Why Work/Life Balance Means a Happier Life

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Why Work/Life Balance Means a Happier Life

A proper work/life balance has been a hot topic since the return to ‘normal life’ following the COVID-19 pandemic. When many jobs introduced remote or hybrid models of work, people’s understanding of work-life changed dramatically. So much so, that Randstad’s annual Workmonitor Report found that an adequate work/life balance has become the most important workplace motivator for people, surpassing higher pay. This means that work/life balance is a conversation worth having, especially because it’s a huge part of our mental health and safety.

What Is Work/Life Balance?

Work/life balance is about having a harmonious relationship between your work life and your home life. This means that you are content with both aspects of your life and that you can comfortably balance the many roles and responsibilities you have within them. If you have a healthy work/life balance, you should be able to reasonably meet your work demands and still have enough energy at the end of the workday to fully engage with your personal life. It’s important to note that “balance” does not necessarily mean “equal time.” It simply means that we have enough time and energy to prioritize the different but equally important parts of our personal and professional lives.

Why Is a Healthy Work/Life Balance Important?

Studies have shown that there is a direct causal relationship between work/life balance and mental health outcomes. This means that the balance (or lack thereof) between our personal and professional lives does affect our mental health. Balance is also one of the 13 workplace factors that impacts workers’ psychological health and safety. Thus, maintaining a healthy work/life balance is a crucial part of protecting our mental well-being. Liswandi and Muhammad (2023) found that an unbalanced work/life is associated with higher rates of stress, depression and anxiety, absenteeism and lower job satisfaction. An unbalance can also lead to work/life conflict. This can greatly impact our work productivity and quality of work, as well as lead to burnout and fatigue.

Health Canada (2008) has identified four major work/life conflicts that commonly affect people:

Role Overload: When the expectations associated with our many life roles, and the time needed to meet them, exceed the amount of time and energy we actually have to give
Work-to-family interference: When our work life interferes with our ability to fulfill family responsibilities
Family-to-work interference: When our family life interferes with our ability to fulfill work responsibilities
Caregiver strain: When the responsibility of taking care of someone else affects our ability to take care of ourselves

How Do You Establish a Healthy Work/Life Balance?

Simply put, establishing a healthy work/life balance means establishing healthy boundaries between you, your personal life and your professional life. Since work/life balance is based on the many life roles everyone has, a healthy work/life balance will look different for everyone. So, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution but there are a few ways to start establishing a healthy work/life balance:

Take your entitled breaks. This means stepping away from your workspace to eat your lunch, utilizing your sick days when you have to and your vacation days when you want to. Even stepping away from your desk for a 10 minute breather can recentre your mind and remind yourself that you need to prioritize your mental well-being.
Take time for your mental health at home. This means prioritizing self-care, exercise, and healthy eating habits. It also means setting aside time to engage with your hobbies and other leisure activities. Ensure you’re getting enough alone time that you might need to fully recharge without isolating yourself from friends and family. Read our blog post to discover more simple ways you can improve your mental health at home.
Create a time management schedule. Try your best to stick to it. Effectively organizing your tasks will help you dedicate the necessary time to each one without having to work longer than necessary. This leaves room to decompress after work and on the weekends. Our Empowerment Planner is designed to help you organize your daily tasks while still prioritizing self-care. Consider speaking to your boss or organizational leaders if your assigned tasks do not have enough notice or time to get everything done with adequate rest.
Know your rights. If you’re based in Ontario like us, then you are protected by Ontario’s Bill 27 or the Right to Disconnect Law. This law states that workers have a right to disengage with work-related communications when they are not at work. If your government doesn’t have a similar law in place, you should still set concrete working hours and reduce (or eliminate) the amount of time you engage with work outside of those hours.

Establishing a healthy work/life balance is also a two-way street. Workers can only operate within the realm of possibility that is made by their organization. If you’re an organizational leader, click here to read our post about how organizations can successfully implement a work/life balance program to help protect employees’ mental health and well-being.

Work/life balance is an ongoing process. As your work and life circumstances change, your understanding of a healthy work/life balance will also change. Areas of your life that once were easy to balance, might become challenging to manage and vice versa! Check out our work/life balance checklist here to find out which areas of your life you might need to prioritize to achieve a healthy work/life balance!

References

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (n.d.). Achieving work-life balance. CAMH.

CSA Group and BNQ. (2013, January). CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 (R2022), Psychological health and safety in the workplace.

CMHA National. (2021). Work-life balance: Make it your business. Canadian Mental Health Association.

Government of Canada. (2025, June 24). Work-life balance. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.

Liswandi, L. & Muhammad, R. (2023). The association between Work-Life Balance and Employee Mental Health: A Systemic Review. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 18(3).

Partridge, J. (2025, January 21). Work-life balance more important than pay for employees worldwide. The Guardian.

Randstad. (2025, January 21). Work-life balance tops pay: Randstad’s workmonitor reveals New Workplace Baseline. Randstad.

Thomas, M. (2024, February 20). What does work-life balance even mean?. Forbes.

Work-life balance. Mental Health Foundation. (2022).

By Shelbie Lyle, GMH Communications & PR Intern

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Marcy Gray

Psychotherapist and Diversity Expert

Marci Gray is the lead psychotherapist and CEO of Gray Matter Health. She is an experienced speaker and corporate trainer as well as consultant and author who specializes in mental health and anti-racism work which is the focus of her PhD research. READ MORE