Disabled-Friendly Tips for a Healthy Work-Life Balance
A work-life balance ensures you prioritize your health and well-being and avoid overworking. Everyone needs a positive work-life balance. Employees with disabilities may experience more mental or physical fatigue, making them highly susceptible to work-life imbalances. Thankfully, practicing self-care and learning your limits can help you avoid overworking, burnout, and excess fatigue.
Take Breaks
No matter your role or industry, it’s crucial for you to take breaks often to give your mind and body some rest. If you work from home, leave the computer for a moment to relax. You can sit or walk around outside or even head around the block if able. You may want to engage with your favorite media for a few minutes to enrich your mind with non-work tasks. If you work outside of your home, leave your desk or post to relax, have a snack or meal, and get some stretches in. Breaks are very important to keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed.
Know Your Limits
Regardless of your disability or condition, you likely know what your limits are in a workday. It’s important to pay attention to those limits to avoid exhaustion, burnout, or overworking. If you know you get upset or exhausted after more than five hours of work a day, then make that your limit. You should be able to be honest with supervisors or coworkers about your boundaries in order to keep yourself safe, happy, and healthy. Don’t push past your limits!
Stretch
Not everyone can get up and walk around to stretch, but if you can stretch, do so! Stretching is great for flexibility, strength, and relaxation. You can work in a stretch easily during a work break to promote healthy stress release. If you can’t physically stretch, focus on deep breathing to ground yourself and relax. Deep breaths expand your lungs and help bring healthy oxygen through your body.
Consider a Caregiver
While many disabled people already have a caregiver, you may want to consider additional help if you don’t have one. Caregivers are great for helping you manage daily chores and activities so you can better focus on work or other priorities. Nursing facilities can provide housing and daily assistance, which is great for remote workers or those who need caretaking at the end of a stressful office day. If you do hire a caregiver or move into a nursing facility, make sure you vet them for quality first. Background checks, reviews, ratings, and testimonials can help you choose a safe, high-quality caregiver or community. When you don’t properly vet caregivers, you could be susceptible to theft, neglect, or other forms of abuse. You would want to avoid nursing facilities like Casa Real, which is rated one out of five in all categories for inadequate staff and lack of quality care.
Choose an Appropriate Work Schedule
If a 40-hour work week leaves you bedridden for the whole weekend while you recover, you may want to adjust your work schedule. If you’re the most focused at nighttime, you may want to select that as an appropriate work time. You’ll likely want mental and physical rest opportunities as much as possible. If you can afford it, make sure your work schedule doesn’t completely exhaust you.
Set Boundaries
It may be tempting to pick up an extra shift or an additional workload, but extra tasks can contribute to burnout and longer work hours. It’s important to set boundaries when you’re at your physical or mental limit to avoid causing your mind and body harm. Learn when to say no to extra work or stress boundaries when you’re uncomfortable. Work must be a comfortable place for you.
Utilize Accessible Technology
Work can be more difficult for those with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, or other neurodivergency. Thankfully, technology is adapting to disabilities more than ever. You can typically utilize dyslexia-friendly fonts for a more productive experience. Increase text size, color, or style to make it easier to read if you have limited vision. Use calendar and task reminders to stay on track and prevent procrastination. Screen readers and automated captions can make workspaces more accessible. Don’t be afraid to use these tools, and ask your supervisors for accessible alternatives if you need them.
Take Care of Your Mental Health
Mental health is just as important as physical health. If you’re taking care of your body but not your mind, your work performance and work-life balance will suffer. Find appropriate mental health professionals, like therapists or psychiatrists, to help you manage mental health symptoms. Some medications can provide great benefits for certain conditions like depression or anxiety. Talk with your doctor about trying them. Remember to log off and rest to protect your mental health. You’ll be able to manage your work-life balance better when you’re mentally healthy.