These days, people find themselves spending an average of eight hours a day swiping through their smartphones, playing mobile games, and using their other electronic devices.

Given such difficulties, it is tempting to just give up and condition the mind that balancing work and life perfectly is an impossible feat.

But you know what? It’s all hype!

Many people are actually able to achieve the perfect balance of their work and other aspects of their lives by knowing these six essential secrets or rules.

Learn time management

This is perhaps the most important advice you need to remember to achieve a work-life balance.

After all, time is sort of the enemy when it comes to dividing your life among work, social, family, hobbies and getting sufficient sleep.

Dedicate a few minutes of your morning to planning out your whole day, maybe in your head if you prefer making mental notes, or in your notebook or planner.

When you do this, you need to think about urgent tasks and your priorities. Put the most important ones first so that you get to finish as many of them in a day, especially in the case of emergencies or other obstacles that could delay you.

Other than that, do your best to actually follow your plan.

Know that change is constant

There is no one-size-fits-all framework or instructions on how you can achieve the perfect balance between your job and life.

You will find yourself having to change your plans and routines through the years. You will also need to improvise or prepare for when things do not go as planned.

For instance, getting a promotion might mean having to budget your time more wisely to be more productive at work, and having a child would mean taking a short break from work.

In case you ever wondered why openness to change is a valuable trait in business and success, these are among the reasons.

Take great care of yourself

Having a successful career does not only mean strategic planning, late nights at work, and being productive and highly skilled in your field.

One thing that is just as important is taking good care of your overall wellbeing.

This means not skipping meals, getting sufficient hours of sleep at night, a healthy diet, regular exercise, and regular check-ups.

Effects of sleep deprivation include loss of focus and concentration, inability to recognise objects via touch, moodiness, paranoia, hallucination, problems with short-term memory, and ultimately, death.

Meanwhile, skipping meals is shown to cause irritability, moodiness, health complications due to dive in blood sugar levels, tiredness, and low metabolism.

Contrary to common belief, skipping meals can cause weight gain rather than weight loss because it also results in extreme hunger pangs and appetite.

Not only can regular exercise help you lose weight, increase your metabolism rate and keep your body physically healthy and fit; it also causes alertness, higher levels of energy, better quality of sleep, and improved blood circulation.

Stay away from negativity

Working while emotionally distressed is most likely going to affect your performance, productivity, and the quality of your work.

The solution here is straightforward but challenging: keep yourself away from things that bring negativity to your life.

Start by decluttering your home and your workspace. Get rid of trash, things you never used or stuff that has stopped working.

Do the same as well with your social media pages; unfollow the pages and people whose posts turn your mood sour, and filter your feed from content that usually annoys you.

You might want to consider the practices of meditation and yoga to help clear your mind from negative thoughts and ideas.

Set aside some time for yourself

It does not do well to overwork and stress yourself too much. We are all humans, after all, and we all need to rest.

Overworking, staying up late, and stuffing ourselves with caffeine can lead to health complications and in some cases, death. That is why you should make use of your leaves.

When budgeting and dividing your regular income, allow a portion of it for leisurely activities and hobbies.

Go out of town or out of the country. Get a massage. Attend a new skill class. Buy painting and colouring materials and explore your imagination and creativity.

There are many ways of going about “me time”, and these are just examples.

Don’t slack off

People tend to put a lot of effort into their work at one go and sit back and relax for a long time after that.

The problem here is that the “work first, rest later” mentality is not going to help your time management.

Do not look forward to the day when you will not have a care in the world at all.

Problems and difficulties will always arise, but that’s part of life and the struggle, and these things make us better at what we do.

So do not spend too much time watching Netflix on your television or playing video games with your console. Allot an hour or two for them regularly, but try not to get past the allotted time.

Leisure activities and relaxation are good, but too much of something can be harmful to your work-life balance.

This article first appeared in The New Savvy.

The New Savvy is Asia’s leading financial, investment and career platform for women. Their bold vision is to empower 100 million women to achieve financial happiness. They deliver high-quality content through conferences, e-learning platforms, personal finance apps and e-commerce stores.