Work/ Life Balance in Your First Graduate Job

When you finish your studies, it is a complete change to go from as little as 12 hours of university a week to 40+ hours of full time work a week. Therefore, maintaining a good work/life balance can feel out of reach and unsustainable and often your social life can suffer from it or even disappear. If you are struggling with this take a look at these tips for how to maintain a good work/ life balance after university. 

Use your time effectively at work

It is important to use your work time as effectively as you can and by doing this you will find that your time outside of work feels a lot calmer knowing that you have done all you can in the working day. After finishing university, it can be difficult to adjust to stricter deadlines, or last minute deadlines but by prioritising your work correctly you can avoid the added pressure that this can add on to your daily and work life. 

Make the most of your free time

Make time to spend with your friends and family in your free time outside of work. It can be tempting to spend all your time outside of work resting if you are not used to full time work. Socialising is one of the key ways to maintain your work/ life balance and although resting is important you must make time to do social activities outside of work.

Set boundaries

You should consider setting boundaries between your work and home life. It is easy to get stuck into habits of checking and replying to work emails at the weekends and evenings. If you reply to these emails you may be indirectly setting expectations to your colleagues that you will reply in your time away from work. By not shutting off from work in your free time you may feel burnt out which is a feeling you should try to avoid and setting boundaries is a great way to do this.

Most employers should understand these steps you need to take to maintain your work/ life balance. Keeping these things in check will enable you to be more productive at work and will ensure you are positive around the work place. Maintaining a good work/ life balance will also keep you motivated and more likely to stay in the long term.