If you work as a tradie, you’ll know the struggle of finding the perfect work life balance. If your work life balance is a bit out of whack, things like seeing your mates, spending time with your family and doing the things you love like hitting the gym or going to the footy may feel overwhelming at times or even impossible. While your busy days onsite and unpredictable overtime can sometimes through a (metaphorical!) spanner in the works, there are things you can do to ensure you are getting the best work life balance for you.

Read on to find out different strategies you can implement in your life.

Keep work and home separate

Keeping your work life and home life separate is one of the biggest things to master when trying to achieve work life balance. While it might feel like a bit of a no-brainer, there are sometimes things we do subconsciously like checking our work emails or doing ‘odd jobs’ around the house that make it harder to switch between ‘work mode’ and ‘home mode’. When you get home from work every day, get changed out of your uniform straight away. This will help you to get out of ‘work mode’ by changing into other clothes. So, before you sit down for dinner or crack open a cold one in front of the footy, lose the Hi-Vis!!

Schedule time off

If you’re employed full or part-time, you’re entitled to a certain amount of annual leave a year. If you constantly feel like you can’t get time off because of how busy you are, try planning well in advance and applying for leave early. Putting the wheels in motion sooner rather than later will help your boss (or if you’re the boss, it’ll help you) to plan for what needs to happen while you’re away. You can then plan your workload and jobs with a set leave date in mind to work to.

Unplug

Being on the tools all day, you might feel tempted to flop onto the couch and scroll mindlessly through Instagram right up until bedtime. However, before you log on to your favourite app of choice, consider unplugging for at least an hour. Giving your brain a break and allowing for some time to unwind can do wonders for your mental health and will allow you to connect with your family, as well as allow you to be in the moment.

Plan your day

Map out each day from the moment you get up to the moment you go to bed. It might seem routine, but we are creatures of habit, so having a set or planned out routine will help create work life balance. Add small things into your schedule too like what time you’ll eat breakfast and lunch, to make sure you’re achieving all you want in a day. Aim to get out of work at the time you say and schedule in leisure activities such as going to the gym or family dinner to motivate you to leave on time. If leaving on time is often unpredictable, try and figure out why that is. Are you taking too many breaks during the day, or are you simply taking on too large of a workload?

Reduce your workload

Ever heard the saying around biting off more than you can chew? Most of us have experienced this at one time or another. If you’re finding yourself becoming overwhelmed with your workload or any overtime that you’ve found yourself doing lately, talk to your boss or delegate your jobs out where you can. A lot of us are feeling the pinch when it comes to juggling workloads, but if yours is unreasonable, it can help to get some direction at what jobs are more urgent than others, or what you can do to reduce the overtime you’re working. It doesn’t hurt to speak up! Learning how to say no to others is also an important step you can take to reduce your workload. If someone asks you if you can fit a task in, a lot of us feel obligated to say yes to avoid disappointing the other person. Next time someone asks if you can slot in something you simply don’t have time for, instead of saying yes and working extra overtime, politely explain to the person that because of your current workload, it isn’t something you can achieve. If you do feel guilty, perhaps sit down with them and work out a solution if it is something they are struggling with, that way you are helping in some way!

Learning to say ‘no’ to friends and family members is a much harder feat to achieve. As tradies, we often feel like we should be helping out (and for free too!) our nearest and dearest when they ask for help to do tasks around the house. If saying no is something you struggle with, it may be time to talk to someone about how to set boundaries so you don’t burn out.

Talk to someone

On that note, it’s time to look at our last point and that’s to reach out if you’re struggling. Working as a tradie has many challenges and requires intensive labour most days while battling the elements. Not finding time for yourself and your family can have negative consequences if left untreated, so if you’re starting to struggle with a blurring line between home and work life, it’s important to talk to someone. Whether that someone is a partner, mate or family member, let them know what’s going on and some ways they can support you.

If you need professional help, there are free services like Lifeline and Beyond Blue where you can chat to a professional 24/7.

Being on the tools every day can often be difficult when trying to establish an effective work life balance, but with help from family, friends and colleagues, there are things you can put in place to ensure you are getting the best of both worlds.