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Why Work-Life Balance Is So Important—and How to Nail It

When the workday is over, it should really be over

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

Mixetto / Getty Images

• What Do We Mean When We Say "Work-Life Balance"?

How Can I Tell If I Have a Healthy Work-Life Balance?

Can i request a healthier work-life balance (if so, how), how to improve your work-life balance.

Does it ever feel like your job is taking over your life? Or do you seem to have so many personal obligations that you can’t give 100% at work? We know we need work-life balance, but finding harmony between your professional and personal life isn't always as easy as it sounds. 

Work plays a major role in our lives. It takes up much of our waking hours during the traditional workweek. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that we are also taking care of the areas of our lives that keep us healthy and happy. 

Professional fulfillment can be a part of that, for sure. But well-being also involves all of the things outside of work that makes your life worthwhile, including your family, hobbies, health, and relationships (not to mention sleep, exercise, balanced meals, and relaxation).

At a Glance

Work-life balance generally refers to a balance between your personal and work life. The goal is to strive to keep that balance so that we are managing stress and burnout by fulfilling other areas of our lives that aren't swallowed up by work. Remember: That "balance" may shift at times and is never really a 50/50 split. We can accept that there may not ever be a balance, but we can strive to feel more grounded and balanced by making a personalized plan, exploring ways to improve that balance with our manager, taking breaks, and creating set boundaries between our personal vs. professional duties. If we're in a position to change jobs and our conversations with our manager are unsuccessful, we could also explore other opportunities that offer more flexibility.

What Do We Mean When We Say "Work-Life Balance"?

Work-life balance is usually defined as an equilibrium between your professional and personal life. When you keep things balanced, no single element of your life dominates and overwhelms the others.

"Work-life balance is the concept that you effectively manage your professional life and responsibilities so that you are productive and successful at work while ensuring you have plenty of dedicated time to live a fulfilling, grounded, personal life," says Abbey Sangmeister, MS.Ed, LPC, ACS .

That’s a general definition of the concept, but "work-life" balance can also mean different things to different people. Researchers suggest that this is because this balance is all about individual perception. It's something you feel when your work and non-work activities are in harmony and are compatible with your current goals and priorities.

The things that make your own work-life situation feel manageable may differ depending on your needs and your situation.

For working parents, it often means finding a way to juggle the responsibilities of a career while still finding time for a fulfilling family life. With rising numbers of older workers, work-life balance may focus more on staying active in the workforce while finding ways to manage health issues or disabilities.  

Major shifts in how we work have also helped change the definition of work-life balance for many people. For many people, work-life balance meant clocking out at 5 p.m. and not thinking about work until you showed up at the office at 9 a.m. the next day. 

Being tethered to an office is a thing of the past for many folks. It makes sense that, for many of us, the option for flexible or remote work is an essential part of work-life balance. This means that work-life balance is much more personal and nuanced these days–but it also makes finding a balance harder than ever before.  

Many times people think balance is a 50/50 split but that is not always the case. For each person, the balance may look different and will shift during different seasons of their life. The important part of having balance is that the person does not feel that one area of life is draining and depleting the other.

What Work-Life Balance Is Not

Work-life balance isn’t about slacking off, skipping work, or putting in less effort . Obviously, we all have our good and bad days, but there are ways to manage the days we’re feeling a little "off" that don’t involve hurting yourself professionally. 

Procrastinating or shirking your responsibilities aren’t effective ways to cope. You might feel a little better for a bit, but it ultimately creates more problems in the future. Work piles up, deadlines fly by, and your employer might start to notice that you’re not putting in your best effort.

The goal is to find a harmonious balance that works for you, between the demands on your time and energy, without neglecting important areas of your life.

You don’t want to ignore your personal life in favor of your job, but you also shouldn’t deal with stress by neglecting your workplace duties.

So how exactly can you tell if you have a healthy work-life balance? It can look a little different for everyone (since we all have different work, family, and relationship situations). 

"Lack of regular overwhelm and frustration are good signs that one does have good work-life balance. People who struggle with the Sunday scaries and dread or have a case of [the] Mondays more times than not are most likely struggling with an imbalance," Sangmeister suggests.

The following are a few signs that you’re striking a good balance between your job and other areas of your life:

• You don't feel like the demands of your work roles and personal obligations are constantly in conflict
• You're able to meet your deadlines at work without having to work overtime
• You're getting plenty of sleep at night and eating a healthy, balanced diet
• You don't spend the end of your weekend consumed by the " Sunday Scaries "
• You have plenty of time to relax and enjoy your hobbies
• You feel like you're spending enough time with family and friends
• You don't worry about your job when you're not at work
• You feel like you're being productive at work and making progress toward your professional goals, but you don't feel like your whole identity hinges on your job
• You're taking your vacation days (and using your sick days when you need them)
• You're taking advantage of any work-life benefits your employer offers, like gym memberships, flexible scheduling, and childcare vouchers

Remember that work-life balance isn't something you can just check off your to-do list. It’s only natural that the demands of your job and outside life shift and change over time. That means that what you need to keep the balance will change over time.

"With a good work-life balance, a person is less likely to be rigid with their schedule," Sangmeister says. "Instead, they are able to be flexible and can adapt to include demands that may come up professionally or personally without disrupting the feeling of balance."

To figure out if you have a good work-life balance, think about what's most important to you. What helps you to feel your best? Are you taking care of yourself personally and professionally? Are you managing your stress and watching for signs of burnout?

If you're struggling to find a balance between work and the rest of your life, it might be time to have a conversation with your supervisor. This includes work-life benefits like hybrid, flexible, or remote work. Flextime, alternative work schedules, child care options, and access to mental health services are important work-life benefits employers offer to attract employees. 

There are things that your employer can do to help foster a better work-life balance. It's something that benefits them as well. Research has shown that workers with better work-life balance are more satisfied with their jobs , perform better at work, and are more committed to their organizations.

A conversation with your employer might help you find ways to work together to make things more manageable. This might involve reprioritizing your tasks, delegating some work to others, hiring additional help, or allowing you to work remotely when needed.

Unfortunately, these aren't always options, depending on the nature of your profession or your role in the workplace. In many cases, making a change hinges on how you approach your job. It might mean changing your priorities, delegating tasks at home, or letting your colleagues know you can no longer respond to work-related problems during your downtime.

It's also important to be aware of your legal rights. If you need certain accommodations because you are pregnant or have a disability, these needs may be protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This includes protections if you are dealing with depression , anxiety , or another mental health condition. (You will need to have your condition diagnosed by your doctor, and you may need to provide documentation for your employer when you request an accommodation.)

How to Ask Your Boss for Better Work-Life Balance

Schedule a time to talk to your employer and tell them what you plan to discuss. During your meeting, explain your problem, and share your ideas for how you think you can work together to resolve the issue. 

If you've been overwhelmed by your workload and putting in too many hours, you might suggest redistributing some of your tasks to other team members to help lighten the load. 

Remember to stay professional and show respect for your employer's needs. Reiterate your commitment, and explain that you think finding a better balance will help you feel more productive and satisfied with your job.

So what’s next if you feel like your work-life balance is in shambles? It's time to take a step back, figure out what is wrong, and make a plan to fix it. Your health literally depends on it.

Many studies have demonstrated that people who have more conflict between their work and non-work life are more likely to experience health problems, mental health conditions, and poor overall health outcomes.

Make a Plan

Bringing more balance to your life starts with figuring out what’s causing the problem in the first place. Are your work hours too long? Or are work obligations encroaching on your off-time? Do you feel like you have no control over your schedule? Or are you taking on too many demands and need some relief?

Creating a personalized plan for how you are going to tackle your work-life balance can help you figure out what's wrong and which strategies will be most effective .

Create Divisions Between Your Work and Non-Work Life

Flexible and remote work can be a great way to promote balance in your life, but it often blurs the lines between your personal and professional life. You may find yourself working longer than normal hours, catching up on work when you should be relaxing, or staying up late to answer those last few emails you forgot to send earlier. 

The problem is that, over time, there is a distinct lack of balance. Because you never feel like you have any mental space from your job, it starts to feel like you’re always working. Your home life becomes your work life.

If you are fully or partially remote, there are things you can do to help promote better work-life balance:

• Create a schedule : Figure out which hours you can work during the day and stick with it. Creating a regular schedule can help you feel more productive. “ Start your mornings off with routines and rituals that are grounded. If you start your day sprinting the moment your alarm goes off, that energy carries through the day and leads to burnout,” Sangmeister says.
• Get ready for work : While you don't need to wear a suit and tie to work from your home office (unless you want to), consider wearing something other than your favorite 'lounging around the house' outfit. Dressing professionally when you are working can help create a mental division between your job and your home life.
• Let other people know when you're offline : Use different communication tools to let others know when you are offline. For example, put your work hours on your Google Calendar, set your Slack availability to prevent notifications during your off-time, and set up out-of-office emails when you are on vacation.
• Plan activities during your non-work hours : Give yourself things to look forward to once you are off work. It might involve getting together with friends, but it can be as simple as preparing a nice meal and settling in to stream an episode of a series you’re watching.

Take Breaks

Taking breaks is also essential. This includes mini-breaks during the work day and periodic days off or vacations.

"Taking an intentional day off periodically is a great way to improve work-life balance,” Sangmeister explains. "On these intentional days off, don’t just tackle a to-do list and chores; instead, work on personal development and mindfulness."

She also recommends mini-vacations and tech-free weekends . Even scheduling a little tech-free time each day can be helpful.

Don't Work When You're Not at Work

It might sound obvious (and simple), but it can be harder to stick with than you might expect. When your workday is over, it needs to be over. That means no checking work emails, looking at notifications, or logging in to finish "one last thing." 

Even if all you're doing is reading your messages that you plan to work on tomorrow, you're letting your work interfere with your personal time. It creates pressure and stress that distracts you from feeling fully relaxed or completely present during non-work hours. 

Set boundaries around the hours you work and create no work zones. That means even when you have “free time,” you aren’t going to open your phone or laptop to do work at certain times or in certain places.

Know What Burnout Looks Like

When your work-life balance is seriously screwed up (i.e., you're spending every waking moment working, thinking about work, stressing about work, or dreading work), there's a good chance you're headed for burnout .

Being burned out is more than just being tired and unmotivated—it means you've reached a state where you feel so exhausted and empty that you can hardly cope with daily life, let alone care about work.

Signs of burnout can be physical, such as headaches, high blood pressure, stomach aches, and frequent illness. But they are also mental and include problems sleeping, depressed moods, loss of interest, fatigue, problems concentrating, and apathy .

If you’ve reached this point, it means you need to make serious changes to your work environment. That might mean taking time off or switching to a different position. Sometimes, it might even mean thinking about changing jobs altogether.

Consider Changing Jobs

So you’ve had a conversation (or more than one) with your boss, but they are refusing to offer any flexibility to make any changes that will help you feel better about your relationship with your job–what now? 

If poor work-life balance is taking a toll on your well-being and isn't something you can solve on your own or by working with your employer, it might be time to consider taking a more serious step–changing your job altogether. 

Wait until you’ve had time to consider the problem and your options. Spend some time looking at other positions in your field (or even other fields if you’re ready to make a more significant change). Look at job review sites to see what other current and past employees are saying to learn more about what you might find in terms of work-life balance if you take a job with another company.

