life / work balance for introverts

Welcome to The Introverted Path!

Happy Thursday! Hope y’all are staying warmer than I have been. It was below 0° for multiple days in a row here in Kansas City.

Today it got up to 30 degrees and it legit felt warm when I stepped outside. It’s crazy how quickly our bodies acclimate to certain temperatures.

My Kansas City Chiefs won last weekend in the 4th coldest game in NFL history 🥶 

For this week, I wanted to talk about life/work balance.

And yes, I purposely put life first.

In today’s email:

• Why life/work balance is important

• Strategies to help you find that balance 🧘 

• Links to other content I enjoyed this week

Let’s dive in 🤙 

Why is life / work balance important?

Research by Deloitte found that 77% of workers have experienced burnout at their current job.

Another survey by Indeed found that while more than half (52%) of workers reported feeling burned out, there is a disconnect between the age groups…

…while only 31% of baby boomers identified as feeling burned out, 59% of millennials and 58% of Gen Z respondents felt the same.

So, clearly burnout is effecting a lot of people.

The pandemic certainly is part of the reason. With so much fear and uncertainty in the world, it crept into every part of people’s lives.

Technology has helped improve work in many ways, but it has also had a big unintended consequence.

I’m going to assume most of us have email, Zoom, Slack, Teams, or whatever your work app of choices are, on our phones.

This has led to it being extremely difficult to “turn off” from work.

When I wake up in the mornings, one of the first things I do is grab my phone and check Slack messages. It’s so dumb.

As if whatever someone may have messaged me can’t wait until I start work at 8am.

I’m a fairly anxious person. It is hard for me to turn off my mind after work.

And without that down time, the anxiety wins.

I’ve even felt this way on vacations. Unable to completely disconnect and be present in the moment.

All of these things lead to burnout. That is why those statistics I started off with are shocking, but not all that surprising.

For introverts, if we are unable to disconnect and recharge, it can add up quickly.

However, there are a few things I have done to help improve my life/work balance.

And I’ve read through multiple articles to figure out some other tips & tricks to help restore that balance in your life.

Let’s get to it below 👇️ 

Strategies to improve life / work balance

1. Set “quiet hours” on your phone

There are a few different ways you can do this. Within the specific apps you use for work itself, you can designate hours to receive notifications.

For instance, I have Slack set to 8-5. After that, notifications are snoozed. If I want to see a message, I have to go to the app itself and seek it out.

You can also configure this at the phone level on iPhone’s via “Focus modes”. I have different ones created based on what I am doing at that moment.

2. Have a set work schedule

This is easier for people in the office, but even then it is important to have a rough outline of the timeframe you will work.

This is especially important for anyone that works from home.

That same Indeed survey mentioned above found that more than half (53%) of virtual or work-from-home employees are working more hours now than they were in the office.

3. Take breaks

Remember when we used to actually eat lunch during our lunch hour?? What a crazy idea!

I don’t know about y’all, but usually I have meetings over lunch and I am scrambling to find a window to make something quick to eat.

Block your calendar for lunch each day. Take time to get up and walk outside.

Research has shown that taking breaks throughout the day actually increases productivity and efficiency.

4. Have hobbies outside of work

I know I’ve talked about yoga in previous newsletters, but that is my safe space outside of work.

No phones are allowed in the yoga room, so for at least 60 minutes I am forced to be present in the moment.

Find a hobby or activity you really enjoy that brings you peace. This can help to unplug from the craziness of work.

5. Accept that ‘perfect’ doesn’t exist

Ending on some woo-woo shit, but the reality is the perfect life/work balance doesn’t exist.

And on top of that, balance for each individual person is different.

So take time to think about what would be best for you, come up with a plan to get there, and make it happen.

Links that I enjoyed this week 💥 

• Never make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions (link)

• The role of luck in success (link)

• Research concludes: we waste our time at work (link)

That’s it for today - hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter!

Best,

BG