Work/life balance? No problem, right? But then those daily tasks start to add up and your nights start getting longer. You start going in on the occasional Saturday, then the "frequent" Saturday. Pretty soon you're so bogged down with your "to-do" list that you can't even think about taking that vacation with your family.
Maintaining a proper work/life balance is a challenge, sure - but it's also a lot easier than you might think.
Enjoying Life is a Task, Too
When the pendulum that is your work/life balance begins to swing decidedly in the direction of "work, work, work," you start to encounter a few key problems almost immediately. You're trying to do too much at the same time, and the quality of work tends to suffer. You're also getting burned out, which leads to less getting done because you lack the motivation to push on when you need it the most.
This is a large part of the reason why experts agree that you should look at downtime for what it is: a mission-critical task that you need to preserve your productivity throughout the week.
As you begin to build your schedule each week, make sure to add leisure activities at strategic points when you'll need them. Don't be afraid to add "go to the movies" to your calendar for Thursday, or pencil in that lunch with your old college friend on Monday afternoon.
If You Want to Move Up, Plan Some Down Time
Human beings NEED downtime to stay efficient. It's a way to periodically re-charge our batteries. It's the reason why people say you shouldn't cram all your studying into the night before a big test in college and should instead break your coursework down into smaller, more manageable chunks in the weeks proceeding that moment. The former is an absolute recipe for disaster, and the latter supports the way your brain operates.
If you add in leisure items to your list of things to do, you'll enjoy the added benefit of being able to check them off said list throughout the week. When you do this, it releases endorphins into your brain - meaning that you get a boost of satisfaction from having accomplished something, anything, and you get to take a mental breather at the same time.
None of this is difficult advice to follow - all it requires is some perspective about the things that matter most in life. Yes, work is important, but actually living your life is important, too.
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