Finding a job you truly love can be a great way to feel more positively about the balance between your work and your outside life.

What This Means For You

Finding that perfect balance between your work and your life can seem like performing a tightrope act. If you're struggling, it might be worth talking to your boss about how they can help support your well-being (and foster greater job satisfaction and loyalty).  Remember: the goal is not to have a 50/50 balance—it's about finding a balance that feels good to you and, most importantly, works for you.

Taking steps to manage your time and boundaries is also essential. Make time for family, friends, hobbies, health, and self-care—the things that help you feel personally fulfilled outside of work. "Schedule, schedule, schedule," Sangmeister recommends. "Make these appointments just as important as any work meeting."

Gragnano A, Simbula S, Miglioretti M. Work-life balance: Weighing the importance of work-family and work-health balance . Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2020;17(3):907. doi:10.3390/ijerph17030907

Wong KP, Lee FCH, Teh PL, Chan AHS. The interplay of socioecological determinants of work-life balance, subjective wellbeing and employee wellbeing . Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2021;18(9):4525. doi:10.3390/ijerph18094525

Sirgy MJ, Lee D-J. Work-life balance: An integrative review . Appl Res Qual Life . 2018;13:229–254. doi: 10.1007/s11482-017-9509-8

Borowiec AA, Drygas W. Work-life balance and mental and physical health among Warsaw specialists, managers and entrepreneurs . Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2022;20(1):492. doi:10.3390/ijerph20010492

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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How to have a good work-life balance

Feeling like all you do is work? You’re not alone. Several statistics show that more than 60 percent of U.S. employees feel like their work-life balance is out of whack. But how do you balance your work-life with so much work happening at home? And how do you balance your workload to be more efficient? 

Is it more than just hitting a weekly yoga class ? And, most importantly, in a world where the boundaries between work and home are increasingly blurred, how do you figure out what works?

With so many struggling to find harmony between their jobs and their home life , it can seem inevitable to feel overwhelmed and overworked. But it doesn’t have to be.

Here we’ll identify the pattering of healthy and unhealthy work-life balance and ways individuals and managers can find better ways of managing both.

What does work-life balance mean?

Healthy work-life balance refers to maintaining a harmonious relationship between your work and personal life. It involves consciously managing your time and energy to meet both professional and personal commitments while prioritizing self-care and well-being . 

In an ideal world, this line of thinking goes: after work, we’re able to spend time on things that nourish us as people. This could involve spending time with friends and family or engaging in a hobby .

Some characteristics of a healthy work-life balance may include:

• Setting boundaries: This involves establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life by defining specific working hours and separating work-related tasks from personal activities.
• Time management: Efficiently organizing and prioritizing tasks, ensuring that you allocate enough time for work responsibilities as well as personal pursuits, such as spending time with family, engaging in hobbies, or pursuing personal goals
• Stress management: Implementing strategies to manage stress levels, such as practicing mindfulness, engaging in regular physical activity , taking breaks, and unplugging from work-related activities when needed
• Flexibility: Having the ability to adapt and adjust your schedule to accommodate unforeseen circumstances or personal needs without jeopardizing work commitments

Why is work-life balance so important?

Just like in our diets, to stay healthy and energized for the long haul, people need variety. When it comes to work-life balance, people need to engage in a variety of activities and rest . We tend to fall into the trap of believing that we can be productive all the time, or that an eight-hour day at work equates to eight hours of output. However, that is hard, if not impossible, for many individuals to achieve.

Plus, overworking has negative consequences for both employees and employers.

Workaholics and those who struggle to practice self-care find themselves at higher risk for burnout, fatigue, and stress-related health issues. Poor work-life balance can also leave employees working more hours but being less productive.

What is an unhealthy work-life balance?

On the other hand, an unhealthy work-life balance occurs when work becomes overwhelming and takes precedence over personal life, leading to negative consequences for an individual's well-being . Some signs of an unhealthy work-life balance may include:

• Constant overwork: Regularly working long hours, including weekends and holidays, without sufficient time for rest, relaxation, or personal activities
• Neglected personal life: Sacrificing personal relationships, hobbies, and leisure activities due to excessive work demands
• Burnout: Experiencing physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion due to chronic stress and work-related pressure
• Lack of self-care: Failing to prioritize self-care activities, such as exercise, adequate sleep, and leisure time resulting in deteriorating physical and mental health
• Strained relationships: Experiencing difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships with family, friends, and loved ones due to work-related commitments

Remember, achieving a healthy work-life balance may vary from person to person, depending on individual circumstances and preferences. It's important to find a balance that works for you and promotes your overall well-being.

Signs of an unbalanced work-life dynamic

Poor work-life balance can have a far bigger impact than just skipping the gym. One study found that the risk of stroke is higher in people that work more than 55 hours a week. The same amount of work hours is also associated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression . And even when adjusting for fairly normal sleep patterns, another study found that working longer hours correlated with a decline in physical health . 

By its very definition, work-life balance impacts all areas of your life. It tends to show up differently for different people, however. Here are eight characteristics associated with poor balance:

• You can’t stop thinking about work when you’re not at work. Those who find it difficult to draw boundaries between work and life are at higher risk of burnout .
• Your relationships — both inside and outside of work — are beginning to suffer. You may be easily irritated with coworkers and distant with loved ones.
• You feel off. You have unexplained aches and pains. You may rarely have energy or find it difficult to focus when at work.
• When you’re not at work, everything seems uninteresting or unimportant. You just don’t feel like doing anything unless you have to. You often turn down invitations, further isolating yourself from your friends.
• You spend a lot of money outsourcing support for personal tasks. Your laundry, dishes, and mail pile up, waiting for the day when you “have time” to get around to them.
• You struggle to take time off when you’re sick, mentally strained, or when you need to take care of personal tasks. You don’t remember your last vacation and you don’t have plans to take one.
• You can’t imagine doing what you do for the rest of your life. Even if you work in a field or a company you once loved, it feels impossible to imagine continuing life as it is for long.
• You always feel like no matter what you’re doing, you should be doing something else. Over time, this lack of presence and direction often leads to an existential crisis .

How to improve work-life balance

The truth is, there’s no prescription that will fit everyone. And you may have to play with what time scale feels most relevant to you. Trying to find balance in any single day may feel frustrating, but the balance may be easier to achieve across a week or more.

The best way to determine the best balance for you is by learning to check in with your inner compass — and your results.

With intentionality and a little creativity, you can recalibrate your expectations and reset your work-home balance. 

Here are 12 tips to have good your work-life balance:

1. Plan ahead

Plan ahead to combine work activities with leisure, social, or fitness activities. If you find yourself with several virtual meetings back-to-back, try taking them while you go for a walk. You could also take a call outside (if ambient noise allows!) or invite a friend over to work with you.

2. Embrace the way your brain works

Use productivity hacks like a Pomodoro timer to work in short, focused bursts. Block out all other distractions so you can make the most of your time.

3. Set blocks of time for different tasks

Designate a time to check (and respond to) messages, a time to take meetings, and a time to do mentally-intensive work. It helps to anchor these tasks around the times that you are personally more productive.

4. End work at a certain time

There’s a saying that “work expands to fill the time allotted,” and when you work from home , it’s even easier to let work spill over into personal time. Set a time to end work for the day, and reinforce it by powering down work-related devices, locking your office, or scheduling something afterward.

5. Enlist technology to help you unplug

Use an app to block distracting websites during the day, and then block work tools after hours. If you can, restrict work to one device, or try to keep one work-free device so you can disconnect completely.

6. Go out for lunch, or enjoy lunch with coworkers

Even if you’re working from home, you can go out for your lunch break or connect with colleagues. The change of pace will be refreshing — and, of course, will remind you to actually eat something.

7. Take time off

When you’re home all the time, you tend to try to work through illnesses that certainly would have kept you home from the office. Time off , including sick time, personal time, vacations, and bereavement , are important ways to nourish your well-being.

8. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness makes imbalance hard to ignore. When you practice mindfulness techniques, like meditation or breath awareness, you become more in-tune with your emotions and physical sensations . Paying attention to these feelings helps you learn how to notice when you might be suppressing a need in order to work. It’s hard to return to that spreadsheet after you notice your stomach rumbling. 

9. Find something you love outside of work to engage in

If you have something that you’re excited about doing after work, it will make it easier to disconnect from work messages or end your day at a predetermined time. Our hobbies boost our energy and vitality. When we play and feel creative, we bring our fresh selves back to work. 

10. Reconsider work that makes you yearn for balance

If your work feels completely unrelated to the activities that stir your interest, enthusiasm, energy, and sense of meaning, you may need to look at how you can change the work you do or the way you do it. While work doesn’t need to (and can’t) satisfy all of your needs for purpose, meaning, social connection, and challenge, we can expect work to provide moments of satisfaction, accomplishment, and connection.

11. Communicate with your manager

Poor work-life balance is often exacerbated by the fear that we’re not doing enough . Talking to your leaders can help you prioritize where to spend your time. If there really is too much to do, it might be time to talk about hiring additional help or streamlining certain tasks.

12. Work with a coach or therapist

If you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or don’t know where to begin to disconnect, working with a professional can be invaluable. A coach or counselor can ask the right questions and help you identify which changes will make the biggest impact and how to get started.

One word of advice: start small. Although you may be anxious for your work-life balance to improve , your work habits have been built over time and likely won’t change overnight. If your goal, for example, is to reduce screen time, trying to restrict yourself to a certain number of hours will probably just frustrate you. You’re more likely to stick with a new habit if you start with a smaller target — say, one five-minute tech-free break a day.

7 ways managers can support their employees’ work-life balance

Taking the necessary steps to develop a healthy work-life balance can be difficult. As a manager and an empathetic leader , you can help your employees ( and yourself ) by building pathways for them to make these changes. Here are seven ways managers can help their employees build good work-life balance:

1. Remind your team to unplug

Encourage your team to leave their laptops and work phones at home when they go on vacation. You may think it doesn’t need to be said, but they will appreciate the explicit permission.

2. Give employees space to connect

Organize virtual happy hours, birthday parties, book clubs, and other opportunities to connect socially. Put your lunch break on your calendar so they can see that you eat, too.

3. Educate employees on their benefits

Remind your employees that sick leave and PTO are part of their compensation, and don’t forget to take advantage of them yourself! When it comes to taking time off, actions speak louder than words.

4. Check in with direct reports

Make time during your check-ins to ask about employee well-being . You may have to read between the lines for what’s not being said. Missed deadlines or a lack of responsiveness can indicate overwhelm.

5. Set an example for your team

Take meetings while walking, introduce them to your kids on Zoom (we already know they’re there), or space out meetings so they have some breathing room.

6. Be aware of company culture and norms

Try not to normalize an “instant messaging” culture. Make it clear that messages sent on off-hours don’t require immediate attention, and avoid interpreting responsiveness as engagement.

7. Respect working hours

Don’t schedule meetings before or after work hours. This can be tricky when working across different time zones. Encourage your employees to end work at a designated time each day, and check in with anyone you notice consistently working after-hours.

Finding work-life balance while working remotely

One might think working remotely would make it easier to achieve a work-life balance. However, remote work presents its own challenges. Working outside of the office tends to mean multitasking, distractions, and difficulty keeping strict hours — all bad news for productivity as well as keeping work and life separate.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, approximately 20 percent of the U.S. workforce worked from home . Practically overnight, that number skyrocketed to nearly 70 percent. Homes became places for work, school, meals, leisure, and even working out.

