Separating your personal from your professional life can be a challenging task. This is especially so since many of us have begun working from home. And there are only so many hours in the day! Admit it – how many times have you sat at your desk for eight hours straight and then realised you have not eaten the entire day?

Maintaining a work-life balance is essential. It should not be neglected because of its impact on your mental and physical health and your overall wellbeing. And don’t forget, a long-term and sustainable balance can lead to an all-round increase in productivity levels.

So how do you get the right work-life balance? We’ve asked the Merlin team for their top tips: 

1 Prioritise your time

One of the easiest ways to get a healthy work-life balance is to have a diary or calendar for both your work and personal lives OR have one that includes all your tasks. If a log doesn’t work for you, consider compiling a to-do list. 

Once you have created your list, prioritise the items into importance and urgency. Once you start crossing things off, you will have a sense of achievement based on what’s been completed and how productive you have been throughout the day. 

2 Have set working hours 

When working from home, you become the master or mistress of your time. By setting work hours and sticking to them, you are ensuring that you are not working till midnight every night and that you have time for some quality family time. 

3 Create a workspace 

By creating a workspace, you program your mind that work can only be completed here and that once you leave the environment, you are no longer in the work mindset. This will give you a chance to breathe and free your mind from work thoughts that can often distract you when enjoying some leisure time. 

4 Healthy eating habits 

Healthy food is essential when trying to maintain a balance as it provides nutrients to your brain. 

Personally, we might know that we need to eat the right food and drink enough water, but the minute we are at our desks and deep in thought, we find ourselves munching a quick and easy snack. And most of the time it is not the healthiest. To avoid this, create a meal plan consisting of quick healthy snacks that you can have in your desk draw. 

5 Get enough sleep for true work-life balance

This goes without saying. To have a good night’s rest means you will feel rejuvenated to conquer the next day’s task. By overworking, you are only doing yourself an injustice as you will feel like a zombie or even worse, an unproductive zombie!

Having enough rest in the week means that weekends no longer need to be dedicated to sleep catch up. Instead, weekends can be a time to relax with family and friends or going out

6 Take a break!

Yes, taking a break seems so farfetched since we are in the middle of a pandemic and all hands are needed on deck. But let’s not forget that for us to function, we need to take a breather now and then to collect our thoughts and to put things in perspective. This will allow you to achieve both your personal goals as well as the goals set by the organisation. 

7 Turn off the devices

Once you have completed your works tasks and ticked them off your list, or completed your set hours, switch off your devices. Unless you are absolutely required to, don’t open your work emails, check social media or answer work group chats. Reduce the time you spend in virtual reality and spend more time in your actual fact. 

Try these work-life balance tips and see what positive changes come out of it to ensure you are happy and healthy.