Having a poor work life balance is becoming more of an important topic to discuss as almost a third of UK workers feel this effects them. Not only does it affect our relationships and home life happiness, but it can also take its toll on our mental health. Read on as we investigate the best way to manage a good work-life balance and take some tips from other countries.
An overview of now
To summarise, adults in the UK are overworked. Maintaining a healthy balance between home and work life seems to become more difficult as we get older, with statistics showing that the younger the employee, the less likely they are to identify work-life balance as an important part of their job. The task of juggling a family alongside a job is also difficult for many to manage with statistics revealing that 75% of working parents suffer stress and anxiety as a result of their work-life balance management.
With businesses aiming to operate at maximum capacity, things that take its toll for employees. Research found that as a person’s weekly hours increase, so do their feelings of unhappiness. Of course, this is no surprise. Even for those who don’t work long hours, there is still the issue of ‘switching off’ and disconnecting from what’s happened at the office. In fact, one third of European workers said that a bad day at work affected their personal life.
As our workloads increase, the amount time we dedicate towards hobbies, achieving personal goals and spending time with family and friends, decreases. But, many of us feel as though there’s nothing we can do about it.
So, what’s the situation in other countries?
Britain has the worst work-life balance in comparison to our EU counterparts. What is there to learn from this?
It appears that employees in other countries have more free time to spend than what we do in the UK. In Belgium, employees have an average of 8.6 hours of free time per day compared to their 7.4-hour work days, and Netherlands are enjoying the shortest working week at only 30.3 hours. Denmark only spend 6.6 hours at work each day with 8.8 hours each day to spend how they wish, and Austrians are encouraged to start the weekend early with 3pm finishes implemented around the country. Many Germans are able to relax on a Sunday too, as stores are regulated so that they close on Sundays. All of these extra hours add up it seems, with Britons working 325 hours more per year than workers in Germany.
Foreign employees are encouraged to take numerous breaks throughout the day, unlike UK workers who have on average half an hour to an hour break per day. The Spanish are famous for their midday siestas which began as an effort to sleep through the hottest period of the day in warmer climates. Although new laws mean that shops have to remain open without a break for naps, some workers still follow the siesta tradition. Or, they take long coffee and lunch breaks with colleagues — something that is widely accepted by employers. Finland also take on the approach that long breaks are good for everyone, and their workers enjoy extra-long lunch breaks that are one to two hours long! If you visited Sweden on business, you’d probably be invited to join them for ‘fika’ — this is a late morning coffee that offices pause to enjoy at around 11am.
Additional regulations that help achieve a balanced work life:
- Swedish workers enjoy 16 months of paid family leave
- Belgians are able to take a full month off work to coincide with school breaks.
- France introduced a law in 2017 that gave workers the ‘right to disconnect’ from after-work emails.
- Spanish workers have a holiday allowance of 30 days
Can we do anything about this?
Despite not being able to change our workplace regulations, there are steps we can take to help create a healthy work-life balance.
Mention to your employer about dividing up your breaks more. Research has proven that taking regular breaks can improve your productivity, and it therefore could be something that they will support. Split your hour break up into half an hour and two 15-minute breaks to decrease the amount of time spent at your desk at one time. Get some fresh air or spend time talking to family on the phone, taking a small action like this could reduce your stress levels.
According to one study, stress and depression can be caused by lengthy commutes. This is one reason to propose flexi-time at your office, where you can skip the traffic at each side of your day and do something more productive. Of course, this isn’t an option for everyone. You could make your commute feel more productive though, by listening to a podcast or audio book that can reduce the stress of rush-hour traffic. Alternatively, going to a gym class near to your work can mean that you miss the bulk of the busy traffic and allows you to fit some exercise into your day as well! Furthermore research shows that wearing more formal clothing (such as oxford shirts) can make people think more broadly. Being mindful when picking your work wardrobe can also help.
Restrict yourself on checking work emails once you’ve got home- despite sometimes being difficult to do. Think of the long-term issues that mixing home and work life can have and aim to check your emails only for ten minutes on an evening instead of an hour. This is the same for working overtime, unless entirely necessary, make sure you are sticking to the number of hours that you’re contracted to. This can not only affect your mental health but can lead to employers expecting this behaviour at all times.
Use your annual holidays wisely and spend them with friends and family, ensuring you’re recharged ready to go back to work. We’re all guilty of using our holidays to run errands or do something that we’ve been putting off, but this isn’t always helpful for our work-life balance. Although we need to do this now and then, annual leave should be used to recuperate, relax and enjoy time away from the office so try to focus on this.
The current situation is not the best for UK workers as we can see. But, there are some small changes that you can make. From splitting up your break to making the most of your holidays, being conscious of finding a good split between the office and spare time is the first step to improving your work-life balance.
Sources
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/w/work-life-balance
https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/countries-with-best-work-life-balance-in-europe http://www.cityam.com/268119/eat-sleep-work-repeat-why-uk-has-worst-work-life-balance