There are some obvious upsides. It’s never been easier to bring your own lunch to work, rush hour is a thing of the past, and it only takes a minute to toss in a load of laundry before your next meeting. 

However, engaging in multiple activities in the same space makes it harder for your brain to distinguish between work and leisure. We lack the normal cues of people leaving the office to signal when it is time to wrap up work.

When your “office” is a corner of your bedroom or your dining room table, it makes it hard to stop thinking about work when work is done — and easy to check your email just one more time. And, although we gain time back from a commute, many people miss that space and time to transition from home life to work and work life to home. 

In an era of social distancing, our work-life balance is already struggling. For many, our work has largely adjusted to the pandemic, but many of our leisure activities and favorite outlets have not. As a result, it’s even easier to get pulled into work. We may hope that the meeting with the Marketing team will provide at least a bit of the coveted social interaction and stimulation that we’d normally get at the gym, a concert, or going out with friends.

Find and maintain a healthy work-life balance

Discovering that the relationship between work and home life is off-kilter is the first step in rectifying it. It might take some time, but small daily or weekly habits can make a huge difference in the long run. If you need help in building out a plan to improve your work-life balance, coaching can help.

Balance work and life with ease

Explore tailored coaching to master your work-life balance and boost well-being.

Allaya Cooks-Campbell

With over 15 years of content experience, Allaya Cooks Campbell has written for outlets such as ScaryMommy, HRzone, and HuffPost. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and is a certified yoga instructor as well as a certified Integrative Wellness & Life Coach. Allaya is passionate about whole-person wellness, yoga, and mental health.

Self-care and work-life balance: How to take care of yourself

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Office Productivity

12 minute read

14 Ways To Improve Work-Life Balance

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Not long ago, having a good work-life balance meant being able to leave the office on time. For some, it was about spending more time with their kids, while others valued the opportunity to meet up with friends or go to the gym during their lunch break. Companies increasingly offered the chance to work from home one or more days per week in an effort to attract new talent. 

Then the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns changed the nature of work-life balance. Even after, many thousands of office workers are working from home full-time, and are discovering that the lines between work life and home life are easily blurred. While the daily commute has disappeared, it has been replaced by other challenges, such as the tendency for work hours to bleed into the evening.  

This article will look at 14 ways to improve work-life balance, no matter whether you work in an office or from home. 

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What is work-life balance, and why is it so important?

Over the years, the understanding of what it means to have a good work-life balance has evolved dramatically as new generations (with new expectations) enter the workforce. The benefits of accommodating flexible working are more widely accepted as organizations increasingly prioritize the well-being and happiness of their employees. 

Why? Because researchers have revealed that work-life balance is just as beneficial for businesses as it is for their staff.

According to the Harvard Business Review, employee burnout costs the U.S. between $125 billion and $190 billion every year in healthcare. Meanwhile, a five-year study found that employees who work more than 55 hours per week are 1.66 times more likely to develop depression in later life.

Why do employees struggle to achieve a work-life balance?

In 2019, a survey conducted by e-commerce company Groupon found that 60% of Americans struggle to maintain a work-life balance, with 40% claiming they worked too many hours. 

Reasons employees struggle to get the balance right include: 

• A perception that being seen to work hard will help win a promotion or pay rise . 
• An unwillingness to switch off until everything on their to-do list is complete. 
• Workloads that are unachievable without putting in extra hours.
• Significant changes at home, such as having children, caring for a sick relative, or moving house.

How to tell when someone is struggling

Typically, an employee who is struggling to achieve a healthy work-life balance is likely to be tired, stressed, and distant. Their personal and professional life will suffer as they scramble to stay afloat. They’re more likely to make mistakes at work or fall behind, and their increased stress levels could lead to a deterioration in mental health or other physical conditions. They are also more likely to miss out on important events in their personal life as they attempt to manage an out-of-control workload.

With the majority of office employees working remotely, a failure to balance work with personal life looks a little different. Employees might spend more time than usual sitting at their desks, fail to take regular breaks, or differentiate work-time from personal-time, often checking emails throughout the evenings and at weekends. 

These 14 work-life balance tips will help tip the scales in the right direction to redress a healthy work-life balance. 

How to balance work and life 

1. identify productivity peaks.

So long as the work gets done, it shouldn’t matter when in the day it happens. 

While some people are at their most productive and creative in the early morning, others favor a slower start and can best apply themselves in the afternoon. Employees should play to their strengths and structure their workloads around their most productive periods to reduce procrastination and the frustration brought on by a lack of productivity.

2. Take scheduled breaks throughout the day

Whether you work from home or in an office environment, it’s useful to structure the working day to include several scheduled breaks. Taking breaks reduces the chances of being distracted by colleagues, family, or tasks such as housework during allotted work time.

3. Keep to strict working hours 

Whether it’s 9am-5pm or 7am-3pm, make a decision and stick to it. Once employees get into the habit of allowing their working day to impact their personal or family time in the evenings, it’s difficult to claw back a routine. 

If you make a habit of answering emails at 10pm, your boss and colleagues will continue to expect you to do so. Instead, make sure your co-workers understand that you finish work at the same time every day and will not be available again until the following morning. 

4. Have a long-term plan

Manage “deadline stress” by creating a long-term plan which encompasses completion dates for all upcoming projects and tasks. 

Having a long-term plan will help you spread out your workload realistically and identify at a glance which project you should be working on right now. 

5. Pursue passions

Employees with excellent work-life balance know the importance of finding time to do the things they love; whether it’s reading, painting, yoga, exercising using Neila Rey workouts , or spending time with their families. 

6. Book a vacation

A 2018 study found that 52% of U.S. employees have unused vacation days left at the end of each year. Opting not to take a break means missing out on physical and psychological health benefits , including lowered stress levels, higher motivation upon returning to work, and decreased burnout. 

Even a “staycation” provides a valuable opportunity to unwind and recharge, switch off from work and reconnect with family. 

7. Prioritize the important things in life

Juggling a career and a personal life will inevitably involve some sacrifices. It isn’t possible to accommodate every family occasion, school event, or social activity alongside the work calendar. But just as there are sometimes vitally essential meetings to attend at the office, some personal commitments should also be deemed unmissable. 

8. Don’t spend breaks doing tasks 

It can be tempting to spend work breaks running personal errands, especially when working from home . A 30-minute break can quickly turn into a whirlwind session of cleaning the house, putting away laundry, washing up, or paying bills. 

Instead, take the opportunity to indulge in some “me time” between work sessions to prioritize your well-being.

9. Schedule social activities 

When work is especially demanding, it’s tempting to cancel social plans. However, no matter what’s going on at work, it’s worth keeping at least one social event per week in the calendar. 

Finding a human connection is especially crucial during when you aren't going in office. This might come in the form of a family quiz or going for lunch with friends.

10. Just say no

Don’t feel pressured to take on every new request from a colleague or manager. Saying “yes” to everything is a surefire way to destroy your work-life balance. 

Instead, make time to work through the available options with the person who made the request. For example, it might be possible to take on a new, urgent task if something on your existing to-do list can be delegated elsewhere. 

11. Ask for help 

Never suffer in silence or allow pressures at work to escalate to unmanageable levels. Colleagues, managers, friends, and family are there to help and share the load when things get too much. But they can’t help if they aren’t aware of what’s going on. 

Employees in need of professional help should take advantage of mental health support (such as counseling) offered to them by their employers.

12. Take advantage of flexible working 

Progressive organizations offer a range of flexible working options to accommodate their employees’ preferences. This might include a shortened work-week, flexi-time, the opportunity to work from home, or job-sharing. Find out what options are available and how to take advantage of them. 

13. Separate work and play

Keeping work and relaxation separate is especially crucial for employees working from home. Ideally, try to set up your workstation in a place where it won’t intrude on your downtime. 

If possible, consider the use of a separate computer and phone for work that can be switched off at the end of the day. 

14. Prioritize mental health and well-being 

Now more than ever, it’s crucial to prioritize the well-being of the workforce. There’s a lot of noise on social media encouraging people to maximize their time in isolation by learning new skills or exercising more. But at a time when many people are experiencing heightened anxiety and insecurities about the future, the top priority must be to look after mental health. 

How can managers help?

For managers looking to support their employees in achieving a healthy work-life balance, consider doing the following: 

• Treat each employee as an individual with different life priorities and a different perspective on what constitutes a good work-life balance. Within reason, try to accommodate different expectations and requirements through the provision of flexible working options. 
• Lead by example. Don’t send emails in the middle of the night or schedule a 7pm meeting on a Friday evening. 
• Inform employees of the services and options available that could help them to achieve a better work-life balance. 
• Continually re-visit workplace policies , such as parental leave, to best accommodate the entire workforce. 

Over to you

Remember, work-life balance doesn’t come down to a single factor. It’s not merely about the number of hours worked or the weeks of vacation taken. All employees require unique support to thrive in the workplace and maintain a happy, healthy, and fulfilling personal life. Make sure you take some or all of the steps above to ensure you achieve your optimal work-life balance, even in trying times. And let us know in the comments what works best for you!

If you find yourself spending too much time on daily work tasks because you don't know the ins and out of programs like Word, Excel, or Outlook, consider taking some online courses to brush up on your skills. GoSkills has a range of top-rated, award-winning courses that can help you learn some time-saving tips and tricks, and boost your productivity. Try them all today for free with a 7-day free trial.

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Hugo Britt is a freelance content writer who believes that every topic is fascinating if you dig deeply enough. Hugo is the co-founder of content marketing agency Discontent.

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How to use design thinking to create a happier life for yourself

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This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through  all the posts here. 

Design thinking is something that we’ve been working on at the Stanford Design School and in the School of Engineering for over 50 years. It’s an innovation methodology that works on services and products and experiences, such as designing a great-looking sports car or a laptop that contains its own built-in mouse.

But I think the most interesting design problem is your life.

I cofounded the Life Design Lab with Dave Evans at Stanford. There, we teach people how to take design thinking — which is both a process and a mindset — and apply it to their own lives. School has taught most of us to be skeptical and to be rationalists, but those aren’t very useful mindsets when you’re trying to do something new, something no one’s ever done before, or something that has no one clear solution. Instead, design thinking says you should start with empathy and lean into what you’re curious about.

At Stanford, Dave and I teach a class called “Designing Your Life,” which we adapted into the book Designing Your Life , Designing Your Work Life and a set of online workshops . We started the class because we’ve been in office hours for a long, long time with students, and we saw that many of them were getting stuck in their lives. What’s more, they didn’t have the tools for getting unstuck.

Now designers get stuck all the time. When I signed up to be a designer, I knew that I was going to work on something brand new, something I’ve never done before — every single day of my career. So I get stuck and unstuck and stuck and unstuck all the time.

One of the most important ways to get unstuck is reframing. It’s one of our most powerful mindsets. Reframing also makes sure that we’re working on the right problem. Life design involves a lot of reframes that allow you to step back, examine your biases and open up new solution spaces. Reframing is essential to finding the right problems and the right solutions.

Many people have beliefs about life which psychologists would label as dysfunctional. If you want to design your life, you need to reframe these beliefs. They hold us back and keep us stuck. I’ll share three of the most common.

Dysfunctional belief #1: “Knowing your passion will tell you what you need to do with your life.”

