The Importance of Work-Life Balance & How Workflow Management Software Can Help You Achieve it!

Work-life balance is a huge factor in achieving an overall healthy environment both inside and outside of your job. Finding a good medium between your personal and work life can provide you with various benefits such as reducing stress and burnout, increased productivity while at work, improvements in mental and physical health, and improved morale. 

According to Statistica, an average of 72% of people consider work-life balance when applying to jobs. This statistic shows that employees want to work for companies that not only understand their need for balance but also encourage it. 

The idea behind work-life balance is to have employees work their designated hours while staying productive and then proceed to leave work on time without worrying about their jobs for the rest of the night. 

Employees should be able to turn off their work computers and spend the rest of their day bettering themselves. Whether that be through self-care, working out, cooking a nice meal, spending time with their loved ones, vegging out on the couch, etc. 

Achieving work-life balance within your organization can be tricky, especially when working remotely, but there are steps you can take to ensure all employees are feeling fulfilled in their work lives AND in their personal lives. 

The question remains, how does one achieve work-life balance? 

A great way to achieve work-life balance is by using workflow management tools. Workflow management software is specifically designed to help teams collaborate, communicate, and organize their workload. These tools can improve your efficiency on an exponential level which will then allow you to feel peace of mind when leaving the office and enjoying the rest of the day for yourself. 

Check out these 4 steps on how to balance your work and personal life by utilizing workflow management tools!

Step 1: Leave Your Work at Work 

A massive component in achieving a good work-life balance is to leave your work at work. The ideal scenario is one where you close your laptop and can immediately turn your “work brain” off in order to solely focus on yourself. 

According to HealthCareers, 26% of Americans continue to work outside of their working hours. This heavy workload can lead to stress, burnout, and an overall lack of a fulfilling personal life. It is essential to create limits and boundaries in your life in order to successfully achieve a work-life balance. 

Creating boundaries can be difficult when working remotely, especially when your workspace is in close proximity to your personal space. It’s not easy to separate work from pleasure when your living room table is scattered with documents, contracts, and invoices. 

A great way to ensure that your paperwork doesn’t haunt you after working hours is to use a workflow management system that can store all of your documents online. 

This simple yet effective feature will allow you to create boundaries between your work and home life as you only work on your job when your laptop is open. You will no longer be drawn back to your desk by copious amounts of paperwork. 

Step 2: Plan Your Life in Advance 

Now that you have all of your paperwork neatly tucked away online, you can focus on improving your work schedule. Another way to avoid bringing your work life home is by finishing everything you needed to do that day. 

This may seem ambitious, however with a little organization and planning ahead of time, you can easily create a weekly schedule that your entire team can benefit from.

At the beginning of each week, take some time to create weekly goals for your company. Once goals are established, use your workflow management software to create the necessary projects and tasks that will allow your team to accomplish those goals. 

Some workflow software will allow you to dedicate a certain amount of time to each project so you can fully visualize how long each task will take to complete. Now that you have all your upcoming tasks inputted in the software with the appropriate amount of time allocated, you can see your whole week in one glance!

This helps to easily schedule your team and ensure that all the work will be done by the end of the day. You and your team will feel confident at the end of the day and genuinely enjoy the rest of the night. 

Step 3: Never Miss Deadlines

Picture this: Now that you have finished your work for the day, you decide to enjoy a brisk walk around the neighborhood. All of a sudden a thought pops into your head — “Did I finish that contract my boss asked me to do?” 

Just like that, your lovely walk is ruined and you become anxious wondering whether you completed the request. You saw it on your calendar, but did you actually do it? 

You’re left with two options. Either you spend the rest of your night worrying about it or you rush back to your workplace to double-check and tie up loose ends. These situations result in your work-life seeping into your personal life. 

It is common to forget to do certain tasks as the workday can be so busy and overwhelming. So, how can you ensure you are not only seeing the tasks that need to get done but are actually being reminded of them?

The answer? 

Use the notification feature on your workflow management system! 

You can create notifications and reminders so you will never forget to complete a task or miss a deadline again. 

Step 4: Delegate Tasks and Ask For Assistance When Needed

A big reason why some employees may feel unsatisfied with their work-life balance is simply that they have too much on their plate. It can be hard for a company to know exactly what each employee is working on at all times. 

In a remote setting, this problem is amplified due to the lack of communication between employees and their managers. Managers can’t walk past your cubicle to ask what you’re working on or glance over to your desk to see what you’re up to. This dilemma can cause employees to feel overworked and stressed out which will ultimately lead to a poor work-life balance. 

A great way to solve this problem is by delegating tasks and communicating with your team when you have reached your work limit. 

This can be done easily through workflow management software in multiple ways. You can use channels to communicate to an entire department that you need help, or you can let your manager know one-on-one and they can utilize the “Assign” feature. This feature allows managers to create projects and delegate them to specific team members. 

This will also help your manager better understand each employees’ current tasks and assign future tasks accordingly, as to not overload any individual team member.  

Now that the work is assigned evenly, all employees can feel confident when signing off and enjoying the rest of their day. No added stress or worry. 

A well-balanced lifestyle is crucial in order to be happy and feel fulfilled. An individual who is thriving at work but feels stressed and burnt out afterward may not be completely satisfied. 

It is essential to spend time after working hours for yourself, whether you’re working on your physical health, mental health, or relationships with your loved ones. 

By allowing you to delegate tasks, visualize your work week, and set reminders for upcoming deadlines, workflow management software can help you achieve a true work-life balance.

Interested in trying for yourself? Check out Toki! 

Workflow Management Tools for Teams

Whether you manage a team of 2 or 120, Toki can help you every step of the way. Toki can help you assign tasks, send messages, track time and apply it to projects, manage finances, and more! You can utilize the wonders of Toki from anywhere, as long as you have access to the internet. Learn More!