Even if you’ve found an ideal work/life balance in the wake of 2020 (if so, teach us your ways!), the holiday season is a whole different scene. Even as our holiday season is limited by the ongoing pandemic, there are still plenty of new factors introduced to your day-to-day life this time of year. This is only compounded by the fact that last-minute projects, Q-4 performance reviews, and budget analysis tend to make this time of year hectic on a professional level, even as everyone’s personal lives get pushed into high gear. Staying sane around the holidays is hard enough during good times, let alone after the year that we’ve had.
As the holiday season comes to a head, these are a few ways to try to keep your work/life balance in check, even as our already busy lives get even more hectic.
1. Use your PTO
Particularly if you have leftover paid time off that won’t roll over, use it! Take advantage of the extra time to get yourself ready for the holidays or even just take a breath and enjoy a day of relaxation! Studies have shown that actually using PTO is key to having a healthy work/life balance.
2. Check the clock
Keep a handle on the amount of overtime you work this time of year. It’s easy to get swept up in tasks and forget to stop working. So if you are a person who sits down at 9 a.m. and forgets to look at the clock until 7 p.m., set a timer to remind yourself to take breaks and stop work at quitting time.
3. Check the company culture
If the only way that you feel you can contribute to your company is by working 70-80 hour weeks, you may need to re-evaluate whether that company culture is right for you. According to this study, almost one in four people say that their company culture is the biggest impediment to a healthy work/life balance. If you are one of those people and your performance is evaluated based on how much overtime you work rather than how effectively you do your job, you may want to consider a change in career.
Balancing responsibilities at work and the responsibilities you have for yourself has been an almost impossible task this year. Whether you feel like you’ve done a good job of giving yourself time to breathe or you know you completely ignored your own needs, now is as good a time as any to make a change. Keep in mind that your life is just as important as your job and that work will always be there in one form or another… take a little time to smell the mistletoe this year!