If you actually have a passion, that’s awesome. Maybe you wanted to be a doctor as long as you can remember. Or you knew at the age of 7 you wanted to be a clown at Cirque du Soleil and now you are one.

To investigate this passion idea Dave and I went over to Stanford’s Center on Adolescence, which by the way now goes up to 27, and we met with professor Bill Damon. He’s studied this question of passion and purpose, and it turns out less than 20 percent of people have a single identifiable passion in their lives. It’s a dysfunctional belief. You don’t need a passion to start designing your life, and the reframe is “you are OK, just where you are”.

Dysfunctional belief #2: “By the time you’re out of college, you should know where you’re going. And if you don’t know, you’re late.”

Here we asked the obvious question, what exactly are you late for? When I was growing up you were supposed to have married and be on track to start a family by about 25. That’s an old-fashioned idea. We know that nowadays people are living their lives much more fluidly, and they are staying in dynamic career motion between the ages of 22 to 35. David Brooks , the New York Times columnist, calls these years the Odyssey Years — when we explore many alternative versions of ourselves.

Dave and I don’t believe in “should’s”. The notion that you “should be somewhere you’re not” and “you’re late” is a dysfunctional belief. We reframe this as “Let’s start from wherever you are; you’re not late for anything.”

Dysfunctional belief #3: “You should try to optimize the best possible version of yourself.”

This is a dysfunctional belief that we really don’t like. Why? It implies that there’s just one singular best and that life is a linear progression towards this singular best. Well, there is no evidence that there is one singular best version of you — we believe there are many, many versions of you and any of them can result in a well-designed life. Our experience is that life is anything but linear. Our reframe: “life design is a journey; let go of optimizing an end goal and focus on the process and see what happens next.”

Now that you’ve practiced some reframing, I’m going to give you five ideas from “Designing Your Life” to try out. They’re the ones that people who’ve read our book or taken our class or workshop told us were the most useful and most doable. After all, Dave and I are human-centered designers, so we want to be helpful.

Designing your life idea #1: Connect the dots

The #1 reason that people say they took our class or read our book is they want their life to be meaningful or purposeful. Dave and I looked in the positive psychology literature and in the design literature and found that there are three important identities that shape our lives: who you are, what you believe and what you do.

If you can make a connection between these three, you will experience your life as more meaningful. To help connect the dots, we do two things. The first thing is we ask people to write about why they work — your work view. What’s your theory of work? What’s it for? What’s work in service of? We ask them to write around a page about this.

The second thing is a little harder to do in a single page, but we still ask people to try and write up their ideas on the meaning of life. Why are you here? What is your view of how the world works — your life view?

When you can connect your work view and your life view together in a coherent way, you’ll start to experience your life as meaningful.

Designing your life idea #2: Recognize your gravity problems

There’s a class of problems that people can get stuck on, and we call them “gravity problems”. By that, we mean problems that are just circumstance, like gravity. You either can’t change these circumstances, or you are not willing to do what it would take – these are problems you cannot change.

You probably have a friend you’ve been talking to for a while, and they’re stuck. They don’t like their boss, or they don’t like their partner, or they don’t like their job. However, nothing’s happening with that problem. Dave would say, “You can’t solve a problem that you’re not willing to have.” He means if you’ve got a problem and you’re simply not willing to work on it, then it’s just a circumstance in your life. It is a gravity problem. The only thing we can do with gravity problems is to accept them.

Once you’ve accepted that you have a gravity problem and you can’t change it, you have to decide: What do you want to do? Is this a circumstance you can reframe and “work with”? Or do you need a “work around” – and do something completely different?

Be really careful about a gravity problem, because it’s pernicious and can really get in your way. Accept it and then decide on a “work through” or “work-around” strategy to move forward.

Designing your life idea #3: Brainstorm your possible futures and make three Odyssey Plans

For this idea, let’s go back to this idea of multiples. I like to do a thought experiment with my students. I say, “physicists have demonstrated that this multiverse-thing might be real; there are multiple parallel universes that are one right next to each other. Let’s say you could live in all the multiverses simultaneously. Not only that, but you’d know about your life in each one of these instances. You could be a ballerina and a scientist and a CPA or whatever else you ever wanted to be. You could have all these lives in parallel, so how many lives would you want?”

I get answers from 3 to 10,000, but on average, most people think they have about 7 ½ really good lives that they could live.

Then I say, “Great! There are more lives than one in you. So let’s go on an Odyssey and ideate those other lives. We’re going to ideate your future – and you can’t ideate just one — you have to ideate three.”

There’s some research from the Stanford School of Education that says if you start with three ideas and you brainstorm from there, you get a much richer and a wider range of ideas. The ideas are more generative and lead to better solutions than if you’d just started with one idea and brainstormed from there. I also think there’s something magical about threes. When we help people imagine three completely different lives, we’ve found that it can be transformational.

To guide them, we give them this rubric.

Life #1 is the life and job that you’re currently living — just make it better. Put in all the bucket list stuff you want to do. Maybe you want to go to the Galapagos or write a book or bicycle across the country. It’s your life and your job as you’re living it now, but your job goes great and your life includes all the extra interesting things that you’ve thought about doing.

For Life #2, let’s pretend that your job just doesn’t exist anymore. The AI and robots have come, and your job has disappeared. What are you going to do instead? What will you do if Life #1 goes away?

And for Life #3, this is your wild card plan. What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money? If you had enough money — not so much that you’re fabulously wealthy but enough and to live on — what would you do? And what would you do if you knew no one would laugh at you? Maybe you’d go to study butterflies for a living or be a bartender in Belize. Whatever, it’s your wildcard!

What happens when people do these Odyssey Plans is that they realize that these three parallel lives are all pretty interesting. And doable. They also realize there are things, life ideas, that got left behind in the business of life and bring them back into their plans. Sometimes, because of this exercise, folks decide to pivot to an entirely different life plan. Mostly they use this as a method to ideate all the possible wonderful ways that they could live.

Designing your life idea #4: Build some prototypes

You could immediately start executing one of your Odyssey lives, but in the design process, the thing you do after you come up with lots of new ideas is you start prototyping.

The science-fiction writer William Gibson has a famous quote: “The future is already here. It’s just unevenly distributed.” To discover this future, we prototype. When we say prototyping, we ask the question: “What would it be like if I tried this possible future in some small an easy to execute way?”

Prototypes help you expose your assumptions. It’s easy. You can have what we call a prototype conversation. There’s already someone bartending in Belize — she’s been doing it for years. You could talk to her and have a conversation about her experience. And rest assured, somebody, somewhere is doing the thing you want to prototype, the thing you’re you’re interested in. They’re living in your future. All you have to do is talk to them! When you have a conversation with them, they’ll tell you their story. If you hear something that rings true for you, you can identify that as a potential way of moving forward.

Instead of a prototype conversation you could also try a prototype experience. Dave and I were working with a woman in her late 40s. She was in the middle of her career and a very successful tech executive, but she told us she wanted to move her career from money-making to meaning-making. One idea was to go back to school, get a degree in early childhood education, and start working with kids.

But she said, “I don’t know; I’m 45. Going back to school — is that going to work? And I heard about millennials and how they don’t like people my age. How do I prototype this?”

We said, “You just have to go try this, it’s a prototype experience.” We sent her to sit-in on an education class. She wasn’t registered, but she just went in and sat down to listen. When she came back to us, she said, “It was fantastic. I walked into the lecture hall. I sat down; my body was on fire. The lecture was so interesting and then I met these millennials, and it turns out, they’re pretty interesting people. They think I’m interesting too because I’m going back to school at 45. I’ve set up three prototype conversations with them!”

The lesson here: We are more than just our brains, and when you have a felt experience — meaning an experience in your body — that’s a great way to find out if one of your ideas might work for you.

Designing your life idea #5: Choose well

When many people make decisions, they end up not being happy with them. So many of us have FOMO, the fear of missing out and we worry: “What if I didn’t pick the right thing?” Or, “I’m worried about whether or not I made the best decision, and what if I want to change my mind?”

Narrowing down your choices can be quite simple if you understand the psychology of decision-making. After the rational pro-con lists, choosing is about that feeling in your stomach. Pay attention to your felt sensations, the feelings that you experience in your body. Without your emotions and your gut feelings, you can’t make good decisions.

After following your gut, you need to let go of all the other options and move on. By the way, this has always been the hardest part for me. But there is evidence that “going all in” is the best way to choose. In a psychology experiment run by Harvard University professor Dan Gilbert , researchers showed five Monet prints to participants and asked them to rank them from best to least.

Afterwards, the researcher said to some participants, “I bought too many of prints two and three. If you want to take one home, you can keep it.” With the other participants, the researcher said the same thing but added, “If you don’t like the one you picked out, you can come back and exchange it for another one.”

Then, they brought the people back a week later and asked them, “Which print do you like now?” they found the people who were allowed to change their minds didn’t like the print they took, and they actually didn’t like any of them anymore.

Meanwhile, the people in the other group — the ones who were told they could not change their mind — loved their print. They liked it the best and ranked it even higher than before. The lesson from this experiment is that when given the option, the reversible condition is not conducive to creating happiness. So, go ahead and make a good choice, and then make it irrevocable. You will be happier.

Once you get good at gathering, creating and choosing ideas, you also want to make sure you leave room for lucky or serendipitous ideas. Being lucky is about paying attention to the task at hand while keeping your peripheral vision open. It’s in your peripheral vision that interesting opportunities show up that you were not expecting. Taking advantage of these opportunities is how we define “luck”.

To recap, these are my five life design ideas: 1) Connect your dots to find meaning; 2) Be wary of gravity problems; 3) Do three Odyssey Plans, or three ideations for your life; 4) Prototype everything; 5) To choose well, make your choices emotional and irrevocable.

We know you can design your life because thousands of students, mid-career folks, and folks thinking about retirement have already done it. Two PhD studies have concluded that our class develops higher self-efficacy and lower dysfunctional beliefs in people. And that helps them feels what David Kelley calls “creative confidence”. It’s been fascinating to watch our students go through the class and walk out, saying, “You know what? I’m guess I am a pretty creative person.”

The designing your life idea is pretty simple — get curious, talk to people, try stuff and tell your story. That’s how you achieve a well-designed life, one that’s generative, constantly creative, productive, changing, evolving and where there’s always the possibility of surprise.

This post was adapted from a TEDxStanford Talk. Watch it here:  

About the author

Bill Burnett is the Executive Director of the Product Design Program and an Adjunct Professor in Mechanical Engineering - Design at Stanford. He is also the cofounder of the Life Design lab and coauthor of Designing Your Life, a book that captures the lessons from 13 years of teaching the Stanford class of the same name, and Designing Your Work Life, a book that helps you reimagine work and your job. In addition, Burnett has worked at startups and Fortune 100 companies, including seven years at Apple designing award-winning notebook computers and a number of years in the toy industry designing Star Wars toys. He also advises several startup technology companies that were started by his students.

• art and design
• bill burnett
• design thinking
• how to be a better human
• personal growth
• surprise me

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• Dimensions 6.05 x 0.97 x 9.18 inches
• ISBN-10 059329369X
• ISBN-13 978-0593293690
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Large Print; Large type / Large print edition (March 10, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 059329369X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593293690
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.05 x 0.97 x 9.18 inches
• #4,440 in Motivational Management & Leadership
• #4,997 in Business Motivation & Self-Improvement (Books)
• #17,522 in Motivational Self-Help (Books)

About the authors

Bill burnett.

