In today’s fast-paced world, achieving a work-life balance has become hard.

For Frontline Managers, those challenges seem to be even harder. The problem here is juggling professional responsibilities with your well-being.

Managers running a busy restaurant or retail store are also someone’s mother. They can also be someone’s son. Or even someone who wants to watch a football match at the end of a shift. Right?

But you do not stop being a dad, a mom, a son, a daughter or a partner while managing a store. Luckily, you are all those things at the same time.

On top of that, the new workforce you are hiring wants fair pay, flexibility and a clear work-life balance. So you need to be open-minded to the different meanings of balance. To avoid having a team full of burned-out staff.

The popular belief is that you need to separate your personal and professional life. 

But the true goal is the harmony of all those various aspects of your life.

In this blog, we’ll explore the true meaning of work-life balance for frontline workers. Providing you with practical tips to help you stick to the right balance.

So, let’s dig into it.

First things first:

You need to embrace the concept of  Work-Life Balance…

Work-life balance is where you prioritise both your career and personal life.

It’s about the flexibility to manage professional demands and still enjoy personal activities. 

It’s that reminder that you are John Green the General Manager of Poney Hotels Ltd. But you are also Johnny that lives across the street from Poney’s Pub… Right?

Focus on making a realistic schedule instead of trying to find the best way to divide your time. 

You can be productive at work and also happy in your personal life.

Finding Passion in your work can be hard but…

Loving what you do is essential for achieving work-life balance. 

For frontline workers, I often hear something like: “I love to work with people” followed by “But I also dislike it”.  

The thing is: Not everything about your job is fun. We all know that. But it should still be interesting enough that you don’t hate going to work every day. There is always something.

When I used to wait tables, having a chat with nice customers was my “something”. 

Being able to chat with tourists or even our regulars was the best thing of my day. Especially cause I knew I would never have this chance if I had stayed in my hometown. There were definitely some rough days, but the good ones made it all worth it.

If you’re tired and can’t do things you enjoy, you might want to think about making a change. Why not?

The goal here is that even during hard days at work you can still remember why you started in the first place. Or maybe… Why did you stay?

Good communication helps set expectations…

Open and honest communication with your team and superiors is key. Define expectations, deadlines, and priorities to make sure everyone is on the same page. 

Learn to delegate tasks and seek support when needed. Avoid shouldering too much responsibility. You can end up with burnout.

Being too busy can make you think too much…

When you have too much to do, come up with ways to get back in charge. Practise talking to yourself. Yeah, this is what you read: Talk to yourself!

You need to understand yourself as a person and know the amount of responsibility you can handle. Focus on the job you’re doing right now. Know your limits and remember that you can handle problems. 

Don’t think about mistakes you’ve made in the past or worry about the future.

To wrap things up…

You need to make sure you and your team have a good work-life balance. By following those rules you can make personal and working life work well together. 

This might be a work in progress and the rules might change in a couple of years… But the rewards of satisfaction make it well worth it.

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