Achieve Work-Life Balance
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Achieve Work-Life Balance

8 Mins read
cigna-teamAuthorCigna Team

Mrs. Wong got the perfect job with a handsome salary – the problem is that it doesn’t leave her any time to spend with her family.

A classic case of the “work-life balance” problem.

Did you know that the average weekly work hour in Hong Kong is almost 50 hours ?1

A quarter of people work overtime in Hong Kong. A recent study showed that  a Hong Kong employee typically works 38% more than the global average.

When they were asked to list three reasons for working overtime, about three-quarters of them replied that the  amount of work was too much. There were more than half said that they need to work extra hours to meet impossible deadlines and a third of them said that this is simply the culture of their organization.2

The study also showed that almost a quarter of respondents  hated to work away from their family and more than a third of them missed special family events and moments.

They also said that friends and family complain about their excessive work hours.2

Find a balance

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To find the right balance, you need to straighten up your priorities. If you had to focus on just one thing in your life, what would it be? Your career? Your family? Or maybe a hobby?

And if you could add a second thing to it, what would it be?

Take a moment to think about it.

Go through it many times to get the final priority list of five things. You wouldn’t miss an important doctor’s appointment or a job interview, so shouldn’t other things of your life get some importance as well?

One way to find the right balance is to ensure that when you’re at work, you’re completely focused and so you don’t have to spend extra hours to complete a task. When you take too long to complete a task because you lose focus, you also lose the quality of work. Exercising and keeping your body fit can help you to gain more focus.

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When you overwork yourself, you come under stress and it takes a toll on your health. Learn to say no when you think you cannot work any further. Of course, there will be times when you simply cannot say no. But even then, try to set some clear boundaries. For example, when you’re out of the workplace, your time belongs to your family.

Striking the right balance needs constant efforts. Once you’ve decided the boundaries and upheld them, you’ll be able to enjoy your life in a better way.

Resources

1.UBS Prizes and Earning 2015, Global ranking of Working Hour. Visited 17 September 2015.

2. University of Wolverhampton Business School, Coventry University and the Work Life Balance Centre, The 24/7 Work-Life Balance Survey 2008. Visited 13 August 2008.

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