The 5 Benefits of Work-Life Balance for Your Productivity and Beyond

As you know, I like to start my articles with a question…or two. Just to get you thinking. So my questions today are, how are you holding up? How is the balance between your work and your life at the moment? 

As blogging moms, we tend to struggle with juggling work and our personal lives. Being one myself, I know exactly how you feel. We get pulled in all the different directions, and our attention is required everywhere, right? … from what our next blog post will be about to what’s for dinner this evening and everything in between. 

It’s important to create a good and solid work-life balance. 

What Exactly is Work-Life Balance?

The dictionary explains that work-life balance is “the division of one’s time and focus between working and family or leisure activities.” 

It’s like a seesaw, with work on one end and life on the other. As you can imagine, keeping that seesaw as balanced as possible is a hard job. But as we all know, putting equal weight on both ends of the seesaw is not always achievable. 

It’s not a matter of keeping the balance as best as possible and dividing your time between work and life equally, but finding a balance that is right for your particular situation. It even depends on the moment of your life. Sometimes, work takes precedence, and later on, you may need to prioritize life. And it’s all okay as long as you thrive with the situation.

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Work-life Balance When You Have a Family

Creating and maintaining a good balance between work and life is important, whether you’re single or have a partner. But it seems even more crucial when you have a family with a couple of kids to take care of. You want to pursue your dream of being an independent business owner, but you’re also responsible for the well-being of your lovely offspring. 

The key is setting realistic expectations, both for your business and your family. When you set your business goals, you need to be aware of how much time you can put into achieving them. If you are too ambitious, you’ll only get frustrated, and your stress levels will rise, which doesn’t help with your productivity at all. 

The same goes for your family’s expectations. Saying no to every commitment or family time will eventually lead to you missing out on a lot of fun and precious times with your kids. And as we all know, they grow up so fast. It’s cliché, I know, but it’s true. 

A good tool to try out is creating boundaries. Boundaries around your working time ànd your family time. You could dedicate specific hours of the day to blogging, like a couple of hours before your family awakes or when the kids are at school. And when your work time is done, close the door to your office and unplug from work during family time to be fully present with your loved ones. 

Of course, you also need to be flexible and adapt your set schedule if the situation calls for it. When your kid has the day off because their teachers have a planning day, for instance, you’ll need to be there for them. 

When my mom got cancer, I needed to be there for her and became her caretaker. Luckily I could easily adjust my schedule and move my blogging tasks to the evenings and weekends when I needed to drive her to her doctors’ appointments during the day. 

Being there for my mom tilted the balance more over to the life side of the seesaw. I was blessed with a good supporting community of fellow bloggers. And the fact that I have two fantastic accountability partners made that period of my life bearable. 

Getting support from other moms or your friends is just as invaluable. If, for some reason, you can’t be there to pick up your kid from school one day, being able to count on the support from your family or friends is key. 

In all this … don’t forget to take care of yourself as well. Self-care is essential when you have a business and family to take care of. If you take care of your own physical, mental, and emotional well-being, you load your battery so you can go back fully charged to focus on writing and family responsibilities. 

The 5 Benefits of Work-Life Balance for Your Productivity

Now that we’ve discussed work-life balance and its relevance to you as a blogging mom, let’s examine its effects on your productivity. Here are 5 obvious benefits. 

1. Enhanced Productivity

First of all, I believe productivity is a state of mind. Your best productivity comes from feeling good, energized, and focused. Having a good work-life balance only contributes to that feeling. If you feel fulfilled in your personal life, it will only benefit your productivity and ultimately benefit your business.

2. Reduced Stress and Burnout

A good work-life balance contributes to feeling less stressed and will help avoid burnout. When you can set aside time to recharge your battery outside of work, you are able to show up for your blogging tasks consistently. You’ll be refreshed and motivated, which will increase your productivity. 

3. Improved Mental and Physical Health

It’s important to take the time to relax and exercise. As bloggers, we tend to sit behind our laptops a lot. Getting up now and then to stretch your legs and take a walk will do wonders. Spending time with family and friends is also important for your mental health. Logging off from work only benefits your productivity, although it sounds counterintuitive. 

4. Better Time Management Skills

You’ll learn how to manage your time better when you need to balance work and life. This skill can then be applied to work life and family life. Learning to prioritize tasks and set boundaries around working hours and personal time will only benefit your productivity. 

5. Quality over Quantity

It’s important to focus on quality over quantity both in work and in life. Creating high-quality blog posts and products takes time and effort. The same applies to family time. You want to create memories together, and that happens when you make solid choices about where you want to spend your time. Choosing quality over quantity will improve your productivity because you have a set time available to work on your tasks. 

More Benefits for Your Personal Life

Of course, there are more benefits of having a solid work-life balance beyond increased productivity. 

When you have a balanced life, you will also have the opportunity to set aside time for your own personal interests. Maybe you have always wanted to learn a new language or get your sewing machine out of the closet again. Put time on your calendar just for you. 

You can always combine it with spending time with your kids. When my daughter saw me behind my sewing machine on a Sunday afternoon, she wanted to learn how to sew her own skirt. We had so much fun and bonded on a different level as mother and daughter. I love these times spent with my kids. They, on the other hand, learned (or tried to learn) me how to drive Mario Kart, hahaha…We had the best of times!

But they also know that I work hard in my blogging business. I like to think I set an example for my kids. There is a time for work and a time for fun. 

How to Achieve a Better Work-Life Balance

Now, all is good and well, but how do you balance your work and life successfully? 

You need to start by reviewing your current work-life balance. Where can you improve, what area needs more attention, and how can you free up time for those specific parts of your work or life? It’s also important to set realistic goals and priorities. 

A few time management techniques you can try to help you balance all of your tasks are setting up a blogging calendar, using the Pomodoro technique, dividing your time into blocks, and creating multiple to-do lists. 

I have written blog posts on all of these techniques. If you want to read more about them, just click on the title to go to the article of your choice. 

An Effective Blog Content Calendar: a Sure Way to Master Productivity

How to Use the Pomodoro Technique Plus a Printable Worksheet

The Ultimate Time Blocking Guide for Bloggers to Maximize Productivity

 6 Benefits of Multiple To-Do Lists to Boost Your Productivity

As I said before, setting boundaries is also important. You’ll be most productive if you can concentrate on your work during work hours. When someone pops in every five minutes to chat or ask you “a quick question,” you lose your focus and concentration. Getting back into it takes precious time. 

Let your family members know that when the door is closed, they need to leave you alone. A friend of mine always says to her kids, “If you’re not bleeding, if the house isn’t on fire…don’t disturb me!” I love that! 

But boundaries are also important when it comes to time with the family. Don’t let work disturb game night or baking cookies together. There is plenty of time to read your emails and comment on social media posts. 

As small business owners, we tend to spend a lot of time building our businesses. And that is okay, as long as you make sure to unplug from time to time. It is important to keep an eye on how the seesaw is behaving due to your choices to maintain a good balance. If you need to make changes, look at the bigger picture and make small changes on a daily basis to keep the balance intact.

Final Thoughts

A steady work-life balance can do wonders for your productivity. It will also provide you with an overall happy feeling and a more satisfied life. You will thrive both professionally and personally when you can maintain a balanced work-life situation. 

But this is an ongoing journey. Your balance will fluctuate depending on your life situation. I hope you are able to achieve the best balance because it will lead to improved productivity and a happy family life. 

If you are interested in more tips to improve your productivity, fill in your name and email below. You will get a list of my most helpful tips to tackle time management. Little secret? Tip #4 is my favorite, but I couldn’t do without tip #7!

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