What is the problem?
Over the years, our world has strived for - and achieved - greater efficiency in regards to industrial development, technological development, and even human development. During this pursuit of maximising efficiency and productivity, however, we are finding ourselves burying deeper and deeper down this burrow of mental and physical fatigue - significantly declining our happiness levels, mental and physical health, along with personal relationships.
This is particularly an issue amongst students of this generation as we are admitted into a rigid education system in a society that cherishes ‘perfection’ and ‘excellence’; often at the cost of the student’s comfort. Children - particularly in a high functioning city such as Hong Kong, are wired from adolescence to strive for efficiency and productivity through excelling in several academic and artistic fields; often in spite of the child’s genuine interests. By doing so, statistics have shown that students - particularly undergraduates - of similarly functioning societies face greater degrees of anxiety and depression compared to others; due to the unfamiliarity of coping with unprecedented amounts of academic stress, whilst also having to cope with foreign (often social) experiences that they were deprived of from growing up prioritising the need of a perfect university application.
What is a ‘Work-Life Balance’?
Evidently, an equilibrium is needed to stabilise this growing conflict and make the mental and physical health of students the priority over their CV; this is where the ‘Work-Life Balance’ concept comes in. So what is a work-life balance? How does this apply to secondary school students with comparatively less workload than adults? And how can this reduce HK’s notoriously austere and punishing schedules?
According to HRZone, a work-life balance “refers to the level of prioritisation between personal and professional activities in an individual's life, and the level to which activities related to their job are present in their home”. In hindsight, this is a contemporary theory that has gained more attention and importance in the past few decades as global development continues to accelerate at unprecedented rates. Needless to say, active research and studies on this theory have led to great scientific discoveries and pragmatic solutions to better the mental and physical conditions of human beings.
What is the importance of a ‘Work-Life Balance’?
Admittedly, maintaining a healthy work-life balance will not reduce the tiresome school day work hours, or the number of extracurricular activities your parents want you to pursue; so what is the point of implementing such a lifestyle if it cannot directly reduce your workload?
The answer to this is directly related to the effects of such high demanding lifestyles: compromising mental and physical health. The efforts of students to attain academic excellence from such a young age can often come at the expense of the child’s social life and abilities. Studies have shown a direct connection between such behaviours to increased levels of anxiety and depression due to higher levels of loneliness. Additionally, a lack of balance between work and personal life can result in a serious decline in one’s physical health - ranging from the flu to serious respiratory and heart diseases. In fact, studies conducted at UCL proved those who worked 3 hours or more than required, faced a 60% higher chance of developing heart-related issues than those who didn’t work overtime.
Moreover, there are several additional benefits of maintaining a healthy personal and professional balance on a daily basis. According to several sources including the Happiness Index, those that actively pursue a healthy work-life balance face fewer burn-outs, something students are bound to face as they move onto higher levels of study. Additional proven benefits of a healthy work-life balance include greater engagement rates, higher mindfulness levels, and sharpening of key skills such as time management and resilience.
How to create a healthy work-life balance?
Moving forward, if you understand the value of maintaining a healthy balance between one’s personal and professional life; how do you practically implement this theory into your lifestyle?
Time Management:
There has been immense research conducted on how one can optimise their behaviour to create a work-life balance, and one of the most prominent findings is through time management. Effective time management is a skill not only valuable to adults but also particularly for students; in fact, it may even be argued that students benefit from key time management more because of their varying commitments. Key time management does not consist of trying to fit in everything and leaving no time for relaxation; instead, it is realistically planning out your day to fulfil your realistic daily goals. If you want to achieve a healthy work-life balance, then part of your goal will be to stop working at a certain time and maintain healthy habits to boost your personal life such as sleeping at a timely manner and taking periodic breaks from the screen. There are many great resources to help with time management such as Trello, Google Tasks, Google Calendar, or even a basic diary.
Maintaining a healthy diet and sleep habits
The effects of sleep and a healthy diet is no surprise to anyone - especially the importance of sleep for growing teenagers and students. Not only does sufficient hours of sleep help one grow and avoid several health diseases, but there is enough research to prove that sufficient levels of sleep can boost levels of concentration and productivity. If one wants to effectively manage their day without feeling the need to pull an all-nighter or work overtime, naturally maintaining high levels of concentration with an adequate diet and enough hours of sleep will help boost their ability to comfortably relax after a productive and busy day.
Spending time with family and friends
As established earlier, overworking and striving for perfection comes at the cost of personal relationships and social development. Actively keeping up with friends and family is key to building and maintaining a social circle along with a support system you can rely on when you need emotional support. Studies have shown that teenagers require greater amounts of emotional support due to the physical and mental changes they are experiencing, however, despite that, they are also less likely to actively seek such help and support. One of the best ways to ensure you are spending adequate time with family and friends is by once again ensuring you have good time management, so you plan your day accordingly by fitting in social plans with your loved ones. If you are struggling to find the time to expand your social circle, you can also consider joining social/academic clubs that interest you and find people with similar hobbies as you.
In conclusion, a healthy work-life balance is extremely important to not only efficiently boost your productivity as a student, but to also take a step back and prioritise your mental and physical health - something that should never be compromised for a better CV or grades. As much as success is important in life, maintaining social relationships and trying to live a happy and fulfilling life holds as much - if not more - importance, enabling you to live a successful and meaningful lifestyle.
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Writer : Tisya Gupta
Editer : Eric Wang
Graphics by : Summer Guo
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