Career resolutions for a better work life balance

We’re excited to welcome in a new year and a new decade. While you may look back at what you’ve achieved over the past year and beyond, we always think it’s important to think ahead and look to follow your personal aspirations and career goals – particularly if you’re seeking a greater work life balance for the future.

The decade of better work life balance

The past decade has seen a rise in demand for flexible working with increased support for wellbeing at work. The introduction of the 2014 Flexible Working Regulations means that every employee with 26 weeks’ continuous employment has a right to request flexible working.

We hope to see more being done over the course of the next decade to make flexible working an employment must-have for every employee rather than a nice-to-have for the few. That aside, what can you do personally to ensure your working year is as productive and successful as possible? We share our top career resolutions to help you bring about a better work life balance this year.

Kick start your new working year

Get organised

Whether it’s sorting out your Spotify playlist finally or deleting old files (raise your hands if your inbox has more than 1000 emails in it?!), a tidy desktop is a tidy mind, so they say. If an old-school diary works for you, treat yourself to a new one and make time to update old addresses, birthdays and term dates if applicable. Otherwise, iCal is where it’s at!

Think tech

It’s 2020, so if you haven’t pushed yourself and embraced new technologies, this could be the year to do it. There are a range of innovative video call and email platforms to help you run remote meetings more effectively. Check out G-Meet for video calls, Slack for messaging other employees and Google Suite for delivering projects. Don’t shy away from the unknown!

Expand your horizons

If there’s something you’ve always wanted to achieve, this is the time to ask yourself, what’s stopping you? If professional development is at the top of your list of career goals for the year ahead, have a look to see what relevant courses or CIPD programmes are available in your chosen industry.

Embrace opportunities

A new year is a good time to reset your career focus. Does your company have a mentoring programme and could you assist with this? Or would you benefit from a change of career, in which case, should you be seeking out learning prospects in a new field? Whatever your career goals are, a new year is like a new school year and brings with it plenty of fresh opportunity.

Ask for what you want

We often say, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. We think that’s as true as it ever was, so if you’re seeking to make a change in your life, put your positive hat on and go for it. The best things that are worth doing are the things that are often, the hardest to do. So if you feel nervous about asking your boss for a pay rise or for flexibility, you’ve got nothing to lose. Find your voice and you could find that good things happen.

Create boundaries

It’s all too easy to stay logged on, but we know that even the best of us can suffer from burn out. Decide when you won’t be working – say to have a lunchtime run or to walk the dog – and make sure you put the communication in place so that others will respect that.

Say ‘no’ more

Many of us are working harder than ever to balance home and work lives, particularly those with elderly parents or poorly relatives. So take time out every now and again, just for you. A healthy mind is the key to staying positive when times get difficult. And don’t feel guilty if you need to say ‘no’ every now and then.

Stop comparing

If you find yourself logging on to social media more often than is good for you, you could be falling victim of the social media comparison trap. Make this year the year you limit the likes and focus on the fact that we are all different and that one picture rarely tells the full story. After all, if there’s one thing we’ve learned in from our years of school playground experience, it’s that everyone has ‘stuff’ going on. Even if they don’t always show it.

Do good things

A new year is also a good time to have a health reboot, mentally and physically. Many people use it as a time to focus on volunteering or charity fundraising – which is fine if you have the space in your diary to do that. You may wish to get involved more with your school’s fundraising or do a run or walk for charity. Whatever it is, we usually find that when you do good things, good things often happen around you.

If a new career role with added flexibility is on your mind – let’s face it, January train fare rises aren’t exactly the greatest news in the world – please register with Ten2Two, a flexible and part-time recruitment agency with a difference.

We have all sorts of roles across a wide variety of industries on offer, so please do contact us as you never know what could be around the corner for you. All that’s left to say is have a Happy New Year!