5 simple management tips to help you avoid burnout

Achieving work-life balance may feel hard to accomplish, as we struggle to do well at work and be involved and active in our home lives.

As the co-founder of wellness website Well+Good, Alexia Brue’s mission is to help people find the tools to achieve a sense of wellness in their lives, through both physical and mental well-being. When it comes to work-life balance, Brue says much of our struggle has to do with our dependence on technology.

“I think so many people today struggle with work-life balance because we’re reachable anywhere, anytime,” she says. “There’s a huge price we’re paying for the convenience of the phone.”

While it may seem like we’re constantly being pulled in too many directions, Brue says making a few tweaks to our lives can help us find a more balanced life.

Use your phone mindfully

Finding balance in a culture that’s so connected to technology means that work-life balance needs to be about drawing the line with your phone and email use.

“Work-life balance today is so much about managing all of the digital tools that we have and using them really mindfully,” she says. “We recommend a lifestyle where people put their iPhones to bed at night, and really practice digital wellness.”

Brue recommends choosing a time to cut off your phone use: research has shown that after 9 p.m., you shouldn’t be exposed to the blue light from your phone. While it may seem challenging, it’s better for your sleep and well-being, to power off well before bed, Brue says.

Don’t expect to do it all

Brue says that as a working mother who focuses on wellness, even she doesn’t always practice what she preaches.

“On a good week I do, and then there are weeks where I definitely feel like I’m burning the candle at both ends,” she says.

But it’s important to remember that both parents share responsibilities in the home and it shouldn’t be assumed that mothers will take on more of the work.

“I think the working parent conversation is really important, [and] that it’s not a working mother conversation,” she says. In her household, she and her husband sit down together to plan out their week and decide who will do what. Here, working parents share their secrets to success.

“It’s a constant juggling act, but I never feel like I’m doing it alone and that’s really critical,” she says.

Need more time in the morning? Here are 9 morning hacks to save parents 30 minutes.

Work hard, but have perspective

Brue says it’s important to remember that while work is important, there’s so much outside of work that can make your life meaningful.

“I think it’s possible to to work really hard and take your work seriously, but also always recognize at the end of the day that there are much more important things,” she says.

This story was originally published on November 19th.