New Year, New Priorities: Why Balance Should Be at the Top of Your List

We are officially into 2026! A new year! It can always be a bit difficult transitioning back into work and day-to-day life after the holiday period. One way to make this easier is to focus on balance and prioritise this in order to maintain a positive outlook and mental space. This blog discusses why balance should be at the top of your list coming into this new year.

Why Balance Matters

According to Employment Hero’s 2022 Wellness Report, “52% of Australians rate their work-life balance as average or poor” (Edith Cowan University, 2023). Therefore, it is more important than ever to make balance a priority this new year. Maintaining balance personally and at work supports wellbeing, performance and sustainability/feasibility. It helps to reduce burnout and stress, so you aren’t overloading yourself with too many priorities. Balance also helps you improve your focus, decision-making and productivity. You may also find you have better retention too. This does not just include balance between work life and personal life, but keeping things balanced in your social and personal life as well.

Common Areas Where Balance Slips

There are a variety of factors that can cause balance to slip and make it less of a priority. Many are work-related; however, personal factors can also have an impact. Large workloads and extended work hours can have a real impact on balance. It can cause unrealistic expectations and lead to burnout and exhaustion. Balance can also slip due to a blur together of work and personal time. A way that this can be caused is by bringing your work laptop and phone home after work. This would contribute to the struggle to switch off and allowing for rest as there will be no line between your work life and home life. There will always be a constant reminder of work, therefore causing less balance. In terms of balance in your personal life, this can be caused by overloading your personal life after work, with different social events and gatherings. This can lead to burnout in many areas, due to being overtired and having no time to properly switch off. It is certainly important to make time for your friends, family and loved ones, however, if you feel overwhelmed or exhausted, it is always okay to take time just for self-care.

Making Balance a Priority in the New Year

There are many steps you can take to make balance one of your top priorities this new year. Firstly, set boundaries, specifically around work hours. We now have the Right to Disconnect, where all employees “have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) outside their working hours” (Australian Government, 2025).

Secondly, regularly review your workload. Be sure to set realistic expectations, if you can’t take on more work, don’t. Furthermore, schedule in time for rest, movement and mental breaks. If you must, physically schedule it in your calendar every day for a break. Whether that’s your lunch break or a movement break.

Finally, encourage open conversations about capacity and stress with colleagues, management, etc. Have regular check ins with colleagues, family and friends, you may be able to help each other with incorporating balance into each other’s routines. If available to you, utilise any wellbeing resources at work such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or any other psychology/counselling services. These programs and professionals can assist you with creating a balanced lifestyle and routine through different strategies and techniques, helping you to start fresh this new year.

The Role of Employers & Leaders

Employers and leaders play an important role in ensuring balance for their employees, as they are the ones that set the boundaries and expectations that workers plan around. Therefore, it is crucial that employer’s model healthy boundaries and behaviours. If they are telling their employees to log off at 5pm, they should do the same and lead by example. Leaders and employers should also learn and be able to recognise early signs of stress or burnout. That way they can work with their employees and understand how they can avoid this and what they can do to help.

This all comes from ensuring you maintain psychosocial safety in your workplace. Employers and leaders can do this in many ways by identifying any psychosocial hazards (e.g. low job control, job demands, isolated work, poor relationships), analyse these and take action on addressing them. Recovery Partners can also assist with this by providing a variety of psychosocial safety services such as psychosocial risk assessments, gap analysis and training.

If you or your employees require support coming into the new year, please feel free to reach out to our friendly support team on 1300 OHS RTW (647 789) or email enquiries@rrp.com.au.