The end of one year and the beginning of another is always an important time for thinking about goal setting. It’s at this time that we decide what we would like the year ahead to look like, and what we can do to make that a reality.
The value of work-life balance
Unsurprisingly, work-life balance is a top priority for many of us as we go into 2025. In fact, a 2024 survey found that 71% of UK workers said good work-life balance was the main factor behind job satisfaction. Balancing our work time is good for our mental and physical health, and helps us to spend more time with families and doing the things we love.
However, many of us find achieving work-life balance difficult. Remote publishes a global work-life balance index annually and the latest tables show the UK has dropped out of the top 10 to occupy 15th place. So, what can we do to reverse this trend and make 2025 a year of better work-life balance?
Here are my top six tips.
1. Outsource
Regular blog readers will know I’m a big fan of outsourcing – it’s our business after all. But I genuinely believe it’s the simplest way to free up your time as a business owner. Make 2025 the year you stop filling your week with tasks that would be cheaper and more time-efficient for someone else to do.
Ready to get started? Check out 7 tasks lawyers should outsource to a Legal PA.
2. Plan your day/week/month
I find that having no plan = making no progress towards goals. Last year, I started working with a coach again and this has been my biggest takeaway. If you want a better work-life balance, you have to plan for it.
Each week I plan my top 3 tasks and any smaller things I want to achieve that week. It keeps things manageable, and productive, and protects my time.
3. Manage your time
Your time is precious – so use it wisely. Review your calendars and use time blocking to help you focus without interruptions. Here’s the system I use:
- Monday – CEO Day, so that I can focus on business development tasks
- Tuesday – Thursday – client work and calls
- Friday – No calls. I treat Fridays as an open day to catch up on client work, but it’s also the day that I can use to take time off.
4. Take time for yourself
This one is key! If you want to achieve a better work-life balance then start scheduling time for ‘life activities’ within the working week.
I always prioritise time for the gym, blocking out early mornings for workouts. I find it so important for getting into the right mindset for the day ahead. I’ve also started to plan time for regular breaks, dog walks, and spending time with family. It isn’t always easy to make this time, but it’s so important.
5. Set boundaries
Another important step is to set boundaries and communicate them. If you’re taking time out from the business, let clients and colleagues know so that you’re not disturbed.
6. Say No!
This is something I still need to work on next year, but I’m getting better. Sometimes you simply have to say no – to protect your time, to ease your stress, to help balance those work-life scales.
Over the last 16 months we’ve been working with a very busy law firm and it started to become too much for us, we didn’t have the capacity. In the end, I decided I had to end the working relationship and say NO. It really wasn’t easy as they are a great firm but we were no longer aligned. I can go into the new year feeling freer knowing that huge amount of workload is behind us.
The work-life balance support system
I hope these tips help you to achieve a happier and healthier 2025. It is important to remember, though, that work-life balance takes work, and it often needs a lot of things to be put in place first. You need to be able to take time away without your business suffering. I call this the work-life balance support system.
For me, this means having my team looking after dedicated clients and my own PAs fielding emails and tackling tasks on my behalf, outsourcing some of my communications, marketing, invoicing and admin activities, getting support and guidance from my coach, and using tools like Asana and Slack to manage task delegation.
Without this support system, I wouldn’t be able to achieve my work-life balance goals. So, it’s important to tackle both elements at once. If you’re not sure that you have these support systems in place, we can help. Our team of experienced legal PAs and VAs can take the admin tasks out of your workday, freeing you up for the more enjoyable parts of life. Want to find out more? Get in touch today.