BILL BURNETT is a Consulting Assistant Professor at Stanford and currently the Executive Director of the Design Program.

DAVE EVANS is an adjunct lecturer in the Product Design Program at Stanford, a management consultant, and a co-founder of Electronic Arts

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Designing your work life.

In the #1 New York Times bestselling book Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett and his co-author Dave Evans showed us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling. With their second book, Designing Your Work Life, they zero in on finding happiness at work. In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast , Bill gives advice on how to assess the potential of your current career and shares ways to redesign and re-engage with your job.

Bill Burnett's father worked at Hewlett Packard for 45 years. As a Stanford professor and New York Times bestselling author, "he still thinks I don't have a real job because I've only been at Stanford for 13 years," Bill quips with a smile.

The nature of work is changing, and our attitudes toward it are changing too. Nowhere is this more evident than the shorter lengths of time we’re spending in our jobs. But today’s emerging professionals also want different things out of work—mobility, autonomy, and meaning, in addition to security and money.

Bill’s first book, Designing Your Life , written with his co-author Dave Evans, was an instant hit, translated into 23 languages and spurring a series of global workshops where people learned to use principles of design thinking to craft a life they love. Their new book, Designing Your Work Life (launching February 25th), sets out to help the 68 percent of American workers (and many more in other countries) who say they’re disengaged in their work.

“We’re heading into the most uncertain future of work,” Bill says. “To be resilient in the future when you don’t know what jobs will be available and what will change, you need to adopt a designer’s mindset.” Here are Bill’s best tips for figuring out what’s working (and what’s not) in your current job, and how to redesign your job to be a better fit.

Why design thinking works for work

These days, you’re responsible for your own career path, Bill says. Companies aren’t in a position to invest in the long-term career growth of individuals like they used to be. Many of today’s jobs will be non-existent in 10 years, and many new careers we don’t know about yet will have emerged. There’s nothing we can do about the pace of change, but Bill believes there’s a lot we can do to prepare ourselves for the future.

In Designing Your Life, he simplifies the principles of design thinking into a few pieces of advice: “ Get curious , talk to people, try stuff, tell your story. That generates a cycle that creates new opportunities.” To take advantage of those new opportunities, you’ve got to be ready to learn and grow.

If you’re nervous about committing to a career that might not be there in a few years, Bill has a few pointers: “The more creative you are, the more social emotional learning you have, the more empathy you can bring to your work , the least likely you are to be automated out of a job.” Building your design thinking abilities is a great way to increase your creative capacity .

Measure your baseline and make a plan

The first step to increasing your job satisfaction is understanding what drives it. Bill sees many people held up by dysfunctional beliefs—the tradeoff between money and meaning, for example. If you believe that you can either make lots of money or find meaning in your work (but not both), it can feel like a zero sum game with no solution. But that’s not actually the case, Bill says.

We get paid for the things we do in three ways: money, impact, and expression. This is what Bill calls the Maker Mix. Money is the most obvious form of payment, but we also care about making a change in the world (our impact) and being able to share our creative abilities (expression).

Assess your current Maker Mix by rating each area from 1 to 100. Often, people find they have more impact than they thought, but Bill sees many people who are lacking in expression. For example, consulting work may shake out to 70 percent money, 40 percent impact, and 10 percent expression. A full-time artist may be low in money, medium in impact, and high in expression.

Now, design your ideal mix and look beyond your work to other areas of your life. If you desire more impact, you could coach a kids soccer team. For more expression, instead of aiming to become a professional poet, try sharing your poetry at an open mic night.

“There’s a lot of ways we find meaning and purpose in our lives,” Bill says. “It doesn’t all have to come from your job.”

The takeaway is that you have a lot more options than you might think you do. Your ideal mix creates a target. Now, start prototyping into that target by doing small tests to see what works.

“We’re heading into the most uncertain future of work. To be resilient in the future when you don’t know what jobs will be available and what will change, you need to adopt a designer’s mindset.” Bill Burnett

Don’t resign, redesign

So you’ve done your Maker Mix and decided you’re not getting enough of what you want from your job. Resist the urge to quit right away. “Oftentimes people think they have to quit their job and go to another company, but that's not true,” Bill says. “You've got all this social capital where you are and and oftentimes skills are transferable.”

In Designing Your Work Life , he shares four strategies for redesigning your current job to be a better fit.

1. Reframe and re-enlist

Change the “why” of your job and find a new reason to motivate you at work. Maybe you used to love your job because the work was exciting, but it’s lost some luster recently. However, you need money to give your child needed medical treatment. Make your child your new “why.”

“It’s really about coming up with a way to imagine your job as being valuable and useful, not because of the job itself, but because of something else,” Bill says.

Change the structure of your job to better align with your interests and use more of your strengths . Try shifting some of your responsibilities to someone else who is better suited. You’ll feel more engaged and your boss will appreciate your improved performance.

3. Relocate

Move laterally inside your organization, either to a new role with similar responsibilities or one created for you.

4. Reinvent

Go back to school, learn new skills, and create a 2.0 version of you. If you’re interested in moving from finance to marketing, for example, ask people within your organization what that would require. Often, they’ll tell you, and then you can decide if it’s worth the time and effort.

Invest in your creativity

The technology we use at work, a company’s needs, and our own interests are all guaranteed to change over time. What won’t be going away anytime soon is the need for creativity. We all have the capacity for it. We just need to nurture it.

“Invest in your own creativity,” Bill urges, “because you will have to design your next couple of jobs yourself.”

Want to learn more about design thinking? Check out our Design Thinking Resources page.

Bill’s new book, Designing Your Work Life, launches on February 25th, 2020. Get access to a special 2020 Get Started Guide when you pre-order at this link .

To take your learning further, gain a practical understanding of the essential design thinking skills and mindsets with IDEO U’s Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate .

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Using Data to Design Your Hybrid Work Policies

• Heidi Grant,
• Ginnie Carlier,
• Frank Giampietro

Surprising insights from EY’s survey of its U.S. hybrid, full in-person, and fully remote employees.

We’ve seen how fully remote work can lead to a loss of connection and development opportunities, particularly those that require observational learning, or learning by watching someone else do it. However, people still want to work from home at least some of the time because of the greater work-life balance and personal productivity that they experience. But what is the right amount of time to be in person? How can corporate policymakers and team leaders get the best of both worlds? The authors discuss how Ernst & Young LLP (EY U.S.) has taken a data-driven approach to questions around hybrid work. Their data comparing the performance and well-being of hybrid employees with their fully in-person and remote counterparts has yielded (often surprising) insights from which other organizations may benefit.

Despite years of effort and copious amounts of thought leadership (some of it of questionable value), leaders across industries are still struggling to figure out how to create policies that balance their desire to see employees back in the office with employees’ undiminished desire for flexibility. Managers are also struggling to make these arrangements and policies work and keep their teams engaged in an era of unprecedented uncertainty and burnout .

• Heidi Grant is a social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of motivation. Her most recent book is Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You . She’s also the author of Nine Things Successful People Do Differently and No One Understands You and What to Do About It . She is EY US Director of Learning R&D.
• GC Ginnie Carlier is EY Americas Vice Chair of Talent.
• FG Frank Giampietro is EY Americas Chief Wellbeing Officer.

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What you needed to know about the workplace in 2015, meet woodura: wood floors that last for generations, designing for neurodiversity and inclusion, the benefits of commuting, chair of the month.

Unispace’s Elise Cuneo shares three ways to spark cultural optimism and connect employees through change.

In today’s evolving world of work, employees expect a lot from their workplace environment — free snacks and games is an outdated approach and is no longer enough to entice people back into the office.

Creating a resilient and positive workplace environment through thoughtful design fosters a sense of belonging and purpose among employees, nurturing a culture of optimism and connection to mission and brand. By focusing on the integration of spaces and places that prioritize comfort and the mixed needs of a workforce, the workplace becomes more than just a series of physical spaces — it becomes a platform for connection and productivity.

When there is a strong alignment between employees’ personal values and the values of their organization, they are more engaged, motivated, and committed to their jobs. And now more than ever, business leaders are seeing the role that the workplace experience can play in shaping these positive feelings.

The key to unlocking value from the workplace, and in turn, the workforce, is to create an ecosystem that can adapt to evolving and varied employee needs and preferences over time.

Embedding workplace resilience in a hybrid era

There’s no one path to a resilient workplace, but Unispace’s Returning for Good report shows an inherent disconnect between what employers are providing, and what employees actually need and want in the workplace.

For example, according the Unispace report,

. . . the vast majority of U.S. employers (89%) are confident that their current office allows people to be productive, while more than half (52%) of employees say they struggle to carry out their core role in their current office environment because of regular interruptions and a high number of meetings.

The first step to unlocking the approach to any new workplace environment is through listening and understanding the needs of a company and their people — no two workplace environments are the same. With hybrid work here to stay, exactly how companies are bringing employees back into the office also varies from company to company, sector to sector.

Our research shows, for instance, that many of today’s employees enjoy the autonomy, privacy, and quietness of working from home. Knowing this, workplace strategy and design can play critical roles in creating responsive environments that bring together the elements of home that employees enjoy, while adding value where working from home may fall short, such as in areas where face-to-face interaction is more productive.

To support a hybrid workforce, the workplace needs to be designed purposefully to ensure it acts as a catalyst to empower, engage, inspire, and enable both remote and in-office workers to be productive and feel connected.

Here are three ways to drive that connection, from providing purposeful workplace choices and designing for all people to articulating brand culture.

1) Support employee purpose with flexible, tech-enabled design

How can companies create tailored, experiential work environments that evolve as their workers’ needs change?

A company can work with an experienced strategy and design team to create a tailored, experiential work environment by prioritizing flexibility and adaptability in their approach.

As no workforce is the same, this involves diving deep and understanding the diverse needs and preferences of an organization’s workforce and creating spaces that can evolve alongside them.

Integrating elements of modular furniture , flexible layouts, and adaptable technology infrastructure can allow for seamless adjustments to accommodate changing work styles and preferences. Additionally, integrating spaces such as designated quiet zones, collaborative areas, or wellness spaces empowers employees to tailor their work environment and choose environments to suit their individual needs.

By continually engaging and welcoming feedback from employees as well as monitoring evolving trends in workplace dynamics, companies can ensure that their environments remain responsive and relevant, fostering a sense of empowerment and ownership among employees while promoting productivity and well-being.

2) Deliver spaces where everyone belongs

One of the most important steps to supporting a culture where everyone feels welcome and belongs is understanding the diverse needs of a workforce and using inclusive and equitable design practices to accommodate them.

This means going above and beyond in developing a program and experience that supports all employees.

Some tactics that should be considered when designing an environment that supports belonging include (but are not limited to):

• Designing with inclusivity and equity in mind . At its core, the workplace is about people and their experiences. Everyone wants to feel they belong within their workplace, and when they do, they are more likely to contribute to their fullest potential. Using inclusive and equitable design principles that go beyond ‘checking a box’ can truly support all people, including their unique differences and abilities, ensuring they feel valued as a member of the company community.
• By connecting the physical environment with brand values and purpose , a company can reinforce its mission, whilst sparking employee connection and pride.
• Supporting a multigenerational workforce . The days of a one-size-fits-all workplace environment are long gone. As the workplace becomes more diverse, so are the range of priorities and expectations surrounding them. For example, Gen Zers prioritize mental health, diversity, and inclusion, whereas Millennials tend to focus on company reputation, purpose, and connection. One way to empower these and other generations at the same time is to encourage collaboration and communication across a mix of tailored office spaces.

