If you have been wondering if there is a simple work-life balance metric you could follow, the 8-8-8 rule might be what you wanted.
The world can require us to be constantly on the move, often preoccupied with work and other obligations. These pressures and long work hours commonly lead to an unbalanced lifestyle and losing sight of a healthy work-life balance. Time can be an oxymoron as it is generally uncontrollable and continuous moving forward, so one potential solution may be that you figure out how to maximise it. A simple work-life balance metric you could follow can help explore what you have been missing out on and what you need to do more often.
The metric can show an ideal structure of a balanced life and help you reflect on possible things to add or change in your lifestyle. One simple work-life balance metric you could follow is the 8-8-8 rule. It explains that a balanced lifestyle can consist of distributing your day into three categories, each taking up 8 hours to make up 24 hours. This simple work-life balance metric aims to help utilise the day optimally.
8 Hours Of Productive Work
One of the three categories within the 8-8-8 rule considers professional obligations and work hours. It encourages you to put 8 hours of your day to focus on productive work, which can be important with how working hours per week have changed. The standard 40 hours of work per week has been becoming very uncommon, with it being extended to 60 or more than 80 hours. For some people, it can be hard to distinguish weekends from regular working days.
Although you might think this can be uncontrollable and challenging, overworking yourself may be causing you some problems with your overall well-being and health. Being aware of the 8-8-8 rule could have made you more aware of how much overworked you have been and want to improve your working hours. There could be some ways which may reduce your working hours such as:
- Find new ways to finish work, perhaps tools or techniques to save time.
- Detach yourself from things that waste your time or get you distracted when you work like social media or video streaming platforms.
- Don’t take extra work, especially when your schedule is already full. It is possible to say no sometimes.
- Prioritise work that needs to be done by planning and delegating some to others what you feel is appropriate. You don’t need to do everything alone all the time.
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8 Hours For Yourself
The next round of 8 hours is aimed to be used for you and decide by you on how you want to use the time. Everyone can need time for themselves and often have hobbies they engage in for their benefit like to destress and even just for fun. Whether listening to music, going for a walk, writing a journal or watching a movie, these 8 hours would be focused on what you want to do. You could even decide to explore new things and do what you wanted to do but couldn’t. Perhaps you were too busy or had no time for them.
Also, think about other self-care factors that could contribute to a well-balanced life, such as social, physical, psychological and spiritual. These could be spending time with your family and friends, going to the gym or for a swim, reading a book and your faith or belief. Take the time to consider what makes you happy, do things you haven’t been doing enough, and do activities that can boost your well-being.
8 Hours Of Sleep
Sleep is one of the most important things for humans and it is recommended that people get at least 7 to 9 hours of it each day. Good sleep can have significant benefits for us, including helping to recharge energy and prepare us for the next day. Likewise, not having enough sleep could have detrimental effects such as increased health risks, decreased focus and increased vulnerability to negative moods. It can be vital to have time dedicated to allowing you the necessary rest and recommended hours of sleep for your overall health.
As you try to improve your sleeping hours, you may find it challenging as you are too used to your previous sleep habits. For instance, you were often sleeping late and waking up too early, leading to insufficient sleep. Take time to focus on fixing your sleep, such as taking a bath a few hours before bedtime or readjusting the time you go to sleep. As you get the recommended hours of sleep, you will be surprised at how refreshed and energised you are to start the day than before.
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It can be challenging to have a perfect work-life balance, but having a simple work-life balance metric you could follow allows you to adjust your lifestyle easier. Not having a metric like the 8-8-8 rule can make you feel lost and not feel aware of where to start. The 8-8-8 rule could act as a baseline and help you identify or think about where you might need to change and spend more time. Although you may not be able to create a perfect work-life balance due to your busy schedule or potentially uncontrollable situations, you can take ideas from the rule.
You could take a few aspects from the 8-8-8 rule if following it, as many of you probably find challenging, especially with 40 working hours getting less common. You may find that you have been getting a lack of sleep or identify what might be most important to you at the present moment. From there, you can continuously reflect and reassess what could be done to get closer to the ideal work-life balance or where you want to be.