There are many situations in life that can feel overwhelming, some moreso than others. Balancing these stressors can be even more difficult, but there are tools and strategies for making both jobs easier.
Mobile work
If you have mobile banking set up already you know that doing work where and when you have time helps get things done in a more organic way. A study by iPass, a telecom and mobility provider for businesses, supports that notion with hard data. The company found in a recent poll that 60 percent of mobile workers are accomplishing more – often at unconventional times; weekends and evenings were reported to provide the most popular opportunities for productivity.
The poll also touched on an interesting problem that employers need to deal with – a 16 percent increase in work-related stress since last year. Employees who work all the time can also feel overwhelmed constantly, especially when they have 24-hour access to work tools.
Managing stress
Owners seem to get it the worst according to Bank of America (BoA). The company talked to 1,000 small businesses and found more than half of them give up free time to keep up with work. Running a successful organization, BoA was told, is at least twice as difficult as maintaining domestic relations, caring for children or doing personal financial work.
Subsequently, more than a quarter of owners said they would like more financial advice to help them plan ahead. With other pressing personal and business matters, keeping up with business banking is still very important to owners according to BoA data, but owners just can't seem to find time to get around to it.
Splitting the two
Unplugging from work is key to keeping a healthy work-life balance. If an employee or owner gets too stressed, health and productivity can suffer. Encouraging down-time and getting away from work will help boost employee engagement by bringing people into work refreshed and ready to go. While mobile solutions may be more flexible and provide more opportunity to work, it's not always healthy to keep up a 50 to 60 hour work week.
"Having control over when, where and how one works is a significant benefit in terms of well-being," said Evan Kaplan of iPass. "Mobile workers themselves need to take care to manage the unique stressors that an always connected work-life can bring."