Work-life balance is fragile. We can marvel at people who are passionate about their work and work practically without a day off. Or, on the contrary, we may dream of going to a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness where we can start a new life without any reminders of work. We often swing from one extreme to another, which is quite natural.
Achieving work-life balance with digital tools
To achieve and maintain a work-life balance, you need to understand why you need it. The answer is simple: not to burn out at work and not to forget about your personal interests. They are broader than work alone, it is important to find and develop them, and to devote time to them. If success in different areas of life is important to you, then it will be important for you to maintain work-life balance.
Critical digital tools for maintaining work-life balance:
1. Online schedule for each day. This is very convenient: you can look at your schedule the day before and build your plans with the tasks to be accomplished. Having a strict time frame allows you to get your work done on time, rather than stretching it out over time;
2. Prioritize tasks. Try forming a list of all those personal and work tasks you have for the week ahead. And assign a priority to each of the functions - “urgent”, “high”, “medium” or “low”. You may be surprised that you often overshadow high-priority tasks in favor of low-priority tasks. For example, your priority may be to work out in the evening, but a friend texts you with an offer to meet up and you're on your way to see him, canceling all other plans;
3. Reminders to switch gears. The more focused we are on our current task, the harder it is for us to switch to a new one. We may end up staying at work a couple of hours longer, and as a result, there will be an overlap between our personal and work life. In such situations, it is important to be reminded that the workday is coming to an end and it's time to get on with the things on our personal task list. Leaving work feeling like “I can't wait to get some more work done” is incredibly satisfying, and it's also satisfying to take time for your personal life.
Planning and AI Task Managment apps for busy professionals
Applications for planning and time management have long been very popular among professionals. They allow you to organize your life into a clear and understandable scheme, in which there is room for all-round development. Today, let's take a closer look at Voiset - an AI-based planner.
What problems does Voiset solve?
1. It saves you time in scheduling.
The hardest part of scheduling is not creating a to-do list, but determining when the best time to do those things is. The busier your schedule, the harder it is to schedule.
Voiset works like this: you prioritize and set due dates for each task, including personal tasks. And the AI behind Voiset will suggest the optimal day in your schedule for each task! It's incredibly convenient! If you've thought about doing an unimportant and unurgent task during a busy week, Voiset will suggest that you schedule it for next week. And you can use the free time to do your tasks. In the same way, Voiset performs time management to achieve a work-life balance.
2. Voiset makes sure that you don't overload yourself.
If you already have a maximum number of important tasks to do during the day, Voiset will not ask you to do one more today. It will find the best place for the last one in your schedule.
3. Voiset hears you
Do you have a task to do? Dictate it to Voiset and it will suggest adding it to your schedule! The voice input function in the scheduler is a Voiset feature that makes creating and adjusting your schedule even easier.
Setting boundaries and managing screen time
If you feel you spend too much time on your phone and need a digital detox, read this article (link to digital detox article). If, however, you want to better control your screen time, you can use Voiset to do so.
Add tasks to Voiset that help you limit your gadget use. For example, scrolling through your news feed only for 15 minutes once a day. Add such a task to your calendar, and when the set time expires, be ready to end the task.
In some cases, a prudent way to reduce screen time is to use digital technology solely for work purposes. You can install all your major apps on your laptop, deleting them from your phone, and when you close it - focus solely on your personal life!
Setting boundaries through technology allows you to separate the two areas of your life as much as possible. The more clear the distinction between these two segments of your life, the easier it will be for you to focus on the here-and-now. You can't do this if you come home from work but are still chatting with your coworkers.
How to keep up with work and family responsibilities using digital calendars
Digital calendars for family and work are a great solution for those who feel they could have more time. Moreover, it may be the only workable solution for those who would like to have time for both professional and personal tasks.
Why it is so.
Both work and personal life are two facets of the same precious coin. If scratches appear on one facet, the entire value of the coin is significantly diminished. We cannot give all our attention only to work or only to personal life. A person must be able to realize himself fully, if he wants to, of course. Therefore, it is not possible to make a schedule that takes into account only one aspect of life. Your time should be organically divided between your personal and work life, and then there will be the balance that everyone dreams of, but few people find!
The calendar in Voiset will help you to see your workload both by individual work area and as a whole. So you can see in parallel that you have, for example, a house showing, a meeting with Peter, and your daughter's meeting after ballet lessons (it would be great to illustrate this).
With digital calendars, you can combine work and family responsibilities.