Top 4 Tips for a Healthy Work-Life Balance

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Work-Life Balance|Top 4 Tips for a Healthy Work-Life BalanceWork is inescapable; it pays the bills and it brings food to the table. Before, the boundaries between work and home were separate. However, with the rise of workaholism, people’s jobs have taken over their personal lives.

Recovering from one’s workaholic habits can be challenging; however, it is not impossible. Here are the top 4 tips for building a healthy work-life balance.

What is Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance refers to finding a happy medium between one’s job and one’s personal life. Examples of a poor work-life balance include working longer hours, cracking under pressure, and/ or suffering abundant responsibilities both at work and at home.

According to Kevin Lucas, co-founder of New Hope Regeneration, “how the body relates to an environment directly impacts the way a patient [lives and] moves.” When a person’s job takes over their life, their relationship to such an environment can result in stress, a weakened immune system, and/or burnout.

Preserving a work-life balance is essential for the human body and brain; it can benefit health and well-being, reduce physical and emotional stress, and encourage positive self-esteem.

Abandon Perfectionism

A lot of overachievers tend to root for perfection in their assignments. As well-meaning as that is, this kind of ambition can also encourage emotional pressure and stress.

Rather than strive for perfection, one should strive to get the job done. By investing too much energy on perfection, it ultimately makes the task at hand harmful and more difficult.

Start Small

It all begins with baby steps. When one attempts drastic changes, like cutting work hours in half or vowing to attend daily family gatherings, the effort often ends in failure. Building a work-life balance isn’t a simple task, but a lifestyle.

Baby steps are preferable as they help make the transition from old habits to new ones digestible and much more obtainable. Rather than cutting one’s work hours in half, one should cut one or two hours. Likewise, instead of vowing to attend family gatherings each day, one should begin with one event each week. Once a person gets accustomed to these small changes, they can then make longer strides without feeling intimidated.

Set Boundaries

Having a lack of boundaries is what enables one’s work to infiltrate their personal life. One should set boundaries for themselves and their co-workers. For example, one should learn how to say “no.” As scary as it is, having the power to reject an activity one can’t or does not want to handle helps one re-assess and evaluate their priorities. When a person says “no” to more work, they say “yes” to dedicating more time for themselves.

Exercise and Meditate

Nowadays, self-care is often misinterpreted as a luxury, not a necessity. The truth is, taking care of oneself is essential in order to reduce stress and keep on living. Exercise and meditation are great ways to preserve one’s mental and physical health. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise can improve a person’s mood by promoting endorphins, otherwise known as feel-good hormones. Meanwhile, meditation can help reduce a person’s stress levels through breathing and other peaceful exercises. Meditation does this by activating a person’s parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for relaxing the body. As helpful as exercise and meditation are, they should not be perceived as a chore; reserve at least 3-5 minutes for a quick breathing or meditation exercise, and at least 5-10 minutes for a short workout or stretch.

Things to Consider Before Accepting a Job

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Accepting a Job|Things to Consider Before Accepting a JobNew jobs are a common part of life for many people. There are some cases of people working their first job staying there until they retire climbing up the ranks, but it’s not common. Many people will go through many phases of applying, interviewing, and accepting new jobs. It can be an exciting process. It indicates a new chapter in your life and can often lead to progression in your life.

However, not every job offer you get is going to be a great one. Some companies are better to work for than others, while others will not look fantastic on your resume. Some job roles may also just not suit you in terms of your life. There are so many things that you should be considering before taking a job. However, it can be far too easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new role. Here are some things to consider before accepting the job.

Look at Employee Reviews

Employee reviews are something that wasn’t that common before the use of the internet. Luckily now, individuals get to see how former employees found their experience in the role. This is a fantastic way to gauge what the working environment was like. If you don’t look at reviews, you could accept a very unpleasant job. Many companies are notoriously bad to work for, and don’t even follow basic employment laws. If you find yourself in this situation, you might even require an employment lawyer. A labor attorney in Denver is a good way to get out of these situations should they arise.

Compare it to Your Current Job

When you are accepting a new job, you have to understand that you will be giving up something in return. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it is any better than your current situation. However, there are some things you should compare between the two jobs to help understand if it is the best decision for you. They are:

If you feel as if the new job offer betters your current role in many or all of these areas, you should be able to feel confident in accepting.

Is There Room for Growth?

