What's your work/life balance like and what do you prioritise? Please come and tell me about it!

Things I've done/tried over the years -

• prioritise nice colleagues over money/prestige
• no work email on my phone (easier to not open the laptop at weekends/evenings)
• WFH a fair amount
• getting a dog so I have to walk every day
• proper lunch break away from my desk
• schedule occasional coffee chats with work colleagues who are also friends - I see this as the fun part of work but it's also work as we share tips/information
• regular breaks away from screen - WFH means I can mosey round the garden for five minutes
• cutting out caffeine intake in the afternoon
• having work mantras eg 'its as good as it can be in the time I have available' to cure myself of wanting perfection

Am sure there are more. it's about experimenting and seeing what helps you and feels important tonyou

I used to teach. It nearly killed me. Now I’m in house legal in charity sector and my WL balance is bloody good.

I very rarely drink alcohol (was previously drinking at Professional Level) and have lost over five stone in weight. I’m so much healthier and happier.

I get up early and go to bed early, in tune with my circadian rhythm. If I have a busy week, for example I have to travel to London every day for a week to attend court, I treat myself like a recovering invalid and do very little else that week. Then I take back excess hours worked the following week as early as possible.

I don’t get involved in client drama, and enjoy the adversarial cut and thrust of my job. I don’t take any of it personally. I can tell sometimes my opposite number is getting really het up by me, and I feel sorry for them, but it’s just the job and you need to not take yourself seriously.

I think that’s my best advice. Don’t take yourself seriously. 💐

Also a teacher! I’ve got a decent work life balance now, but it’s because I work three days a week in a school with reasonably sane SLT and have no intention of going back to full time. I pick up exam marking in the summer to boost my income a little. I was so burnt out when I taught full time, and I really regret wasting my twenties doing that! I didn’t slow down until I had my kids and needed to make more time for them.

I think I’ve got a good balance. I’ve never really been ambitious in my career, I just do enough to maintain my lifestyle.

Years ago (pre kids) my job involved lots of travel but a lot has changed in my industry - everything in now remote and I’m fully home based now. I also reduced my hours. At some points doing slightly shorter days but now I do 4 full days. This means I have plenty of free time in the evenings and on my day off to visit my elderly parents, or exercise, or whatever.

Luckily DH is also at home 2-3 days a week and very hands on with school pickups etc so we get lots of time together as a family (too much sometimes). We’ve both always had sport and exercise as a hobby and the kids do now as well so most of our friends we meet up with are through those hobbies

It’s a good lifestyle. I can barely remember the days of commuting and dashing to pick up from a childminder etc.

I’m still struggle to fit everything in but I have stayed p/t since dc. I have flexi hours so I get in early and home early. We try to get away every school break even if just for a day or 2. I would like to see more of my friends and exercise more but there is only so much I can fit in.

Zero work life balance. Hate my job. Loathe the team. I’m an expat on a non-transferable visa so I can’t quit (I would have to leave the country and I love living here).

It’s miserable, but I’ve made my bed…

Well done on leaving Teaching and putting your health first.

I'm in my early 30s and have been driving trucks/heavy plant for almost a decade. Had a graduate job in bid management before that but quickly realised I didn't enjoy the corporate setting.

I work about ten hours most days but sometimes a bit more. However, it's so much less stressful than a corporate job once you know what you're doing and being eight mins drive from home is perfect. It goes really quiet before and after Xmas and when it's super hot and we're often paid the full day for going home at lunchtime. To me it's better to work ten hours doing something I enjoy than eight hours where I'm bored out my mind.

I listen to a lot of music and podcasts etc while I'm driving and waiting onsite. Really enjoy the feeling of mental freedom, probs because I have ADHD so writing documents all day and sitting in meetings trying not to yawn was torture. Right now, I'm waiting while my truck gets the aircon regassed. Been sat here for two hours on my phone just chilling.

I left teaching in my early fifties and haven’t looked back. I was working ridiculous hours and was very close to burnout. Loved the job but the hours were brutal.

It took weeks for my body and brain to realise they didn’t have to be on ‘alert’ any more and for me to learn new rhythms of being. I also slept loads in that first few weeks. I now work part time in a welfare role and was surprised at how many transferable skills I acquired in teaching. I would never go back to that level
of stress again. I have time to exercise properly and eat well and my body knows the difference. I feel better than I have for years.

Also a huge bonus is those term time holidays!!

That sounds awful and I didn't mean to minimise the health risks of burnout. I realise chronic stress is a real risk. It's terrible that it can take acute emergencies to 'allow' people to confront it.

From my perspective I'm a single parent (I'm now in a relationship, but I'm wholly responsible for my daughter's upkeep) and have had to work to support her non-stop since she was born. I don't regret this because it means I'm financially independent but it's meant I am locked into corporate work which is well-paid but very demanding and there's no question of stepping away or taking my foot off the pedal, at least until she has left school and moved out.

I suppose it just gets my hackles up because very often the people posting on here about work life balance are people who have some financial support in the form of a husband who is earning well. Sometimes people can be very strident about it on here, with comments about 'you'll never wish you'd worked more on your deathbed' etc. But it's much more straightforward to 'prioritise your health' and 'prioritise your children' if you aren't the main breadwinner. Sorry for the rant.

I go to a gym. For the strength work, I have a PT and do another 2-3 sessions on my own. For cardio I sometimes do a spin class, sometimes I run. But I do something every day, even if it's "only" a brisk walk. I also do the occasional yoga class.

The trick, I find, is to put the exercise in the diary and build the rest around that, rather than trying to cram exercise in around other things. That was a big mindset change for me.

I'd also add that working for myself is the best thing I've ever done for my work/life balance. My boss is very understanding! 😉 Of course, it comes with its own stresses, but the flexibility is a lifesaver - especially when the kids were small. It means I probably work more hours than an employed 9-5er, but on my own terms. That makes everything different. I realise that teaching is extremely inflexible (half of my family and friends are teachers!) and that really does ramp up the stress.

I'm so glad that you are getting off the treadmill - enjoy it OP!

I work shifts in a factory and mine is great. When I finish at 2pm (11.30am on a Friday), I have the rest of the day to do want I want. When I'm on the late shift I have all morning to do as I please. I could never go back to a Mon-Fri 9-5 there'd be no time to anything.

I prioritise exercise and my health. I move my body in some way (strength or cardio) every day. Even if that means getting up earlier than I’d like, or working later.

That has made a massive difference to my mental health.

I worked as a teacher full time for 30 years and I’m now 53 and part time (4 days). I want to last two more years and then go. Teaching is relentless and I have some major illness all forming nicely on the horizon eg heart disease. I nearly left this year but my husband left instead last year as we felt his need to get out was greater. For me I may tell them to jog on next year or something I will see.

Teaching and burnout is real. I had a friend that left at 52 and literally slept for a year and did nothing g extreme burn out and now back up to normally but it took 5 years.

It is - best thing I've ever done! Though I've had to cancel three days of work this week (dog walker) which is a bit of a bugger, lol.