Mark Lyttleton is business angel and business mentor with a special interest in supporting start-ups and early-stage companies created with a focus on achieving a positive planetary impact. With stakes in more than 30 companies, he provides founders with more than strategic and financial support, providing personal advice to help them cope with the considerable pressures involved in establishing, running and growing a successful business.
The recent explosion in remote working has highlighted negative as well as positive impacts from the employee’s perspective. This article will explore the issue of work-life balance, particularly in the context of home-working.
Irrespective of the industry they operate in or their professional level, all employees need time to do things outside of their working life. However, increasingly, households with two working parents struggle to find to find free time to spend time together, exercise, pursue their favourite hobbies or even just get a decent night’s sleep.
With many companies retaining at least hybrid working practices in 2023, the line between work and home has become blurred for many families. The embedded infographic explores the sudden increase in homeworking driven by COVID-19.
For parents juggling their work and home life, scheduling Zoom calls between caring for their children, this mix can be incredibly stressful. Given the current economic climate, many employees are anxious about their jobs and economic security. Irrespective of industry, all of these pressures can take their toll. You can learn more about the global impact of employee mental health issues on businesses by viewing the attached PDF.
Self-care is often mistaken for self-indulgence. However, workers need to be able to clear their head of work matters when in the home, enabling them to enjoy more of their leisure time and ultimately helping to improve their overall wellbeing, boosting their performance when they are working.
Achieving a healthy work-life balance is about more than just increased leisure time. After all, this will have little benefit if the employee spends this added free time worrying about work-related issues.
Rather, employees need to build a system that enables them to separate work and personal time, setting daily goals, tracking and scheduling work durations, prioritising tasks, avoiding the trap of perfectionism, and setting clear boundaries between their work and personal life. If you are interested in learning more about achieving a healthy work-life balance, the embedded video provides more pointers.