3) Activate community, culture, and connection

For all companies, creating a strong culture in the workplace is a top priority. That means anchoring the workplace in community, fostered through deep connection and trust using a range of key workplace strategies, from authentic design and technology to well-being considerations.

Through thoughtful design, the physical workplace can bring community, culture, and connection to life in many ways.

For example, flexible or multi-use areas like cafes can support the serendipitous interactions and casual engagements that lead to new ideas as well as increased productivity.

Integrated technologies also support remote employees and ensure a parity of experience no matter where they might be located, while driving connection to people and place.

A creative approach to storytelling through intentional branding, art, and cultural programming can help support a feeling of ‘we’re in this together.’

Through it all prioritizing well-being is essential. Championing health and well-being goes beyond fitness centers and healthy food options but must also consider how the workplace environment impacts and supports the physical, cognitive, and emotional needs of people.

The future workplace is a resilient one

To achieve a future that can withstand the current pace of change, the design of a workplace environment must center around people and their needs, ensuring they feel valued and supported through both physical space and experience.

By reimagining the workplace, with design that is underpinned by purpose, belonging, and connection, business leaders will empower their teams to thrive now, and into the ever-changing future.

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More From Forbes

How to be happy—according to new data on generations.

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For happiness, choose activities that bring you together with your people.

If you’re looking for happiness—and who isn’t, these days—you may be most successful by creating experiences that are based on your generation. A new survey finds there are significant differences in how generations spend their time and money to seek (and find!) happiness and great experiences.

And while it may seem fluffy, happiness is a worthy and substantive goal. We are more polarized today than ever, and people are reporting record levels of stress and mental health challenges. But when you’re happy, you tend to be healthier and live longer—and have less depression, anxiety or other mental or emotional challenges. You also tend to perform better at work and achieve more success.

And happiness is contagious as well. When you’re more content, you tend to positively affect others in your community and your network.

In addition, happiness is holistic across work and life. You already know that when you’re happier in your work, you tend to experience positive spillover to your personal life, but the opposite is also true. When you’re happier outside of work, you perceive that you’re happier within work as well.

Here’s how you can get happy—or happier—based on your generation.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Design Upgrade Shines In New Leak

Netflix: marvel dud among movies new on streaming service this week, square enix is done with playstation exclusivity after profit drop, get happy with play, like gen z.

When asked how they prefer to spend their extra time and money, Gen Z is 69% more likely to say they want to play games as compared with other generations. They prefer video games, card games and even board games, according to a survey by RYA .

Playing together is a sure path to happiness. In fact, playful activity at work was found to boost productivity by 20%, according to research by Brigham Young University.

Play is powerful because it brings you together with others—virtually or in person—and links you in a common goal. Play offers enough structure and rules for meaningful interaction, at the same time it builds bonds by creating shared experiences.

Feeling connected with your people is a sure path to happiness—and play at work or in your personal life is a great strategy to get there.

Playing together can increase happiness.

Get Happy with Sports, Like Millennials

Interestingly, 33% more millennials than other generations prefer to play sports when they have time outside of work, based on the RYA data. For example, they want to do things like play soccer, tennis or pickleball.

There is good evidence that exercise is good for you and your happiness . In fact, it increases wellbeing and joy, and it reduces anxiety and depression, according to research by the University of Michigan.

And exercise is helpful for all ages. West Virginia University proved a link between exercise and happiness for middle school students and the University of Iowa found that seniors benefitted with improved cognitive function and memory when they exercised.

And sports can also offer the benefit of access to nature—which is also linked with greater wellbeing and happiness. You may play sports inside, but chances are good you’re outside as well. Sweeping research on 301 separate studies across 62 countries published in Science Advances found when you spend time in nature you contribute to cognition and better thinking, more cohesiveness and better communication as well as creativity, character and competence.

Exercise and nature significantly contribute to happiness, so embrace sports.

Get Happy with Entertaining, Like Gen X

Gen X tends to choose hosting or entertaining when they are spending discretionary time or money—and they choose these 12% more than other generations, according to RYA.

This too is a smart way to create the conditions for happiness—by building friendships and connections. In fact, when you have a few close friends its impact on your health (heart disease, blood pressure, cancer, dementia and mental health) is greater than your habits related to diet, exercise or alcohol consumption, and on par with smoking—according to research at Brigham Young University.

And when you host gatherings for your work colleagues, you’ll get an extra benefit, because when people felt more connection with their co-workers, they reduced stress, burnout, loneliness and anxiety, according to data from BetterUp .

Breaking bread together has marked effects on relationships as well. Academic studies by Dr. Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary psychologist, found when people ate together, they enhanced community, trust, satisfaction, happiness and their perceptions that life was worthwhile.

So take a page from the Gen X playbook and create happiness by hosting, entertaining and spending time with friends over a delicious meal.

Get Happy by Volunteering, Like Boomers

Volunteering is also a great way to get happy, and Boomers are 31% more likely to spend their time here as compared with other generations, according to the RYA data.

Volunteering contributes to happiness because it focuses you on helping others, which is proven through research to increase your feelings of joy and satisfaction .

In addition, when people volunteered , 45% experienced a greater sense of purpose, 36% felt happier, 26% improved their mental wellbeing, 20% had higher self-confidence and self-esteem and 11% reduced their stress, according to a survey by BioLife .

So seek opportunities to volunteer, help in your community and contribute your talents to others—for greater happiness.

Do What You Love

When you do what you love, either within your work or outside of work, you’ll contribute to happiness. So regardless of your generation, embrace the activities that energize you and you’ll reap greater happiness for yourself and for others as well.

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Batch cook, set fake deadlines – and delegate: how efficient people get stuff done

Ever wonder how some people make juggling a million responsibilities appear effortless? We asked them

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Prep the night before

“A frantic rush before I even open the door in the morning can leave me feeling off-balance all day,” says Dr Anjali Mahto, consultant dermatologist and founder of Harley Street clinic Self London . “So I take a calm few minutes the evening before to lay out tomorrow’s clothes and pack my gym bag.”

Milly Fyfe – farmer, podcaster, cookbook author and mother of two – makes packed lunches and fills in school forms before bed, “and breakfast is laid out so the children can help themselves once dressed”.

And Matt Flukes – who works as sales vice-president for a software company, has two adopted sons with his husband, volunteers as a trustee for the Counselling and Family Centre and writes children’s book s – puts the washing machine on a timer, so that it finishes at 7am. “It makes the most of the cheaper overnight electricity and can be hung to dry before everyone else gets up.”

Boss your inbox

Treat email like real mail. “You open physical letters, then either recycle them, act on them straight away or put them in a pile for later,” says Flukes. “So either delete emails, reply, save in folders named, say, ‘info’ or ‘to action’, and dedicate some time each day to working through them.”

Use technology – and have a bit of fun

“I wake the kids with a Google Home smart speaker set up to remind them of any activities after school like karate or ballet, or play dates, tell a couple of jokes, give the weather forecast, then run a playlist of their favourite songs,” says Rachael Twumasi-Corson, non-executive director at Mensa, mother of four and co-presenter of the Mum Dem podcast .

Plan your meals and batch cook

Amar Latif, TV presenter and founder of Travel Eyes , a tour operator that provides independent group travel for blind and partially sighted people, says his blindness requires him to find time-saving solutions: “I chop onions , garlic, ginger and chillies at the start of the week to make sauces, and store them in plastic boxes in the fridge, so if I want to cook, I have everything ready.” To chop vegetables safely, he uses touch, holding the knife so that his knuckles are against the flat of it, and carefully keeps it at 90 degrees to the chopping board.

On Sundays, Priya Tew , a dietitian and pilates teacher who heads a household of eight, sits with a cup of tea and uses her diaries and some recipe books to plan the week’s meals. “I delegate a couple of them to my husband and older daughter, note down recipes for them to follow and then add what we all need to the shopping list.”

She multitasks, too. While making Sunday dinner, she will also bake healthy flapjacks or muffins with plenty of fruit and yoghurt in them for the kids’ lunches. She eats Sunday leftovers for her lunch during the week.

Lucy Porter, who runs her own business and is a single mum of three, says: “My best mate is the slow cooker. If the girls all have different things on at different times, dinner is ready whenever they desire. I also pop the ingredients in while eating breakfast, freeing up evening time.”

Make an impact, then s neak off

Need to limit your time at a work do or social event? “I wear a bright jacket to a reception, work the room, then remove the jacket so it’s less noticeable if I slope out early, which means I can get home for dinner,” says Laura Clarke, mother of three and chief executive of the charity ClientEarth.

Don’t be afraid to say no

“Before I commit to anything, I ask myself whether I should,” Mahto says. “Is it going to achieve something for me, my business or my family – or is it just a time filler, or fear of saying no?”

Joey Bowers, project manager for the Fostering Network, who has fostered 15 children alongside raising his own two, agrees: “I actively avoid being busy. Ask yourself why you are busy, and do you need to be? Are there changes you could make to spend more time on what’s most important to you?”

“I’m always being asked to do talks and attend events, and I usually say no,” Mahto says. “I’ve recognised my end goal isn’t to create social media content or be famous, but to run my clinic well – and that means putting the patients at the centre of it.”

Set fake deadlines

“If I’m working on an important project, I set myself a false deadline a few days before the work is due,” says Adrienne Adhami, author of Power Hour and presenter of a podcast of the same name. “Life is unpredictable and chaotic, so a false deadline allows for setbacks and mistakes along the way, giving you some slack.”

Go on a birthday card spree

“I bulk buy birthday cards so that I don’t have to run out and buy one every time it’s someone’s birthday,” says Dr Anita Mitra, gynaecologist, author of two books and mother to twin babies.

Don’t let your phone overwhelm you

“I turn notifications off and choose when to respond to calls and social media, making sure I prioritise writing or meetings when I need to,” says Dr Anna Volkmer, senior research fellow in Language and Cognition at UCL , who has published almost 50 research papers and blogged about juggling academic life and children. Then, at the end of the day, I comb through them to sort out anything outstanding.”

Married couple Lara and Danny Moody, who have two children and busy careers in TV, divide and conquer. “I receive all communication for our son, in primary school, and Danny covers our daughter, in high school,” says Lara. “It gives us both brain space to deal with everything else.”

Rely on others

Clarke advocates leaning on others, including involving “more efficient parents than me, who help with rides or childcare fails, and remind me about booking parents’ evening or making a Roman toga for school assembly”.

Have household meetings

Tew has a Sunday mini meeting with her husband to “check out any plans I don’t know about”. Bowers chats through plans at breakfast. “With lots of comings and goings, this helps things run smoothly.”

Get organised

“When I go away on book tours, I have a multiplug socket with all my devices – my watch, laptop and phone – plugged in ready to go, so I can just put it in my bag,” says Rob Biddulph , children’s author and illustrator, and father of three. Flukes says: “We organise our cupboards and fridge with Perspex containers, making it easier to get to what we need, plan meals and cook.”

