Reclaiming Balance: Prioritizing Health and Well-being for Women
The Importance of Balance
The alarm blared at 6 AM, jarring Sarah awake after another restless night. As she dragged herself out of bed, her mind was already racing through the endless to-do list awaiting her - get the kids ready for school, respond to a flurry of urgent emails, schedule a doctor's appointment for her elderly mother, and somehow find time to exercise and meal prep for the family. Sarah was trapped on a relentless treadmill, constantly running but never catching up. She longed for a sense of balance, but the demands of her career, family, and personal life pulled her in many directions. Sarah's story is fictitious based on me and my clients; however, we’re not alone -- the 2023 Amplifying Women at Work Report found 86 percent of women surveyed feel just as – if not more – stressed than in 2022. 52 percent report feeling penalized or judged when taking time off to deal with caretaking responsibilities. But at what cost? For women, failing to prioritize health and well-being can have severe consequences that reverberate throughout life.
What is life anyway, besides the relentless treadmill? The domains of your life can be anything important to you–shelter, finances, career, family, hobbies, development, community–to name a few. The struggle you likely face divides your time and energy between the different areas of your life. Your searches for "work-life balance," "balanced lifestyle," or "work-life integration" highlight the desire to find that magic solution for balancing it all. Guess what? Only you know what the right balance is for you, and it can change over time as you change your priorities in life. Those phrases inadvertently paint the wrong picture that it’s a 50/50 conversation. I can name ten domains I give attention to, making work only 1/10 if I want to give equal attention. It's not about devoting an equal number of hours to all pursuits, sacrificing career ambitions, or slacking off—that's an unrealistic and rigid approach. Instead, balance refers to a mindset focused on nurturing all dimensions of well-being: physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. It requires conscious prioritization of the most important, including your own needs. Your effort pays off in increased productivity, creativity, and overall happiness. With those incentives, what areas of your life do you want to rebalance?
Extensive research has examined the relationship between work-life balance and mental health. Numerous studies indicate a positive link between balancing your attention and psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and reduced anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout. Balancing across domains also increases job satisfaction across various cultures and professions. Organizational policies and programs that support employees rebalancing their lives contribute significantly to employee health and well-being. Sounds easy, right?
Your results will vary depending on the culture around you, whether that’s in your company, family, community, or country. Individuals in cultures that focus on the rights and concerns of each person while supporting equal rights, roles, and responsibilities for men and women experience significant positive effects on job and life satisfaction and reduced anxiety. My guess as to why is linked to that control we discussed earlier. Humans like to be in control, so cultures with these characteristics allow individuals to make choices and control their environment. Autonomy is one aspect strongly linked to positive well-being.
Recognizing Imbalance
Recognizing the signs that your work-life balance is off-kilter is the first step toward improvement. Chronic stress and burnout manifest as constant fatigue, frequent illness, and emotional volatility. If you find yourself neglecting personal interests, feeling disconnected from loved ones, or experiencing physical symptoms like headaches and insomnia, it’s time to reevaluate your balance.
The physical impacts of chronic imbalance are staggering. Unrelenting stress takes a heavy toll, manifesting as fatigue, weight gain, heart disease, and more things you probably don’t want. But the mental health effects can be just as devastating -- anxiety, burnout, and depression are far too familiar for those of us juggling overwhelming demands. Personal relationships fray as quality time becomes a luxury, while professional setbacks mount as productivity and engagement plummet. Disrupted sleep patterns and chronic fatigue are also common among women struggling to juggle multiple responsibilities. Continuing on this path is unsustainable and just plain sounds gross.
Rebalancing your life offers you a plethora of benefits. You'll experience improved mental and physical health, enhanced productivity, and better relationships - just to name a few. Women who achieve a healthy balance report greater job satisfaction and a more sustainable career trajectory—ultimately, rebalancing leads to increased happiness and life satisfaction, allowing you to thrive personally and professionally. I noticed a significant improvement when I started consciously evaluating my life domains. It’s easy now to choose my time and energy that align with my values and goals rather than someone else’s fire drill. It feels like I’m a whole new person creating her destiny rather than running around answering everyone else’s demands.
Overcoming Barriers
While the benefits of a balanced life are clear, you may experience several barriers in your 30s, 40s, and 50s to achieving this goal. At this stage, you may be dealing with the "sandwich generation" phenomenon—caring for young children while also tending to the needs of aging parents. This caretaking duty can be incredibly draining, leaving little energy for your needs. If you’re like me and not at the childcare step yet, you may still have divided attention because you’re out trying to find that partner. Screening dates and potential mates is exhausting all by itself! Cultural narratives that cast us as the primary nurturers can lead to immense guilt when prioritizing self-care. Expecting to be the "supermom" who juggles a thriving career, a Pinterest-worthy home, and an active family life is unrealistic and detrimental to your well-being.
Working mothers' pressure to prove their worth and commitment at the office can make them hesitant to set boundaries or take advantage of family-friendly policies. The maternal wall bias - where motherhood is viewed as incompatible with serious career ambitions - persists in many workplaces. I have this limiting thought about myself–how on earth would I have kids and a career? It’s untrue, and we must stop applying it to ourselves and other women. You can definitely do both and thrive.