Aspiring for growth in a company is a great motivator to work hard and achieve goals. So this should be something you should look at when searching for a new employer. During the interview process, it is recommended that you ask the individual, “what opportunities are there for growth in this role?” This will not only educate you on what sort of future you may have with the company, but it also shows the employer that you are striving for growth. If a company does not have any growth opportunities, that can be discouraging. This would mean that you are going to be in the same role for the foreseeable future. This might be okay if you are approaching retirement. However, it is not recommended. In this instance, you would have to leave to find a new opportunity to take on a better role.

Creating Great First Impressions in Business

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |First Impressions|Creating Great First Impressions in BusinessMaking a strong, positive first impression in business will help you to attract clients from the very first encounter, so as you can imagine it is really important that you are able to do so.

With that in mind, here are some basic things you can do to create a great first impression in business:

Focus on your workspace

If customers and clients are going to visit your workspace. Whether it is a store, an office, or a warehouse, it would be prudent to make that workspace look as impressive as possible. Whether you fit highly attractive, and efficient MCM panels to your building’s interior, revamp your office space to give it a cutting-edge modern appeal, or simply clean up your warehouse so it looks more presentable, anything you can do to create a good impression in the space you work will be of huge benefit.

Create an amazing website

These days, your website is often the first port of call for many potential clients, so you need to take the time and effort to make that look good too. A website that will make a good impression right now is a website that’s clean and clutter-free, easy to navigate, operational on all devices, and completely intuitive to use. Ideally, it should also be popular with plenty of interesting and informative content.

Be positive and confident

As an entrepreneur, if you want to sell your business to customers and clients, you need to be as positive and confident about your company as possible. You should know your business inside and out and you should be happy to talk to anyone about it in a genuine and enthusiastic tone. If you can’t manage that, chances are you aren’t going to impress very many people with your pitches at all.

Get your customer service right

Customer service is really important. The customer is always right, and when they call a company with a query or complaint, they expect to be treated well. If they do not get a good experience, they will not think fondly of your business – it really is that simple. That’s why you should make sure that you have a multi-channel approach to customer service so that clients can always reach someone, and do so in the manner that is most comfortable for them. It’s also why you should give your team a high level of customer service team to ensure that they are friendly, knowledgeable, and always willing to help.

Behave ethically

If you’re serious about creating a great first impression with your business, then you need to make sure that you, and everyone who is working for you, always act in the most appropriate and ethical manner. Whether that means buying from sustainable suppliers or being honest about what your products and services can deliver. Even small lies, when they get out, will damage your reputation beyond repair, so avoid them like your business depends on it because it just might.

Creating a great first impression is half the battle to business success,so be sure to give it the focus it deserves.

Why You Should Buy A Nearly New Car

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Nearly New Car|Why You Should Buy A Nearly New CarWhen it comes to buying a car people generally think of two categories, new or used. You might prefer to buy your car new. A car with next to no miles on the clock that has never been driven by another sole before. New cars can commonly be bought from Manufacturer’ main dealerships. There certainly are positives to this. Buying a new car gives you the full manufacturer’s warranty, which can be as much as 10 years. You will be able to order the exact specification you want on that car and there is no unknown car history to worry about. Brand new cars also benefit from the latest technology, safety features, and fuel efficiency. There is a lot to be said for spending big on a brand new car. That is however the downside and a big one. Buying a new car comes at a premium. You will be paying top dollar, and the value of that car will depreciate the second you drive it off the forecourt. It can depreciate as much as 20%.

Then there is buying used cars. Buying used cars will allow you to avoid taking that huge hit in depreciation. Used cars are, of course, also cheaper than new cars. You pay a reduced price to reflect the fact someone has already owned, driven, and used the car before you have. You can buy used cars from dealerships or private sellers. If you buy a used car from a dealership you will also get legal recourse should there be a problem with the car soon after purchase. Alternatively, you can buy a used car from a private seller. This option will save you money in that the purchase price will be lower but you will not get the same protections as if you had bought from a dealership. Of course one of the biggest drawbacks of buying a used car is that you are to some extent buying the unknown when it comes to the car’s history and previous usage.

