Every employee experiences day-to-day challenges of setting a balance between work and life. Like a juggler balancing responsibilities at work and at home, social obligations, health, and self-actualization, an employee has to keep his or her feats of dexterity in harmonizing the aforementioned. Thus, it is being flexible at work while maintaining time and energy to spend on personal life.
However, the pandemic coming into the picture has shaken the economy, resulting in job losses, redundancies, business bankruptcies, and worst, threatening the life of everyone both physically and mentally.
In this situation, employees are under tremendous pressure with increased workloads and demands, and some with reduced rewards and control. Added to that, the bereavement, isolation, unstable financial resources, disrupted routines, and protocols that limited visiting loved ones and friends have amplified pressures at the workplace causing stress, anxiety, fear, and other related mental health problems that, when prolonged, could cause chronic illnesses.
For this reason, employees are given alternative work arrangements wherein they can either Work From Home, or Onsite, depending on the alert level of COVID-19 in the area.
According to a survey from Vox, 56% of employees are more likely to consider a new job with a hybrid working arrangement. This proportion is slightly larger among women than men and among those with a four-year college degree. It is much larger, however, among respondents who live with children under 18 (64%) than among those who don’t (49%). Workers with children, thus, have the strongest preferences for hybrid working arrangements, presumably because it lets them more easily juggle work and childcare.
However, such an arrangement is not without drawbacks, one of which is that employees are expected to keep their lines open at all hours, disrupting quality time for family and relaxation, thereby elevating existing mental concerns caused by the pandemic. Another is that, at some point, the line between work and personal life can get blurry when working from the comfort of home.
With this in mind, to maintain the Work-Life Balance (WLB) of employees during this time of the pandemic, employers then must not only provide alternative work arrangements but also good working conditions that would boost self-esteem, enthusiasm, and productivity.
However, this could be more effective through the implementation of management standards where risks from work-related stress are being effectively managed and controlled. An example of effective management standards is that of the United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive where it covers six key areas of work design that, according to them, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health, lower productivity, and increased accident and sickness absence rates.
Consequently, employees have to ensure their mental health by managing their time well with their job, family, and health. A study by Greenhaus suggested that individuals who experience Work-Life Balance may be more satisfied with their job and life “because they are participating in role activities that are salient to them.”
Moreover, balanced individuals may be mentally healthier because they experience a sense of harmony in life and optimal psychophysiological conditions which enable them to meet the long-term demands of work and non-work roles.
Finally, here are some suggestions from the experts to maintain a Work-Life Balance:
(1) Draw lines between responsibilities at work and at home. When at home and it is time for work, drop everything and focus on the given workload.
(2) Set a room for your workplace. Creating a separate area when doing your work can result in more productive output since the comfort of your home and the presence of loved ones, especially the little ones, could distract concentration.
(3) Go for a walk. Staying at home for a prolonged period could be detrimental to mental health. It is suggested that going for a jog, walking the dog, or doing outdoor exercises could break the routine of staying at the computer, doing household chores, and taking care of the children.
(4) Avoid distractions that can lead to a decline in productivity. When doing work, such as sending reports or responding to queries, avoid surfing the internet or social media, watching movies, or playing online games. Doing these could affect work-life balance. Instead, create a schedule for work, family, and leisure and stick to it.
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