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What is work-life balance?
It is the balanced division of your time and focus between working and family or leisure activities. Achieving a work-life balance can be challenging, especially since we are dedicated to helping our students do well in their development and academics.
This could mean sacrificing time off our rest days to hold extra lessons or even helping them through the night.
However, this is not sustainable for our physical and mental wellbeing, and we might feel burnt out or fatigued. How can we achieve work-life balance while still being dedicated tutors?
Keep a Daily Routine and Stick To It
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Keeping a daily routine is a great way to achieve a work-life balance. While planning your daily routine, include personal care, family time, exercise, etc., so that you don’t just concentrate on work and overwork yourself.
Once you’ve created a routine, stick to it. This helps you develop a habit, and soon, tasks become more effortless to complete. This reduces your stress levels, too, because you’ll have a better direction on what needs to be accomplished every day.
Use Technology to Help You
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Using technology is the best way to save time while still getting things done. Online tools and software can do menial tasks like lesson planning or grading. In fact, some apps can also help your students understand the content better!
Here are some tools and software you can use:
1. LearnBoost
2. Miao
3. Geniebook
4. Common Curriculum
5. ClassFlow
6. Teachers.io
This allows you extra time to complete your other priorities or tasks like helping your students with tough questions or spending time with your family.
Take Breaks
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Taking breaks is essential for an excellent work-life balance. After all, you need time to rest and enjoy other activities outside of work. So make sure that you give yourself breaks throughout your day.
Studies also show that taking breaks helps to refresh your mind and body. This increases your energy, productivity, and ability to focus, so you can continue working efficiently.
Here are some things to note:
1. Don’t work during your lunch break
2. Take a 15-minute break after every hour to an hour and a half of working
3. If you feel stressed or burnt out, it’s ok to take a break
Prioritise Your Health
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Health comes first. I’ve seen times where tutors continue working even though they are clearly unwell, but this shouldn’t be the case. When you are ill:
1. You could pass the illness on to your student
2. You’re unable to focus and are less effective and efficient
3. It extends your recovery period
Instead, see a doctor, rest well and take a day off. If you have lessons on that day, just notify your students and give them some work to do. A tip: always prepare extra work to be done in case of emergencies like this.
Let It Go
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There are times when we reflect and think about the day’s events. But sometimes, we over analyse, and it starts to affect us mentally and emotionally. So let it go.
When we keep thinking about work even during our downtime, we cannot relax and instead accumulate more stress. We’re also unable to spend quality time doing our leisure activities or spending time with family, which hinders our relationships.
If you have difficulty letting your work-related thoughts go, here are some tips:
1. Leave work at work
2. Meditate
3. Create a plan for tomorrow
4. Create a list of things to be improved on and refer to it the next working day
5. Channel your energy into an activity (e.g. painting, dancing, playing music)
Leave Time for Yourself
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Last but not least, leave time for yourself at the end of the day or week. Everyone needs a bit of ‘me’ time when they get to pay attention to themselves and rewind.
Exercise, go for a spa treatment, or even binge-watch a Netflix series, just give yourself time to do whatever you want. During this period, keep your work away. You could do this by:
1. Muting chats
2. Shutting down your laptop
3. Trying not to touch your electronics
4. Don’t touch your work bag
Conclusion
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Having a work-life balance means less stress, a lower risk of burnout and a greater sense of well-being.
We just need to ensure that we maintain self-care, allow ourselves time to rewind and make our work more efficient. Let us know in the comments if you have other tips for attaining work-life balance!
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