However hard balancing your professional and personal life could be, experts insist that it is essential to put into consideration its relevance. Work life balance is simply the division of one’s time and focus between working and family or leisure activities. Sandrine Twagiramariya, a personal fitness trainer says it’s essential to create a harmonious work-life balance or work-life integration not only for the sake of improving physical, emotional and mental well-being, but it’s also important for our career and professions. Chris Chancey, a career expert and CEO of Amplio Recruiting-a staffing agency that helps companies hire dependable employees from the refugee workforce, says developing work-life balance has numerous positive effects, including less stress, a lower risk of burnout and a greater sense of well-being. According to him, employers who are committed to providing environments that support work-life balance for their employees can save on costs, experience fewer cases of absenteeism, and enjoy a more loyal and productive workforce. “Employers that offer options such as telecommuting or flexible work schedules can help employees have a better work-life balance,” says Chancey. Chancey adds that work-life balance is less about dividing the hours in your day evenly between work and personal life and, instead, more about having the flexibility to get things done in your professional life while still having time and energy to enjoy your personal life. There may be some days where you work longer hours so you have time later in the week to enjoy other activities, he says. Ways to achieve this Alphonse Uworwabayeho, a lecturer of mathematics at University of Rwanda’s College of Education says to sail through work life balance, accepting that it takes patience and determination to achieve that is important. He says, striving for the perfect schedule might not be of importance but rather striving for a realistic one can be of help. “It’s all about finding and creating time for what you want to achieve in life, and this comes down to knowing how to balance things. This might take a long time to master and stick to it for life, but what is needed is consistency,” he says. In addition to this, the lecturer says prioritising your goals is important too but at the same time, creating time for your loved ones should also be part of your priorities to ensure you balance your life in general. He notes that it’s also vital to look for something (job) that you love or interests you. This, he says, is to avoid cases where someone is in a career that drains them. If one doesn’t love the job they are doing, he says there are higher chances that one might fail to achieve their dreams and at the same time not be happy with not only what they are doing, but also their normal life in general. Emmanuella Mahoro, a psychologist working with young people in Kigali believes that work-life balance has a great impact when it comes to one’s overall health. She notes that physical, emotional and mental health should be your main concern as without them, one might not be in position to be productive in everything they do in life. According to her, when one overworks without paying attention to other aspects, it prevents them from getting better, possibly causing such individuals to take more days off in the future. “It is also essential to take breaks from work, this would even mean that one is taking vacation time and shutting work completely off for a while, specifically physically and mentally to recharge,” she adds. There is also need to strictly set time for work and rest, according to Mahoro, saying that this will help you avoid burnout.
