Some ways you can prioritize work-life balance include taking breaks, using transitions, and snoozing certain apps outside of work hours.
Work-life balance can seem like an amorphous topic, especially in the age of remote work. It can be challenging to achieve, and it may not feel like you can strike a completely perfect balance all of the time.
However, research shows that work-life balance is linked with higher job satisfaction and performance.
If you don’t know where to start, keep reading for our team’s personal strategies.
Editor Sarah Matysiak keeps work apps on her phone, but she snoozes notifications outside of working hours and does not have notifications turned on at all for her work email.
“I have the app more so for convenience,” she says. “I’ll eat breakfast in front of my computer, but I’m getting better at keeping lunchtime just to myself.”
Senior editor Kenny Thapoung deletes work-related apps when he goes on vacation. That way, he is not tempted to check in when there’s downtime.
Manager Heidi Smith says that she used to feel like she needed to be available during all the hours her team was logged on. However, she says that this approach was not fair to her mental well-being or her kids.
“When I log off, I set Slack to ‘out of office’, pause notifications, and close the office door,” she says. “During vacations, email & Slack are set to ‘out of office’, and I move Slack off my phone home screen, so I don’t even see notifications! Anyone who needs to reach me knows how!”
Keep a separate work space
Many people on our team keep an office space that serves as a designated work zone. All work is done in this area, and no work is done outside of it—that includes answering messages and emails!
Editor Morgan Mandriota says that setting strict work hours made the biggest difference for her.
“I used to work and check emails and Slack messages at all hours from the moment I woke up until 11 p.m. sometimes, especially if I got a random surge of productivity or energy at night,” she says.
“Now, I restrict myself to working no later than 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, no matter what, so my nights and weekends are always free.”
On the other hand, being less rigid with work hours may work better for you.
Editor Ginger Wojcik has found that being looser with her working hours helps her get more done and feel less stressed.
Instead of putting a bunch of pressure on herself to focus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, she allows herself to take her dog for an extended walk or go do errands midday and make up those hours at other times.
“This going-with-the-flow approach feels like working with my brain, instead of working against it,” she says.
For health coach Kristin Taylor Carlisle, work-life balance involves setting clear boundaries, protecting time away from work, and saying “no” when needed.
She makes sure she schedules time for self-care, whether it’s a walk, gardening, or just spending time with the kids.
” If we work through our breaks and don’t care for ourselves, we won’t be able to show up fully in all aspects of our lives,” she says.
Editor Naomi Farr says she makes sure she takes her 30-minute lunch break every day, no matter what.
“My non-work time is sacred, and this is why I don’t work in daily news,” she says.
Take your PTO
Editor Mike Hoskins schedules two vacations a year: a shorter one in the spring and a longer vacation in the fall.
“I also happen to know my mental health on PTO and after depends on not playing so much catchup, so I manage the ‘little things’ accordingly as my PTO and mental health allow,” he says.
Working from home, editor Catherine Connelly finds it helpful to have something in her routine that transitions her out of work mode and requires her to log off and change focus.
This can look like cooking dinner or some kind of exercise. But she likes to try setting a time for herself as a hard stop to close her computer, rather than trying to also keep working while cooking dinner or watching TV.
“It can be different each day, but just making that deal with myself for when work stops is helpful, as if I were leaving the office to drive home,” she says.
Farr likes to physically move spaces during the day.
“I have a designated office in my home and spend mornings in there because that’s when I’m most productive, but sometimes in the afternoon I’ll move my work to the kitchen table or another area of the house for an hour to break things up,” she says.
There are many different methods you can implement to achieve work-life balance—some even contradict themselves. You don’t have to use all of these strategies. Ultimately, you know yourself best.
Trying several different strategies can help narrow down what works for you and what doesn’t.