Work out what is important to you

This is vital and all your other decisions will be based on it. Try and rank the things that make you tick. Ask yourself: if your life had to revolve around just one thing, what would that be? Then move down the list in order of importance, be it your partner, children, hobbies, travelling or a successful career. Keep this list in mind when trying to attain your work/life balance and always ask yourself whether this fits in with your priorities.

Keep the best, drop the rest

If little else appears on your list besides your career, then you will be happy dedicating your waking hours to your job, although you still risk burn-out. For the rest of us, there won’t be enough time in the day to fit everything in, if a good quality of life is to be retained. Certain sacrifices may need to be made. There may be activities you are involved in that don’t fit your list of priorities. Do you really need to be spending so much time in front of the television of an evening?

Protect your personal time

Sometimes the pressure to put in the extra hours at work, self-imposed or otherwise, can be irresistible. You may also find you are taking work-related emails and phone calls outside the office, often unnecessarily. Everyone needs time to switch off from work. If this pressure is external, explain to your boss that dedication should not be measured by the number of hours put in at work, but on results.

Very few people are so important that they need to be contactable at all times. Ask yourself honestly if you are one of those people. If not, turn your phone off.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Sometimes it is easy to be overwhelmed by everything. So don’t be afraid to lean on your support network. If you have children, think about setting up babysitting arrangements with other parents to give yourself a night off. Family and friends can also be a great help in freeing up time to enjoy yourself.

Make plans to have fun

There’s no greater way to de-stress than to get out and have some fun. But often this falls off the radar. Make sure you schedule in some fun and relaxation, be it a night on the tiles, a spa day, a trip to the football or bungee jumping. Make it a regular event.

Learn to prioritise and say no

There are important things in your work and personal lives that need doing, there are other things that aren’t so crucial. Separate the wheat from the chaff so that you spend more time doing the important things. At work, this may mean acquiring the art of saying no to requests that are a waste of your time and skills. This should also apply to your personal life. Does it matter if your home isn’t tidy for a night or two?

Get assistance from your employers

Many companies now understand the benefit that offering flexible work conditions can bring to both employees and the company. Find out what the policy towards flexible working and work/life practice is at your place of employment, be it flexitime, teleworking or job sharing, and approach your manager with a plan for how you would like to take advantage of this and the reasons for doing so. If the request is reasonable and so is your manager, you could find a lot of stress taken out of your working life.

Change jobs or career

Unfortunately, some jobs and some careers are naturally office-based and require long hours. In these cases it may not be possible for your manager to offer you greater flexibility. But this does not mean all hope is lost. There may be options to take a position within the company that allows greater flexibility without hurting your career prospects. It may, however, require a rethink of your career path. Working in the high-pressure world of corporate finance, for instance, can often mean putting in long shifts and if you find this unpalatable you may need to swap it for something with more reliable hours. If your career is leaving you little time for anything else, look at what other careers could offer.