7 tips for a healthy work-life balance

03 - Sleep Well

A good sleep pattern is every bit as important as a healthy diet. We know at least eight hours of sleep per night is recommended. That is not always possible - however, we can adapt it around us.

I aim for around seven hours of sleep most nights. I allow myself a long lie-in on a weekend when I know I will have fewer activities taking place.

04  - Use Time Effectively

This is a big one for me, especially as a non-driver who has to rely on trains to get me from work to the training pitch.

I tend to use the calendar and notes apps on my phone to keep track of what I have on each day.

Over the past year, I’ve made a few changes to claw back some time. These include cycling to and from work, which has replaced my cardio in the gym, and lifting weights at home before work, on days where I have to coach in the evening.

It is not uncommon that I have to wait for trains while travelling to or from coaching, so I use that time to practice learning French. I have also got into the habit of responding to emails and texts as soon as I receive them - although it is a small task that takes a matter of seconds, I prefer to have it taken care of.

By doing all this, I stay on track with my goals each day and free up time.

05 - Plan Ahead

Regardless of the club I’m working for, I always plan for the year ahead prior to the beginning of pre-season.

This allows us to put goals in place and provide a clear vision for players, coaches, parents and key figures involved at the club.

If I find myself with a day where I don’t have much on, I may even plan sessions two or three weeks in advance to give myself a buffer. Having a curriculum in place for your team makes this possible.

Due to the pandemic, I had five different courses running in 2021 - Uefa B licence, children’s coaching licence, performance analysis, neurolinguistic programming diploma and Coerver youth diploma.

All of these included assignments - however, by planning ahead and setting aside time in advance to complete these, I’ve been able to pass four of the five courses.

It may not work for everyone but I’ve found planning ahead very useful.

06 - Know When to Switch On and Off

It is important to know the real difference between switching on and switching off.

'Switching on', to me, means you’re all in, focused and working hard. 'Switching off' means you are now in the recovery phase and no longer thinking about your work or coaching. Effectively, you are resting.

I find it almost effortless to switch on and off when it comes to my job. It’s literally a case of as soon as the buzzer goes to start the day, they get a good worker.

Once that buzzer goes at the end of the day, though, I forget about everything that has happened in the last eight hours as I just don’t have a passion for it.

Coaching on the other hand is quite difficult to switch off from. That is because I really do have a passion for it and my mind is always thinking about how I can make things better, or more challenging.

"Coaching is difficult to switch off from because I really do have a passion for it..."

That being said, sometimes we need time to decompress from coaching in order to maintain a healthy balance between our work life and personal life.

The way I try to do this is by only answering coaching-related calls or messages, or doing any coaching-related work, between the hours of 8am and 8pm.

It seems to work well for me as I’m able to recharge properly and have time to myself before going to bed.

I purposely chose 8pm because that is when training finishes for our teams. It means that, once I leave the training pitch, my work day is considered finished until the next morning.

I will still reply to people as soon as possible within that 12-hour window during the day, but I also have to be selfish.

It is in my best interests to unwind after a long day as it allows me a chance to recover for the following day.

07 - You Must Make Time For Your Hobbies

Everyone’s idea of fun will be different - but I can’t stress enough that, no matter what yours is, you must make time for it.

My hobbies include going to the gym, watching football on TV or going to a live game, travelling, hiking and socialising. I do most of these each week.

Obviously, things like travelling only take place a couple of times a year but I still make time for it.

My hobbies tend to take place where there are gaps in my personal periodisation schedule. They provide a good link between all the work I do to achieve my goals and the fun part of the week.

We should never lose sight of the fact we have a personal life. It is every bit as important as work and, essentially, what we work for every day.