Structure your to-do list

“I divide my work to-do list in three categories: ‘must do’, ‘would like to do’, and ‘if I have time’,” says Twumasi-Corson. “I then schedule time to do all the must-do tasks and take breaks. It means I get the important things done without being distracted by shiny new ideas.” Mahto’s weekly to-do list includes the order in which tasks should be completed, and who is responsible for each: “I need to be able to glance at that list and see immediately what needs to be completed today.”

Protect me-time

For Andria Zafirakou – a schoolteacher, 2018 Global teacher of the year , author of two books , charity founder and mother of two – protecting me-time is a must. “I pay for an expensive gym membership, so that incentivises me to go. I force myself to leave school by 4.45pm on at least one day so that I can.”

Others prefer to find this time at the start of the day. “I wake up 5.30am and use the first hour of the day to focus on something I want to achieve,” says Adhami, “It could be reading a book or going for a run. That way, no matter what happens for the rest of the day, I’ve done at least one thing for myself.”

Make a plan for tomorrow

Before clocking off, “write down the things you want to nail first thing in the morning,” says Flukes. “It sets you up for a good day. Writing tasks down also means they’re out of your head, allowing you to get on with your evening.”

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Beyond Google: 5 Chrome extensions that give you search superpowers

Most people believe Google is enough -- type your search string into the address bar, hit enter, and comb through the results. 

What if I told you that there were better ways to search using Google Chrome? With the help of a few simple extensions, you can extend and simplify the search process right from your browser.

Also: 5 ways to declutter your Chrome browser - and take back control of your tab life

For those who've never installed an extension in Chrome, it's simple:

• Go to the extensions page in the Chrome Web Store.
• Click Install.
• When prompted, click Add Extension.

Before I continue, a word of warning: While searching for these extensions, I found several add-ons in the Chrome Web Store that were not verified by Google. Because some extensions require access to your Google account to function, I won't recommend any option that has not been verified. You do not want your account information compromised! Therefore, even if an extension looks like it's exactly what you're looking for, if it's not verified, featured, or doesn't have a decent amount of positive reviews, avoid it.

Similarly, if you filter extensions by either "Featured extensions" or "Established publishers," you can trust that any extension listed is Verified.

With that in mind, here are a few extensions I've found and used that can enhance your search experience.

1. Search YouTube

Sure, you can add YouTube as a site search in Chrome's settings, but a handy extension called Search YouTube  makes this a bit easier. Once installed, the Search YouTube extension adds a right-click menu entry so all you have to do is highlight a string of text on a webpage, right-click your mouse (or double-finger-tap your trackpad), and select Search YouTube for "X" (where X is your search string).

Also: How to download YouTube videos for free, plus two other methods

You can also pin the YouTube icon to your toolbar extension section. Click that icon to go directly to YouTube. This featured extension doesn't offer much more than that, but if you search YouTube often, it comes in handy.

You can install this free extension from the Chrome Web Store.

Searching on YouTube is simple with this extension.

2. Simple = Select + Search

The Simple = Select + Search extension is incredibly handy. Once you've installed it, you can select a text string on a webpage, right-click your mouse, click "Search X on…" (where X is the search string), and select which search engine you want to use. You can even choose "Search Everywhere" and the extension will open a tab for each search engine you've configured.

Configuring search engines in the extension is as simple as combing through the Featured Search Engines section and clicking the options you want to add. Once added, they'll appear in the right-click menu for quick and easy searching.

This extension makes searching simple.

3. Search All Tabs 

If you frequently work with several tabs open and wish you had the means to easily search each one, Search All Tabs is what you're looking for. This extension adds powerful context searching that quickly finds the tab you're looking for, based on your search criteria.

Also: Google names its 11 favorite Chrome extensions. Which have you tried?

You can search via hostname, title, mime, URL, filename, language, keyword, and description. I've found the keyword search very handy. For example, I can have 20 or so tabs open, click the Search All Tabs button, type my name, and every relevant tab will be listed. This extension can also copy all URLs to your PC clipboard, group all matched tabs in a new window, search within PDF tabs, and more. If you consistently work with a lot of open tabs, this extension is a must.

If you're a tab power user, you'll want this extension.

4. DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is a must if you're looking to improve your privacy. Not only does this extension give you quick access to the DuckDuckGo search engine, but it also adds protections such as encryption, tracking request blocking, and third-party request monitoring.

Also: DuckDuckGo's encrypted syncing brings private browsing to all your devices

Although this isn't specifically a search engine extension, I included it here because it enables you to access the DuckDuckGo private search engine without using the Chrome address bar. You can leave your default search engine as is and still use DuckDuckGo, without first having to navigate to DuckDuckGo.com and then running your search. Besides, the additional security features certainly don't hurt.

DuckDuckGo is a must-have extension for Chrome users concerned about privacy.

5. Search by Image

If you regularly see an image online and want to search for either its location or relevant information, you'll want to try  Search By Image . With this extension installed, right-click the image, click Search By Image, and select the search engine you want to use.

Also: The best AI image generators to try right now

You can also select to search with all search engines or open the image in a new tab. From the options page for the extension, you can customize which search engines to include, what you would like to see in the context menu, theme the menu, and enable/disable a few other options (such as open new tabs in the background and use deep search when selecting images). 

If you frequently search for image location or relevant information, this extension will come in handy.

Any one of these extensions will help make your Chrome searching easier and more powerful. If Chrome is your default web browser, I would highly recommend giving one or more of these a try.

I've used every iPad since the first one. For the new 2024 models, this is my buying advice

5 ways to make your echo show less annoying, four reasons to buy apple's 2024 ipad pro (especially if you own an older model).

Digital twins: The art of the possible in product development and beyond

Industrial companies around the world rely on digital tools to turn ideas into physical products for their customers. These tools have become increasingly more powerful, flexible, and sophisticated since the 1960s and 1970s, when computers first began replacing drawing boards in design offices. Today, product life-cycle management (PLM) has become engineers’ first language: PLM systems help companies to capture, codify, process, and communicate product knowledge across their organizations.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Mickael Brossard , Sebastien Chaigne, Jacomo Corbo, Bernhard Mühlreiter , and Jan Paul Stein, representing views from McKinsey’s Operations Practice.

Yet as engineering tools have become more capable, the demands placed upon them have also increased. Product functions are increasingly delivered through a combination of hardware and software. Sensors and communications capabilities allow products to offer more features and to respond more effectively to changing operating conditions and user requirements. Advanced, adaptable user interfaces have simplified the operation of complex and sophisticated machines.

Evolving business models are also blurring the boundaries between design and use. Customers expect the performance and functionality of products to improve during their life cycle, enabled by over-the-air software updates or the ability to unlock new features as needed. Many products operate as part of an ecosystem of related products and services. Increasingly, customers are not buying products outright, but paying for the capabilities they provide on a per-use or subscription basis.

The birth of the digital twin

These changing requirements have triggered a transformation in digital product representation and the creation of a new tool: the digital twin. Digital twins combine and build upon existing digital engineering tools, incorporating additional data sources, adding advanced simulation and analytics capabilities, and establishing links to live data generated during the product’s manufacture and use. A conventional PLM system uses one digital model to represent each variant of a product. A digital twin, by contrast, may have one model for each individual product, which is continually updated using data collected during the product’s life cycle.

The digital-twin approach can be applied to products, manufacturing processes, or even entire value chains. In this article, we will focus on their application to products, specifically to product design.

Digital twins offer multiple potential benefits for product-based companies and users. They can aid design optimization, reduce costs and time to market, and accelerate the organization’s response to new customer needs. Digital twins can also be a critical enabler of new revenue streams, such as remote maintenance and support offerings and “as a service” business models.

Based on the experience of companies that have already adopted the approach, we estimate that digital-twin technologies can drive a revenue increase of up to 10 percent, accelerate time to market by as much as 50 percent, and improve product quality by up to 25 percent. Digital-twin technology  is becoming a significant industry. Current estimates indicate that the market for digital twins in Europe alone will be around €7 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 30 to 45 percent. 1 Infinium; MarketsandMarkets; MarkNTel Advisors; Meticulous Market Research; Mordor Intelligence; SBIS; Technavio, last accessed April 2020.

Digital twins in practice

Companies in many different industries are already capturing real value by applying digital twins to product development , manufacturing, and through-life support (exhibit).

An automotive OEM, for example, has used the digital-twin approach to create a concept configurator for early phase development . The start of the development process is especially challenging for complex products because the various stakeholder groups, such as sales, engineering, and finance, may have different or even contradictory product requirements. The OEM now balances these trade-offs using a digital concept configurator that allows for simultaneous evaluation of customer requirements, technical concepts, and product costs. When a technical concept within a system or subsystem of the product is changed, the implications for meeting customer requirements or product cost targets become immediately transparent.

Would you like to learn more about our work in Product Digital Twins ?

Using the configurator within cross-functional development teams has helped the OEM to reallocate 5 to 15 percent of a new vehicle’s material costs to the attributes that drive the most customer value. Applying the approach to select customer-facing components has allowed the company to optimize costs and customer value simultaneously, improving the contribution margin of those parts by 5 to 10 percent. As a further benefit, the configurator helped the team reduce the time taken to reach agreement on changes by 20 percent, thus accelerating time to market.

Digital twins are even being used to replicate systems in complex mission scenarios. Using this approach, one aerospace and defense player has cut the time required to develop advanced products by 30 to 40 percent. The digital twin also aids discussion with customers during the development process, helping the company validate and improve its designs.

In the consumer electronics sector, a company is using product digital twins to boost quality and supply chain resilience . It stores detailed information on the content of its products, including the exact source of individual components. In the event of quality issues during production or early failures in the field, the company can trace problems back to specific supplier facilities, then take appropriate action to prevent reoccurrence of the issue. An automotive supplier uses the same approach to trace quality deviations in its production through to the upstream supply chain, and in the process has reduced scrap by 20 percent.

Digital twins are increasingly being used to improve future product generations . An electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturer, for example, uses live data from more than 80 sensors to track energy consumption under different driving regimes and in varying weather conditions. Analysis of that data allows it to upgrade its vehicle control software, with some updates introduced into new vehicles and others delivered over the air to existing customers.

Developers of autonomous-driving systems , meanwhile, are increasingly developing their technology in virtual environments. The training and validation of algorithms in a simulated environment is safer and cheaper than real-world tests. Moreover, the ability to run numerous simulations in parallel has accelerated the testing process by more than 10,000 times. Incorporating sensor data from real-world vehicles into these tests helps companies improve the veracity of their simulations and identify blind spots in the virtual test database.

The mainstreaming of additive manufacturing

A company in the renewable-energy sector is using a digital twin to automate, accelerate, and improve the engineering of hydroelectric turbines . Using the machine learning system to evaluate the likely performance of the new designs allowed it to rate more than a million different designs in seconds rather than the hours required for conventional computational flow dynamics (CFD) analysis. The winning geometry delivers the maximum theoretical performance, significantly higher than what is achievable by conventional optimization methods. Moreover, by using machine learning, the overall end-to-end design cycle time was cut in half compared with the conventional approach.

Digital twins in three dimensions

Digital twins can take many different forms. Organizations that want to take advantage of digital-twin technologies must select an appropriate form that will enhance its technical and business objectives. The design of a digital twin can vary across three dimensions (exhibit).