Financial considerations also play a significant role. Many of us rely on dual incomes, making it difficult to scale back on work temporarily to follow our dreams of starting a business or having a child. The gender pay gap can exacerbate this, making it feel like we cannot afford to compromise our career trajectory or earning potential so we can pay for college, long-term care facilities, or save for retirement. We all make tradeoffs throughout our lives for spending now versus saving for tomorrow, contributing to the pressure that leads us off course.
Strategies for Rebalancing
First, you must create clear boundaries for each area of your life. Reclaiming balance in life requires a proactive approach and a willingness to make changes. Learn to disengage from work entirely when home, say no firmly to unreasonable requests, attend to your finances, and schedule replenishing "me time" alongside other commitments. Time management is vital—identify and eliminate time wasters, delegate or outsource tasks when possible, and prioritize based on what's truly essential. The simple question of “compared to what?” helps as I make these daily decisions. I honestly don’t know how I would practice balancing my life without a calendar. My calendar has all my “default” ideas for how I want to use my time that day so that when something comes up, I can compare the new time consumer to my original plan for an informed choice about saying “yes.” Make space for adulting and guilt-free self-care in your day. Build a supportive network of loved ones, friends, and possibly a coach or therapist to provide an invaluable foundation to help you stick to that goal. You are not alone in your pursuit of happiness.
The Role of Employers
While individuals can take steps to prioritize their health and achieve a balanced life, employers play a crucial role in creating a supportive environment. For many women, workplace flexibility is a game-changer. If your organization changes its flexible and remote work options, ensure women are at the table to account for this crucial demographic to help them balance professional and personal responsibilities. Comprehensive paid family leave and parental support resources are critical, and robust employee assistance programs with coaching, counseling, and other mental health services show your seriousness in providing support. As for the daily habits of your organization, your culture must embrace and encourage work-life balance as a priority, not just as a slogan. I worked in an organization that prided itself on psychological safety. I’m not sure employees in that area felt comfortable having open conversations about mental health or that leaders knew how to provide resources for employees to seek support, making it feel like just words without action. The culture needs to match the slogan, and that takes brave leaders changing the daily habits of their teams and departments. If you don’t know where to start, ask your employees. Most likely, the responses will look like the following:
Flexible Work Arrangements: Give your employees, especially women, permission to take control over integrating work with personal/family responsibilities.
Paid Leave Policies: Actively encourage and remove stigma from participating in generous paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers and paid leave for caregiving responsibilities like tending to sick family members.
Childcare/Elder Care Assistance: Care services are expensive. Your go-to move should be to help offset the high costs by providing subsidized on-site childcare options or stipends. Similarly, offer your employees resources and referrals for affordable elder care services. I bet your children are also looking for ways to care for you in your long and healthy life!
Employee Assistance Programs: Invest in comprehensive employee assistance programs with counseling services, coaching, support groups, and educational resources focused on stress management, work-life balance, and overall well-being. We all have gaps in our experience learning these skills based on examples we saw, a random elective in college, or situations we faced. The ability to seek advice from experts goes a long way.
Leadership Training: The self-awareness demonstrated by your managers and leaders is crucial to modeling work-life balance, setting reasonable expectations, coaching for success, and creating an environment that supports integrating personal and family priorities. Teach them to manage their internal and external personas to set an example.
Performance Management: Do you reward a balanced life, or do your incentives encourage excessive overtime, weekend work, and an 'always-on' culture? Look for mixed signals in your employees’ work experiences. Personally, I’d rather have a thriving community than an aggressively competitive one.
Mentorship Programs: Mentoring is a two-way street! There is tremendous value in pairing experienced women with younger employees to share strategies for navigating careers while integrating personal/family needs. The double bonus is the value of younger employees influencing experienced ones. Create pairs or buddies in your organization to unlock the magic of one-on-one learning.
A Happier, Healthier You
Achieving a balanced life is not a luxury; it's necessary for women's overall well-being and happiness. By taking small, intentional steps, you can redefine your approach to your life domains, embrace practical techniques, advocate for positive change, and reclaim your health, well-being, and zest for living. Having a wobble and realizing your needs dropped down the list is okay. Make your needs a priority again. Embrace the power of balance and reclaim the joy and vitality of a harmonious life. Remember, your health and well-being are invaluable assets. Invest in yourself, and watch as the ripple effects of a balanced life positively impact every aspect of your existence.
You can tackle the challenge of achieving work-life balance with help. We're here to support you on this transformative journey. Join our vibrant online community at www.getbetterhabits.com and connect with like-minded women walking this path together. Gain exclusive access to expert-led workshops, personalized coaching sessions, and a treasure trove of practical tools and resources.
Your happier, healthier, more balanced life is waiting. Take this crucial first step for yourself and your loved ones. You have the power to shatter the stigma and create positive change. We'll be there to cheer you on every step of the way.
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