memory
When there is an increase in brain activity, a person can attain a sharper memory, which is an extremely important factor at work.
- Increases stamina
With exercise, your body becomes active and it increases your stamina. This directly affects your working ability and you can work for hours without getting tired easily.
- Improves your Mood
Believe it or not, working out does improve your mood. When one exercise, the body releases endorphins (aka Happy Hormones) which help us reduce the perception of pain in our minds, and therefore reduce stress. It also wards off signs of anxiety and depression, improves sleep, and boosts your self-esteem.
- Builds health
Studies have also shown that people who are health conscious and maintain physical health tend to live longer life. Exercising improves your body mass index, strengthens your bones and muscles, regulates blood pressure, and maintains a healthy heart.
Read more about how regular exercise is part of your job:
https://hbr.org/2014/10/regular-exercise-is-part-of-your-job
Which Exercises can reduce Stress?
As we can see, having a healthy work-life balance is extremely essential for a person to have productivity. But how to achieve it? Now that’s a million-dollar question- with a simple answer.
Here are some simple exercises which can reduce stress:
- Brisk Walking
The simplest and the best way to reduce stress is by taking a walk. Research suggests that taking a 10-minute walk is more than enough to restore your mental health whenever you are disturbed. How can you not? Just walking, feeling the cool wind breezing against you, gives you the refreshment you need.
- Running
Running or Jogging helps in decreasing anxiety and stress as the body exerts itself and supplies oxygen to your brain faster.
- Swimming
If you want to do a full-body workout, Swimming is a great option. Swimming gives your body full cardiovascular exercise and resistance training. It also improves your breathing. Also, being submerged in water also gives some soothing to your stress.
- Yoga
Our ancestors have given us the best workout routine of all time. Yoga combines physical poses and controlled breathing with meditation and relaxation. Yoga helps reduce stress and tension and helps you calm down, along with flexibility.
- Boxing
When something unfair happens, it is our normal urge to punch something. So why not punch some sandbags? Boxing can be a wonderful stress reliever as it gives us immense satisfaction to think of our enemy’s face while punching a sandbag.
- Dancing
Dancing is one of the most joyful stress relievers. With good music and probably a great partner, dancing brings us joy and reaffirms our happiness. It can also be used to create social connections which give a sense of belongingness and thus reduce our anxiety.
Read more about the 12 Best Exercises to ease stress and anxiety here:
Trying to find out your strengths and weakness, do try our genetic brain profiling service which will tell you everything about yourself that even you don’t know, and book a counselling session with Gyaannirudra’s expert career counselor for personalized step-by-step advice on your career exploration journey.
How to get started?
We get all the inspiration and motivation to start caring about our mental and physical health. But how to get started? Our mind gets backtracked by this question. Slowly we lose our interest and things get back to square one. This is one of the main factors for people not being able to achieve their work-life balance. So, to answer the above question, here are some ways to stay focused on making your life better:
- Create a schedule
Creating a schedule can help you divide your time between your work and personal time. Dedicating time to work and then using the rest of your time in self-building activities and exercising helps create a healthy lifestyle. Especially if you’re working from home, creating schedules will help you regulate your time and energy and also keeps you focused.
- Ease into your routine
Even if we create schedules, sometimes it becomes difficult to follow them as we start doing everything at the same time. A slow start is always beneficial as your body needs to get used to this sudden change. For example, if you are planning to start running, run for only a short distance the first week, and then extend your distance slowly. This will help you to keep yourself motivated.
- Set goals
Once you have eased into your daily routine, set goals for the day and try to achieve them. For example, if you have completed 40 seconds plank, set the goal of achieving 50 seconds. This will give you a sense of competition against yourself and the achievement will give you a sense of immense satisfaction.
- Work out with friends if possible
They say friends are the best motivators. They challenge you, motivate you, and try to bring out the best in you. Exercising with your buddies can be fun and you’ll stay motivated throughout the routine. You could also plan for fun activities like playing frisbee or soccer together, hitting the gym, or even taking a small walk around the block.
- Stay determined
Everything in the end comes down to your determination to stay healthy. Stay motivated and focused on what you want to do and strive to achieve it. If you are really time-strapped, you can also try out a 7-minute workout which can be done in your living room using furniture. No matter what, exercise. Because only then, we can lead a happy and healthy life.
As Andrew Wilkinson rightly said- “You don’t have to make yourself miserable to be successful… success isn’t about working hard, it’s about working smart”. Leading a healthy work-life balance is not rocket science. With some tricks and a lot of determination, one can surely succeed in handling both. Remember, the best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to live a longer life. And for that, you need to keep yourself in good shape.
Read about How Exercise can provide a healthy work-life balance here:
https://thebossmagazine.com/exercise-work-life-balance/
Take advantage of this inspiration and put whatever action stood out to you into action. If you saw something, you might utilize it in your life right now.
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In case, if you feel that we have missed something important in this article and need to be included for its betterment, feel free to share your suggestions with us through comments or mail us at rudrasupport@gyaannirudra.com.
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Wishing you all a splendid and exponentially growing career journey ahead.
Ashwathi Anoopkumar is a student pursuing her Master’s in Mass Communication and Journalism. She has content writing experience of 1.8 years and is currently working as a Sales and Marketing intern at Littoral Communications Pvt Ltd.
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