Being career and achievement-driven can be a double-edged sword. On one end, you want to give life all you’ve got and make the most of your 20s. On the other end, you’re trying to enjoy your 20s, stay afloat, and achieve your personal goals simultaneously. I don’t know about you, but I know it can sometimes get very overwhelming and you don’t quite know where to start. Hopefully, these 7 work-life balance tips can help you spring into 2025 with a solid foundation.

1. Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is so much more important than we all realize. Of course, your body can go a while without proper rest, but eventually, it’ll come crashing down. Just like a car’s engine, after a while you have to shut the car off, and let it rest. If you run it 24/7, the wear and tear on the car will compound much faster than expected and eventually it’ll stop working. Your body is the same way. Don’t keep your engine running. As often as you can, reach for eight hours of sleep, and if you can’t try to let your body rest and reboot over the weekend. Make sure you aren’t exposing yourself to unnecessary blue light right before bed. Yes, that means putting your phone away an hour before bed to help you properly wind down.

2. Have Hobbies

Hobbies are some things that can go by the wayside as we get older and start our careers. Suddenly everything fun has to be productive, and any second of downtime is spent doing mundane tasks like grocery shopping. If you’re not busy, then you’re exhausted and trying to recover from all the energy you’ve depleted throughout the week. I get it. One thing that has really helped me reboot after a long week is bringing my hobbies back into play. For some people that’s long-distance running. For you, that may be pottery making, playing music, cooking, making cocktails, surfing, skiing, painting, reading, rock climbing, you name it. Find the activities that make you happy and do those more. Shut your brain off from work and achievements and just learn how to be a kid again. Find fulfillment in just being you – outside of those life achievements.

3. Unplug Daily

This might be one of the hardest things to do, I know. If it’s not our work computer, it’s our personal computers. If it’s not our computer it’s our phone, or our smart watch, or our tablets and e-readers. The list goes on and on. With notifications coming in left and right, it’s never easy to just “unplug”. Something that has helped me, is setting a wind-down reminder on my phone. So about one hour before my planned bedtime, my phone will go into do-not disturb mode, silencing all of my notifications and allowing me to focus on my wind-down routine and not lose focus. I have friends who have also put certain permissions on their phones to stop them from opening certain apps at certain times of the day. This can be super helpful for those serial scrollers. Once you’ve interfered with your screen usage, make sure to replace that time with another activity, ie reading a book, doing yoga, cooking, etc. >>Click here for an easy-read recommendation: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. 

4. Prioritize Self-Care

Self-care. The term we’ve all heard a million times over and over again. This can look like so many different things for different people. For some, it may look like having a slow night, drawing a bath, and reading their favorite book or watching their favorite show. For others, it may look like treating yourself to a massage or a facial. It can even be as simple as getting yourself a coffee and going on a walk, or sitting in a bar and ordering your favorite drink. There is no wrong way to prioritize self-care. What’s important is that you take time to do things for yourself, regardless of what’s going on around you. Investing in yourself will only increase your productivity and energy down the line. I’m not sure when treating yourself became demonized, but I think it’s important that we bring this aspect of life back to our routines.

5. Exercise

Exercise, exercise, exercise. It is never not important. No matter how you choose to go about this, make sure it is incorporated into your routine in some way shape, or form. Exercise can look different for everyone. You could be someone who likes to hit 10k steps a day, or you can be someone who likes low-intensity workouts like pilates or yoga. You could be someone who enjoys hit workouts, kickboxing, or jiujitsu. You could be someone who likes going on intense hikes, swimming, or just hitting the plain ole gym. Whatever it is, make it a non-negotiable priority in your daily life. Exercise has been proven to reduce stress, improve sleep patterns, aid in your overall long-term health, and help relieve chronic pain for those who suffer from it. The other perk of exercise when it comes to work-life balance, is the fact that you can’t do anything else while you’re exercising. You go in to complete a task and you don’t leave until it’s done. Take this time to just focus on yourself, and not the glooming to-do list that you know is at the top of your mind. >>Click here to learn more about the importance of exercise on the human body.

6. Fuel Your Body Right

The food you put into your body is just as important as the way you treat the outside of your body. Food is fuel for the human body, so many sure you are putting the right things in it. This means eating the rainbow. Make sure your diet is full of plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, and as little processed foods as possible. It can be really easy to get caught up in eating out 24/7, or grabbing that microwave burrito from the fridge section of the grocery store. Although we all fall victim to the element of convenience, it’s important to not let it create a habit. Take the time to prepare food for yourself, especially if you have time to meal prep on the weekends. Something as simple as meal prepping can make healthy eating even easier for you to keep up with throughout the week, while also saving you money in the long run. “Fueling your body” with chips, soda, fast food, and processed sugars, is a surefire way to make sure your body will crash and burn, in turn making it harder to focus at work, complete basic tasks, and stay sharp. Eat the rainbow and give your brain and body the best chance at staying on top of your work-life balance.

7. Touch Grass

This has become one of my favorite sayings over this past year. This is mostly because it seems to solve so many problems in my life. Sometimes we get so caught up on what’s next, what’s around the corner, or what we don’t have. We are glued to our computers or staring at our phones with our heads down, hoping to get a glimmer of a dopamine hit, one scroll at a time. When life gets overwhelming, when work seems like too much, when your phone keeps pinging, just go touch grass. Go step outside, take a breather, and just be with yourself and your thoughts. Ignore whatever people are asking of you in that moment and just take five minutes to yourself. Of course, if you’re about to walk into a board meeting, this probably isn’t the best time to step away, but maybe make an effort earlier that morning to take some time, or later that evening. Whenever you have time, get some fresh air and sunlight. Sunlight exposure has been proven to help elevate one’s mood, lower blood pressure, improve sleep, and so much more. >>Click here to learn more about the benefits of sunlight exposure. 

Work-life balance is a lifelong journey that only you will know how to best craft for your unique situation. Although it’s easy to fall into the trap of “perfecting” this aspect of your life, don’t let this stop you from just starting. Perfection isn’t important. What’s important is that you start investing in yourself and your well-being and not just dumping every moment of your life into work. Even though this may feel fulfilling in the now, long-term you will regret not taking the time to perform routine maintenance checks and oil changes along the way.