Ways to restore your teetering work-life balance

The idea is to give yourself a set amount of time — say, an hour — to do the job, no matter how poorly.

Let go of your perfectionism and just do as well as you can in the set time. You may have to go back and fix it up — but you’ll be charged up by knowing the “heavy lifting” is already done.

Plus, by forcing yourself to cram the whole job into a short time period, you’ll give yourself a more “global” view that might help you see things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Obviously, this isn’t going to apply to every situation — if your boss comes to you with a last-minute report that has to be generated, this will work great; but if your boss asks you to fill in for the other neurosurgeon, who got caught in traffic, a little perfectionism is probably in order.

Keep the lines of communication open
I learned this the hard way when a rough patch of work started to alienate me from my family.

Let the people closest to you know what’s going on in your work life when things get hectic, so they don’t feel like your lowest priority or worse, suddenly abandoned.

And keep your ears open to hear what they tell you, too — if your spouse or partner, your friends, or your kids start complaining — or tell you straight out that you’re working too much — listen to them. They’re generally going to be a better judge of your behaviour than you are.

Slow down and let things go
It’s simpler said than done, but learn to let things go once in a while. So what if the dishes don’t get washed everyday or that the house doesn’t get vacuumed every week.

Learn to recognise the things that don’t really have much impact in your life and allow yourself to let them go — and then not beat yourself up for doing so.

Life is simply too short, so don’t let things pass you in a blur. Take steps to stop and enjoy the things and people around you.

Schedule more time between meetings; don’t make plans for every evening or weekend, and find some ways to distance yourself from the things that are causing you the most stress.