the we all know the importance of managing it at the time for work-life balance. But, how do we allocate the total 24 hours of the day to each aspect of it?
The easiest way to think about it is to divide it into 3 equal parts: 8 hours for work, 8 hours for family or personal time, and the remaining 8 hours for relaxation. . But is our thinking too easy or hard to follow?
The 8/8/8 rule is for achieving balance in personal and professional life life is said to help us succeed. Let’s see how it works below:
What is the 8/8/8 rule
The 8/8/8 rule focuses on the idea of ​​dividing your day into three eight-hour chunks so that you see your 24 hours in three separate categories instead of all of them: Eight hours for sleep, eight hours for work, and eight hours for you. Eight hours for “you” might look like three hours in the morning before work and five hours at night. Maybe you want to take an hour in the middle of the day to rest or start your work day later. Whatever your schedule and limitations, you can change your time around it.
Because it helps
It’s no secret that most of us struggle to find balance in our daily lives. This rule is a way to organize your free time and your work time to make sure you get the most out of every opportunity. Most of us think (and it happens often) that work is the biggest part of our day: any time before work is just time to prepare our day for work, and any time after work is to relax before bed.
These eight hours dictate all 24 hours of our day. But if you work an average eight-hour day, work doesn’t make up most of your waking hours—only half of it. This thought will help you focus more on how you spend your time.
By viewing 24-hour days in three different periods, you can avoid letting one period dictate everything. When you look at your day in general, it’s easy to want to lie on the couch until bedtime and then lose time from your sleep because you want to keep watching. Netflix after a stressful day at work.
But if you see your day as three separate blocks, the stress of work doesn’t necessarily affect the eight hours you spend not working or the eight hours of sleep.
“If you look at your day this way instead of trying to catch up on time, your stress about it will decrease,” said Karena Dawn, fitness trainer, coach and entrepreneur, on The Everygirl Podcast. “Once your day is organized in this way, all the stress of ‘no time’ really disappears.”
The difficulties in its implementation
Despite its benefits, the 8/8/8 rule can be difficult for many people to achieve due to some common obstacles. The biggest challenges are mainly due to the following reasons: the expectations and demands of the work are high, the responsibilities are overwhelming and the hours you spend on yourself, the hours and schedules are often irregular – especially if the responsibilities of the job are many.
The relaxed approach that brings success is the rule
Robert Owen, a Welsh industrialist and social reformer, is credited with the idea of ​​the 8-8-8 work-life balance. In the early 19th century, he advocated an ideal daily structure of “eight hours of work, eight hours of leisure and eight hours of rest.”
Of course, real life is not always well planned. Most of us have to spend about 2 hours before and after work to get it, run, shower, take care of the kids, etc. and so we have about 6 hours or less left for ourselves (not counting the 7-8 hours of sleep).
Don’t stresseh if you can’t stick to the correct 8-8-8 distribution. The idea is to aim for about eight hours in each area on most days and divide the hours as you see fit, for example 1 hour before work you can spend on yourself, as well as 1 hours before bed.
Balance can help you perform better at work, stay happier and healthier, nurture your relationships – and feel happier overall.