Do you feel constantly drained by your work? Do you find yourself living to work, rather than working to live? Are you not sure if you have a healthy work/life balance? The start of the new year is the perfect time to check in and ask yourself these questions. It is SO important for your happiness and success that you have a healthy work/life balance. Read below for our five signs that you are working too much:
- You Never Use Your PTO: Listen, everyone needs a break. Use that PTO! Even if you don’t have any extravagant plans or vacations booked, take some time off for yourself. We all need to rest and reset from time to time.
- You Skip Your Lunch Breaks: Do you find yourself working through most of your lunch breaks? If the answer is yes, then you should rethink how you use that time. We all need time to decompress and recharge. If you’re not sure what to do with your break, try using that time to go for a walk, listen to a podcast, work out, or watch an episode of a show. When your break is over, you will be just fine getting right back into the work grind and knocking out the tasks on your priority list!
- You Regularly Check/Answer Emails Off the Clock: Sometimes, you may not realize how much you do this, but it is so important to recognize when you do. It is crucial to establish boundaries if you find yourself doing this often. For example, start by turning off any work notifications on your phone. If you still find yourself clicking on your email app, exit the app the second you realize what you’re doing. Any late night or weekend emails can wait. All the minutes that you spend checking in on your work off the clock add up and take away from having a healthy work/life balance.
- Work is Always on Your Mind: Do you find yourself constantly thinking and talking about work? Are you often venting about work during family dinner? Is work the first thing you bring up when someone asks you, “how’s life?” Do you spend your Sundays preparing for the work week ahead? If you answered yes to these questions, then it may be time to pause and reflect on how much of your life is being consumed by your work. Work should not be on your mind 24/7.
- You Have Trouble Sleeping: If work is always on your mind and leading you to constantly feel stressed, it can definitely affect your sleep. Without the proper amount of sleep, your mind and body can suffer many consequences. A lack of sleep can negatively affect your ability to think, your mood, your health, and so much more. It is important to find a way to relax and get the stresses of work off your mind, so you are able to get the proper amount of sleep every night. Being well rested sets you up for success in your everyday life!
If work/life balance is truly a struggle and you can't seem to find the right recipe for well-rounded success, perhaps the roll you're in is too much and your job is placing unnecessarily difficult demands on you. If you're an IT professional looking for a new opportunity that lends itself to better work/life balance without compromising your desired professional outcomes, let's have a conversation! Our team of tech recruiters work to place IT candidates in the right places for ensured success and reward.
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