Our workday begins at 10 AM. Not bad, right? I like that I can sleep in a little bit more than I used to in the past, however, there are still some things that took a long time to figure out to make my time management and work-life balance better.

It's absolutely crucial to work on your life apart from doing your job. There is a lot of good stuff waiting for you out there, so please, don't work yourself to death!

Why It's Important

When I just started working, I was full of life and motivation to do things for a lot more time than needed. I overworked myself to the point when I felt like I've just burned out. We need to work 8 hours a day at most, but I've managed to do 10 and more, especially in busy months. I have a lot on my plate, and handling communication with the clients is the most time-consuming thing. Moreover, with all the time differences, you may find yourself talking to someone at 2 AM. That's just wrong, and let me tell you why.

You're Not Thinking Straight

No human being can function with a full focus for more than a few hours, let alone 8+. You need breaks, a lot of them, and never overlap your job with your life, because it always ends badly for you! When you will have worked past your usual 8 hours, your brain must already be pretty tired, but I'd say fried is a more suitable term here. You will not be making the best decisions, you will be making otherwise avoidable mistakes, have you not decided to binge thought another few hours. Not only that, but you will be wasting your personal time on something that won't be rewarded. Believe me and thousands of people who've tried, nothing comes from this.

Remember, you're always better off winding down after work, having fun, and relaxing before your next day. It will freshen you up and you'll be twice as productive.

You Are on the Road to Burnout

I've touched upon this subject a couple of times before, but it never hurts to say it again: burnout is a hell of a thing. You may think that you're that one person it won't affect in any way, but you're not in any way invincible or even shielded from this thing. When you're constantly overworking yourself, your brain becomes tired of the grind. Taking the fact that no rewards come by, there is no reason for it to continue allowing you to do that to yourself. Gradually or quickly, you'll lose the spark and motivation. Recovery will be long and hard, so don't get to that point, rest every day and take breaks.

There's No One to Say Thank You

You may think that there's someone to please like your manager or your boss. It might be tempting to show them you are willing to go above and beyond to do better and think that they will be happy about it. On the contrary, they will think that you're in the wrong here. They will most likely say that you should stop. If not, they're a bad boss or manager, I tell you that. If you're in this mindset right now, you are better off snapping out of it — no one will say thank you, there are no rewards for overworking, you'll just screw your life and make yourself miserable.

You May Get Yourself Fired

It's not because of the overworking directly, but for the after-effects they cause. The main problem here is burnout and how it will cripple your life, motivation, and productivity. Gradually, you will start losing those, and your performance will start to degrade. No one wants to hold an employee who can't get hold of themselves, so these people usually end up fired. It's a shame because they are really good workers with bad work and life balance.

You're Missing Out On Life

There are so many things happening around you, it would be a big shame if you started missing all of them because of your work. You have friends and family, there's always something that you can come up with even on your own. By letting your work overtake all of your schedules, you're really missing out on life. It's not worth it.