The first dimension encompasses the value chain steps that the digital twin will cover. An engineering twin covers value chain steps similar to those covered by conventional PLM systems, ranging from product definition to detailed engineering. A production twin replicates a product throughout the manufacturing process, incorporating data such as the components, materials, and process parameters used, as well as the results of tests and quality checks. A service twin incorporates data collected from the product in use, such as operating modes, performance, diagnostic information, and maintenance history. The most sophisticated digital twins span multiple parts of the value chain, allowing in-service data to optimize manufacturing processes or future design iterations.

The second dimension is the scope of the digital twin. A product may consist of several major systems, multiple subsystems, and hundreds or thousands of hardware and software components. Some digital twins cover only one or several components, for example, those that simulate the flow of liquids through a pipe. Others cover a full product, for example, those that simulate a car’s crash characteristics. Given the limitations of computing power, generally, the narrower the scope of a digital twin, the more precise its virtual replica will be. In contrast, full-product digital twins often need to abstract or simplify certain product behaviors to remain manageable.

The final dimension of a digital twin is its degree of sophistication . The simplest digital twins consist of various sources of data relating to a product, often from sources that have few or no links with one another. The second level of sophistication uses traditional simulation tools to perform analyses of design performance and integrate the various sources through a PLM system or similar platform.

At the third level of sophistication, a digital twin will use predictive or prescriptive analytics, as well as machine learning technology to run automated simulation refinements and yield new insights. This allows design and manufacturing teams to make informed decisions based upon direct results and performances.

At the last level of sophistication, digital twins use predictions of component failure rates or performance variations to react to changing environments and manipulate the real-world counterpart in a closed-loop setup. This approach might be used in a condition monitoring system, for example, where sensor data and simulations are combined to make inferences and predictions about the state and behavior of a specific product, and might allow a machine to compensate for wear or variations in operating conditions by adjusting parameters in real time.

Companies in other sectors are also starting to use digital twins to derive deeper insights into customer behaviors and preferences . For example, white-goods manufacturers can use data from in-service products to identify the most and least used features. That can inform future product development decisions, such as deleting rarely used features or revising the user interface to make the features more accessible.

The adoption of digital twins is currently gaining momentum across industries, as companies aim to reap the benefits of various types of digital twins. Given the many different shapes and forms of digital twins (see sidebar, “Digital twins in three dimensions”), and the different starting points of each organization, a clear strategy is needed to help prioritize where to focus digital-twin development and what steps to take to capture the most value.

How to start and succeed on your digital-twin journey

Embarking on a digital-twin journey can look daunting at first sight, especially since the breadth and depth of use cases can span the entire corporate landscape, including product portfolio choices, business model design, R&D, manufacturing, and through-life support.

This versatility can also be a strength, however, as it allows companies to start small and expand the scope, sophistication, and value-chain coverage of their digital-twin projects over time. The experience of companies that have applied digital twins in their own product operations leads to a few simple rules that can greatly increase your odds of success.

Define your aspirations

Be aware of digital-twin best practices. Do your homework and seek out perspectives on best practices and future trends in digital-twin technology. Assess and prioritize the elements of your vision. Evaluate the potential of digital-twin-related opportunities and prioritize them into an implementation road map.

Be clear about the business case. Quantify the value offered by different digital-twin opportunities and determine the minimum level of model sophistication required to generate that value. Successful projects focus on short development times and rapid ROI.

Test the waters by prototyping select use cases. Run a series of hackathons (possibly supported by digital-twin specialists) to assess your capabilities’ baseline, develop solution prototypes, refine, and adjust the initial concepts. This step calibrates the approach and prevents you from losing time and resources by attempting an impossible plan. It is part of a broader value assurance move aimed at bringing the entire project to a successful conclusion.

Know your strengths

Perform a maturity assessment. Understand your current digital product development capabilities along six main dimensions: development methodologies, PLM governance, data strategy, business processes, system complexity, and collaboration. Understanding the areas where you are most advanced and where you are lagging behind will help prioritize areas of investment for a balanced implementation of a digital twin and its use cases.

Access to appropriate talent and capabilities can make or break a digital-twin initiative. Many organizations need to develop additional expertise in areas such as advanced simulation and modeling or data analytics for user experience design.

Plan a step-by-step, agile implementation

Invest several months in developing a minimum viable product (MVP). Incubate a cross-functional, agile team dedicated to bringing priority use cases to life and building digital capabilities in the process. The MVP is now the must-do approach to maximize value gains from the start rather than waiting until the program is finalized before experiencing the first benefits.

Perform an MVP retrospective to pivot or persevere. Derive lessons from the first MVP phase to confirm your digital-twin aspirations or pivot them based on the findings (for example, the validity of use cases, complexity of implementation, and maturity of the organization). This is the second value assurance move that enables you to further calibrate the implementation plan and revise the scope to avoid generating sunk costs.

Scale up the digital-twin initiative and accelerate ROI. Optimize and standardize implementation based on insights from the MVP phase. Define an (internal or external) recruiting and capability-building strategy. Build an operating model to enable rapid scaling of successful approaches. The most advanced organizations typically consider digital-twin technologies a core strategic capability.

By following these simple best practices, you will be able to reap the benefits of digital twins in a scalable, progressive way. Are you ready?

Mickael Brossard is a partner in McKinsey’s Paris office, where Sebastien Chaigne is an associate partner; Jacomo Corbo is a partner in the London office; Bernhard Mühlreiter is a partner in the Vienna office; and Jan Paul Stein is an associate partner in the Munich office.

The authors wish to thank Roberto Argolini, Elia Berteletti, Kimberly Borden, Akshay Desai, Hannes Erntell, Alessandro Faure Ragani, Anna Herlt, Mark Huntington, Mithun Kamat, Michele Manzo, and Alessandro Mattozzi for their contributions to this article.

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New wellbeing data shows how regions across Australia score in health, income, housing and more

Sydney's Northern beaches ranks as the highest in the nation for wellbeing, with only one Queensland city making it to the top 10, the annual index revealed today.

The Australian Capital Territory came in second due to its low gender wage gaps, climate change risks and the division of wealth.

Public policy adviser SGS Economics and Planning has today published its analysis of 518 local government areas (LGAs) , assessing them on seven indicators:

• income and wealth
• employment, knowledge and skills
• equality, community and work-life balance
• environment

To see how your LGA fared, keep scrolling.

The only Queensland city that made the top 10 was Brisbane, which came in 10th place.

It was commended for its "large, productive and diverse economy", relatively high levels of education and limited climate change risks.

Yarrabah and Palm Island in north Queensland and West Daly in Northern Territory were the lowest-performing areas of the assessed LGAs.

SGS principal Julian Szafraniec hoped the results would start a broader conversation on strategies to improve local communities.

"It's not a scorecard for your local area, it's a tool to inform a debate about where investment should go, and the choices we all need to make in the future," he said.

Gender pay gaps

The largest gender pay gaps, in excess of $400 a week, were found in regional Western Australia in areas such as Karratha and Ashburton.

Perth and regional Queensland also performed poorly.

Mr Szafraniec said the data was influenced by low female participation in male-dominated industries.

"This [data] was particularly associated with mining communities but also places in the outskirts of Perth where we've got fly-in, fly-out workers," he said.

"What we see is that that industry has quite high pay, and often the men in the families have quite demanding jobs associated with that type of work."

In comparison, the top-performing regions in gender pay equality were Yarra in Victoria, Hobart, and Streaky Bay in South Australia.

The highest-ranking areas in housing affordability were Lockhart in south-western New South Wales, Bogan in the Orana region and Esperance in Western Australia.

In most states and territories, housing and rent were more expensive in metro cities compared to regional areas.

Brisbane ranked 387 out of 518, whilst the Gold Coast ranked 455 and Noosa at 459.

Mr Szafraniec said because of the dispersed nature of the economy in Queensland, there were a number of very unaffordable places outside of Brisbane, "which is quite different to some of the other states".

Health and environment

Australia's lowest-performing regions for health were in regional New South Wales and Western Australia, due to life expectancy.

Brisbane ranked 17th, with life expectancy at 86 years — according to the data, 85 per cent of the population had one or fewer health conditions.

Victoria, Tasmania, Western and South Australia were the highest-performing regions in the environment indicator, which is measured by climate change risks and the number of protected areas.

Despite Queensland not cracking the top four in environment, Port Douglas in north Queensland ranked number one due to the area's government-protected lands.

Mr Szafraniec hoped the findings would inform governments on how to prioritise investment to improve quality of life across Australia.

"Traditional measures of growth and success, such as GDP, don't make sense anymore," he said.

"You can have a high-paying job yet can't afford a home, business could be booming then be stripped away by a major climate event, we need to focus on measuring what matters."

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This national index has ranked 334 regions according to wellbeing. five of the bottom 10 are in queensland.

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ChatGPT may be about to make your job way easier

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You'll soon be able to pull ChatGPT up on your screen and get real-time feedback on your work.

ChatGPT was able to suggest fixes to errors in code in a live demo on Monday.

OpenAI debuted the feature as part of GPT-4o, the latest model powering the AI tool.

The latest version of ChatGPT could turn the artificial-intelligence tool into a personal assistant — including at work .

Among the new features that OpenAI highlighted on Monday: You can pull up ChatGPT on your computer desktop or smartphone screen and show it whatever you're looking at, whether it's a math problem on a whiteboard or a screen full of code.

In one demo during OpenAI's presentation on its newest model powering the chatbot, GPT-4o (that's the letter O, not zero), ChatGPT suggested changes to code in real time on a user's computer.

At first, ChatGPT was known for its command-prompt-like interface, which allows users to type in questions or requests for images. Last fall, OpenAI added a voice mode, allowing users to ask questions like they would with Alexa or Siri — albeit with a more sophisticated model responding.

But with GPT-4o, users can now show ChatGPT what they're working on and get real-time feedback.

In another example, ChatGPT gave a one-sentence summary of a line graph when an OpenAI employee pulled it up on his desktop.

Damn... the idea of being able to just share your screen natively using the new ChatGPT Mac app and have gpt work with you is freaking awesome 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mwZvZWVP1u — Josh Cohenzadeh (@jshchnz) May 13, 2024

With the GPT-4o/ChatGPT desktop app, you can have a coding buddy (black circle) that talks to you and sees what you see! #openai announcements thread! https://t.co/CpvCkjI0iA pic.twitter.com/Tfh81mBHCv — Andrew Gao (@itsandrewgao) May 13, 2024

For anyone who codes or handles data for a living, it's not hard to imagine how the latest version of ChatGPT could make work easier .

Holy shit ChatGPT can help you fix and write codes in real freaking time, it can see your screen and can talk to you in real time. I hope you got an idea about how crazy this shit is pic.twitter.com/ZxqsL2TOje — Kuldeep Lather (@Kullthegreat) May 13, 2024

ChatGPT can also give feedback on work in the real world. In Monday's demo, OpenAI employees showed the tool, via smartphone camera, a simple algebra problem written on a whiteboard.

Eventually, ChatGPT gave them hints on how to solve an unknown variable, giving them feedback at different stages.

GPT-4o marks "the first time that we are really making a huge step forward when it comes to the ease of use," OpenAI's chief technology officer, Mira Murati, told an audience at the company's offices as Monday's presentation kicked off.

Correction: May 13, 2024 — A previous version of this story referred to the latest version of ChatGPT by the wrong name. It is still called ChatGPT, not ChatGPT-4o. GPT-4o is the new model that powers the chatbot.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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