Work-life balance is the ability to remain healthy and be able to find the right balance between the demands of work and your personal life. This includes prioritising and being able to separate yourself from work and make the time and effort for friends, family, self-care and your personal interests, just to name a few (About.com, 2014). In today’s global economy, many people are working longer hours and are therefore drained, stressed and temperamental by the time they go home. This unfortunately, is taking its toll on many families and the amount of quality time that is being spent together at home. This temperamental behaviour can also be transferred to your work environment and could potentially have an effect on your work performance and your colleagues. For example, by not having a healthy work-life balance as a teacher, this could impact on how you teach and thus, what the students are learning. As a teacher, you serve as a role model for the students and therefore, strive to emulate a positive work-life balance so that they lead by example. This will improve your confidence in the classroom and help you gain respect and trust from both your colleagues and students.
So how do you feel about your personal work-life balance? The late nights and early mornings can stack up as you attempt to conquer a mountain of planning and marking. It comes down to taking time out for yourself and drawing a line between work and life. Simply taking a breather during a lunch break can work wonders to help improve your mood and help you face the afternoon. Come up with a weekly timetable of treats for yourself to make sure you don't get buried to far into work. See the example below to get you thinking