Then there is a third option that isn’t so widely known, buying nearly new cars. Nearly new cars are often cars from a dealer’s demonstration fleet of cars that they have bought to meet certain targets dealers may have. Alternatively, nearly new cars are vehicles that have had an owner for a matter of months, no more than a year. A good place to look for nearly new cars are manufacturers’ main dealerships or used dealerships known for buying and selling new or high-end cars, for example, if they advertise the fact ‘we buy 2021 cars’ you know they will be selling (very) nearly new vehicles. Buying a nearly new car will allow you to benefit from the extensive manufacturer’s warranty, they will still have around 90% of the warranty left, if not more. You may not be able to order the car to the specifications of your choice but you will be buying an ultra-modern, high-tech car that benefits from the new safety features, keeping you safe on the road, and the latest mod cons of a new car. Without paying the price of a brand new car. What is more, buying nearly new will take away a good chunk of that depreciation value. Ultimately, your money will go further.

There are of course some downsides to buying nearly new, namely that it will have an extra name on the registration document and this will decrease the value of the car when you come to sell it, as you will be the second owner. Even if the first owner only did 100 miles in it. The more owners a car has had, the lower the resale value it will have. All nearly new cars will have some mileage on the clock, no more than 1000 miles so the efficiency and functionality of the car won’t have been impacted, but it won’t of course be ‘brand new’ and have that ‘brand new’ never-been-used feel about it.

Whilst there are some drawbacks to buying nearly new, the benefits are extensive. Weigh up what is more important to you and whether those negatives are a price worth paying.

Unhealthy Ways To Cope With Work-Related Stress

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Work-related stress|Unhealthy Ways To Cope With Work-Related StressWhen you’re stressed at work, it’s often necessary to find a coping mechanism. Some stress-busting techniques are less healthy than others. A few unhealthy ways of dealing with stress include:

Getting aggressive

Aggression is a natural release of stress, but it needs to be channeled into the right places. Many people let out this aggression in an unhealthy way either by snapping at colleagues, getting road rage while driving or taking it out on family members. This could damage relationships around you and even risk you losing your job if you hurt someone or act very unprofessionally.

Aggression can be released in healthy ways. Exercises such as running, boxing, swimming, cycling and weightlifting are all examples. You can even try things like scream therapy classes.

Comfort eating

Many people that get overweight do so through comfort eating. Eating food can release endorphins that can combat stress. This can become a habit that is hard to break.

Comfort eating isn’t so bad if the foods you’re eating are healthy, however many people tend to choose sugary and high calorie snacks. Try to avoid comfort eating by not packing unhealthy snacks to work or making a conscious effort not to resort to unhealthy foods on your lunch break.

Smoking/drinking/using drugs

Nicotine, alcohol and other substances are a common stress-buster. However, they can all damage our health in the long run. The likes of alcoholism and drug addiction could also have negative social effects such as causing us to abandon responsibilities or act hostile towards others.

Try to break these habits before they become addictions. Smoking can be particularly hard to break – consider exploring healthier options such as vaping by looking at wholesale vape carts. When it comes to drinking heavily or taking drugs at the end of a stressful day, try to limit yourself to healthy amounts or occupy yourself with other activities.

Bottling it up

The worst way to cope with work-related stress is not to relieve it at all. This allows the cortisol and adrenaline to build up. You’ll either end up snapping and having a mental breakdown or you’ll wear down your body and suffer burnout. Bottling up stress could also increase the risk of heart disease, as well as creating short-term problems like insomnia, digestive problems and headaches. All in all, you need to find a way of releasing stress.

How should you relieve work-related stress?

Stress needs to be dealt with in a healthy way. There are lots of healthy ways to deal with stress including:

  • Meditation: Taking 5 minutes out to clear your mind can do wonders.
  • Exercise: As already mentioned, this can be the perfect healthy release of aggression. It could include a HIIT workout on your lunch break or a long workout after your shift.
  • Listening to music: Music can release feelgood endorphins that combat stress.
  • Laughter: Laughter can also release feelgood endorphins.
  • Taking a hot bath: A hot bath will relax muscles and lower cortisol levels.
  • Herbal teas: Such drinks are also great for lowering cortisol levels. A much healthier alternative to caffeinated drinks (which can make stress worse).
  • Taking a break: When you’re feeling stressed, don’t be afraid to take five minutes out – you could return feeling much more productive. Make sure that you’re also taking holiday. A week away from work could give you perspective and allow you to combat the source of the stress whether it’s taking on less work, fixing relationships with colleagues or getting a new job.