Let’s face it. This is a hard one. Work life balance- everyone talks about it, companies’ offer the best they could, we all know we want it and when we get it that doesn’t stay long enough and it's a constant pain in the rear.

Fortunately, wise people have understood the concept of work life balance and have laid a good foundation for us. All we have to do is learn, practice, find what is working and repeat. I’ve read many great ideas, tried a lot, failed in some and succeeded in a few. So, here are few cool ways to strike the work life balance.

Sandwich: Most of us have commitments up to our neck and to some up to the nose. Ton of things come in our way from no time for breakfast, slow traffic, urgent meetings, tight deadlines, and what not. If you didn’t get enough sleep the previous night, boy that takes the work life balance to a whole new level. There must be a way out! Yes, there is.

It is a fact that we get carried away with the busyness of work through the day. In the evening we get back to our personal projects or do the family chores, or watch Netflix and so on. There is a cool thing called the Sandwich strategy. The strategy is about filling our mornings (after sleep) and nights (before sleep) with the good stuff and keep this consistent whether rain or shine. It’s best practice to listen to motivational or inspirational podcasts or audio books or inspiring music in the morning to get the mind ready for the day and in the night listen to relaxing music or read a book or do yoga before bed time to unwind yourself from the day. This can help you gain and regain yourself in spite of the madness around you. You can wake up fresh, sleep deeply and stay in control through the day. If possible slice a quick 15 minute walk or meditation or yoga during the work day usually after lunch works fine. Try this for a week uninterrupted and you will see some change.

Treat Yourself First: If you’re in to finance you would have heard about a mantra called ‘Pay Yourself First’. Paying yourself first is one of the best things you could do to yourself. Treating you first acts in similar fashion. If you haven’t done it yet, you should start paying or treating yourself first. Wise people turn stress into fun and what does the majority do? I don’t have to tell you that. Do you give in to stress or laugh at it? Ask yourself the question. Enjoying the work, loving the work atmosphere, collaborating with colleagues, laughing at failures, learning from mistakes are some of the key factors that differentiates the happiest and stressful. Off course life isn’t easy, clients have high expectations, and it’s hard to meet deadlines and all that. Remember this, the wise treat him/her first. If this doesn’t inspire confidence just think about the side effects and major diseases long term stress can create in you. Either way, we have no choice, being happy and take it easy mentality is of huge help in the long run. Try installing this mind set and let me know your experience. Oh, one more thing you have to do them intentionally!

Being Organized: Like it or not being organized is one of the best skills one can possess. The more organized you’re, the more happiness life gives back to you. In short, mess creates stress be it work or home. When was the last time you used a notepad and pen to organize your work week and personal commitments? Try it, it’s fun. Plan your work day the night before and write down 3 or 5 or 10 goals you would like to achieve. Do the same thing for the week. Repeat the same formula for personal projects and household chores. Don’t forget the important ingredient to ‘stick to the plan’. Use this as a way to increase focus and ignore distraction. You can also organize your social activities, physical activities, mini vacations, etc. The more you write and stay organized; you will gain more clarity and learn to prioritize well. Do you think you can manage priorities well? Gotta rework on that…

Bottom Line: Work-life balance is hard to achieve. It is not a destination but a journey. It has to be achieved daily, weekly, monthly and yearly for the rest of our life. If we don’t achieve work life balance, we increase the chance to failing sooner, faster in both work and personal life. So, the concept of work life balance is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Thankfully, wise people have tried and shared what’s working for them, all we have to do is follow them and repeat. To begin with let’s start with 6-8 hours’ sleep every night including weekends (for consistency), daily physical activities for at least 15 minutes, some reading or yoga (btw, reading and yoga are good new habits to install), eat more veggies, take less meat, drink 2l of water, like the habit of saving more money, hate the habit of wasting anything- be it time, energy or money and above all talk to people whenever possible (scientifically, our brain needs that). Remember, work is part of life and there’s no personal life without work life. Balance is everything. Always, keep the bigger picture in mind- health, happiness, peace, family and it’s all about the balance.