When working as a freelance professional - while the flexibility is amazing - it can also sometimes be challenging to establish work-life boundaries.
Valuing your time and energy outside of work is more needed than most people realize and Oomple is a strong advocate for Life-work balance (see what we did there). Here are 7 reminders why it is important to have a life outside of work.
1) Enjoy New Experiences
The world is too big to stay in one place and life is too short to just focus on one thing. Splurge a bit and budget some money to do something totally new, like joining a recreational hockey team, taking a cooking class or yoga workshop after work. You’ll be grateful that you did.
Trying something new and being around a different group of people other than your employees can entice you to keep learning, engage with new experiences and expand your social network.
2) Leave Work At Work.
If you leave your office, go home, open up your laptop and start hustling answering more emails, you’re clearly missing out on life.
Leave work at work (or in a different space if you're working from home). You can also set yourself some time boundaries so that you stick to them. At 5pm, that's it, the laptop is shut and you open your mind up to relaxing or being preset with the fam.
3) Have a ‘Work Hard, Play Harder’ Mentality.
When we have something to look forward to outside of the work, it can be motivation to work hard so you can treat yourself at the end of the week. It’s not a bad idea to plan ahead for dinner and drinks with friends so you do have something to look forward to.
This idea also ties into making a conscious effort to celebrate the small accomplishments that you have achieved during your work week. With your employees or not, be sure to recognize your hard work and celebrate the success outside of work. Nothing wrong with a celebratory patio beverage, right?
4) Go Out. You are Networking and You Don’t Even Know It.
Socializing after work with friends and new friends is networking incognito. Of course, you will talk about your job which can always spark up interesting conversations and new relationships.
People love connecting their friends with others in the networks. Put on your extrovert pants on, go out and make an effort to socialize more. How does gaining a new friend make you feel?
5) Work For a Company that Encourages Work-Life Balance.
At Oomple, we pride ourselves on strong company culture and work-life balance. Our leadership not only requires employees to have a hobby, they actively encourage us to take time to pursue our interests, plus spend time with our families and friends. They also encourage health and fitness, which we participate in weekly yoga classes as a team.
As a result, we bring more energy, happiness and creative work and less likely to leave the company. I find you'll do your job better if you take time to recharge.
6) New Goals + New Routine = Increased Motivation
Creating weekly goals and breaking a new routine can increase your energy levels. Changing your routine can be as simple as going out for dinner with a friend or making two different group exercise classes. Guaranteed, you will find an increase in motivation and energy levels that can carry on into the next work day.
Try this week to split up your week with a new goal or routine. Try something on Wednesday.Get over that hump! #humpday
7) Your Body Will Thank You.
My partner is a lawyer. Without a doubt, the profession is stressful – mentality and even physically. He is either staring at a computer screen all day or meeting with clients to make tough yet very important decisions. Talk about stressful.
When he comes home and knows the kind of stress his body is in, he suggests going for a long walk. Light physical activity. We both ‘walk’ away from work as far as possible. So make sure you give your body and mind some TLC after a long day!