In today's fast-paced and demanding world, the pursuit of a good work-life balance has become a crucial aspect to many people’s individual well-being. As employees navigate the demands of their professional lives, finding equilibrium between work commitments and personal pursuits has become essential to fostering their holistic wellness but is often not that easy, especially if employers aren’t sensitive to their employee’s need for balance.
For the sake of this article, we are assuming you are reading this because you are either a stressed-out employee looking for some answers to how to create a great work-life balance, or you are an awesome employer, looking for ways to create opportunities for you team.
Why Adventure for work-life balance?
We know first-hand that adventure experiences are an amazingly restorative and empowering way to create some space for the self. They help to offset some of the pressure that work can create. Adventure experiences not only offer a respite from the daily grind but can also play a pivotal role in rejuvenating the mind, body, and spirit.
It is good for both employees and employers to consider the need for the pursuit of adventure as a healthy way of creating work-life balance. For individuals, it is important for both physical and mental wellbeing to create a space that is 100% free of work-based thoughts and emotions. For Employers, group adventure experiences can help build stronger team bonds, and encouraging healthy activities amongst your employees can foster a culture of resilience and support that will benefit the entire business long-term.
Work-Life Imbalance
Most people have experienced this at some point in their professional lives. The rapid advancement of tech, plus the evolving nature of the workplace post-covid have brought about a momentous shift in the traditional boundaries between most people’s work and personal lives. Employees are finding themselves perpetually connected to their professional responsibilities, blurring the lines between their work hours and personal time (especially if they work from home every day). This has led to a growing concern about the adverse effects of prolonged work hours on mental and physical well-being, relationships, and overall life satisfaction.
The Holistic Benefits of Work-Life Balance
Achieving a work-life balance offers an array of benefits that extend beyond individual well-being. Research indicates that employees who are able to manage their work commitments effectively are more likely to experience reduced stress levels, improved mental health, and a greater overall satisfaction with their lives. Moreover, cultivating work-life balance contributes to higher productivity, better job performance, and increased employee engagement. Consequently, organisations that prioritise their employees' well-being often reap the rewards of a more motivated and committed workforce.
Adventure As A Pathway to Better Work-Life Balance
Engaging in adventure activities presents an antidote to the challenges posed by a work-life imbalance. Immersing oneself in the beauty of natural and wild places, and challenging your physical fitness can be a transformative experience that rejuvenates the mind, body, and spirit. Wilderness offers an escape from the fast-pace and demands of urban life, and provides a mental reset that is so essential for mental health. Activities such as hiking, kayaking, river rafting and camping challenge individuals physically while allowing them to disconnect from their digital and work lives.
Outdoor adventure offers an opportunity for individuals to engage in novel experiences, fostering personal growth and resilience. Overcoming challenges, whether it's scaling a mountain or navigating a river, instils a sense of accomplishment and confidence that can translate directly into a person’s professional life. When people rise to the challenges of an adventure, it can reinforce their ability to rise and to and overcome the challenges of everyday life. Adventure intrinsically changes us and when people rise to the challenges of an adventure, it can reinforce their ability to rise and to and overcome the challenges of everyday life.
Adventures don't have to be outdoors or in the wilderness, though. There are small, achievable things we can do everyday to help us build a great work-life balance.
Ways To Create Little Adventures Every Day That Encourage Work-Life Balance
For Employers:
Encourage Flexible Work Hours: Allowing employees to choose flexible work hours can enable them to pursue adventure when it suits them, rather than being tied to a 9-5 (often for no good reason). Obviously, this isn’t achievable in all businesses, but in the ones that are able- there have been many studies into the benefits of trusting your team to manage their time. We believe in achieving outstanding results, not counting minutes worked!
Wellness Initiatives: It may not seem very ‘adventure’, but making sure your employees are encouraged to take initiative with their wellness will create encouraging moments for them that drive them to their own adventures. Small wellness challenges, like step competitions or mindfulness sessions, to promote physical and mental well-being during the workday can go so far. Gamification can work really well to bring the whole team together in a fun and healthful adventurous challenge.
Remote Working Options: Remote working opportunities can work really well for some companies. We personally work with many amazingly successful agent businesses that are fully remote! Granting employees the freedom to work from inspiring locations or simply enjoy a change of scenery can create small moments of adventure for them in their everyday lives.
Team Adventures: Organise team-building adventures like hiking or rafting trips. Even group classes or workshops can help to foster stronger bonds among colleagues. Offering the opportunity for real adventure experiences with work will encourage your less confident team-members to engage with adventure- and we find that they are often the people who get the most out of an adventure day. Helping to inspire real growth and empowerment is a powerful thing to witness as an employer.
Learning Opportunities: Support continuous learning by offering courses or workshops that align with employees' personal interests, expanding their horizons beyond work. Not everyone is that into the outdoors- we get that. And encouraging people’s strengths and passions allows them to have their own kind of adventure.
Celebration of Milestones: Acknowledge personal milestones and achievements within the workplace. Encourage your people to strive for adventure, and celebrate them- whether they reach their goal or fall short, just recognising the strive is enough. A ‘personal win’ update in weekly meetings is a great way to do this. “So, what was your personal win this week?”
Encourage Breaks: This is a no-brainer, and not so much to do with adventure, but just a good-culture practise. Promote regular breaks and discourage overtime to prevent burnout and encourage time for personal adventure. Destroying that terrible grind-culture is so important for employee retention, and just being a nice place to work in general.
Inspire Travel Adventures: Sharing travel stories and destinations within the workplace encourages employees to follow their wanderlust. Often, we keep our aspiration for travel quiet at work, for fear of being seen as a flight-risk by management. Encouraging travel-sharing, subtly tells your team that their ambitions are supported, and not-surprisingly this all builds a foundation for much higher staff-retention.
For Employees:
Daily Mindful Moments: Incorporate brief mindfulness exercises or meditation breaks throughout the day to stay grounded and reduce stress. If you are new to this concept (or even if you’ve had some experience of mindfulness practice) we love an app called ‘Waking Up’, for guided mindfulness meditation.
Lunchtime Adventures: Use lunch breaks to explore nearby parks, cafes, or hidden gems in your local area. Go to the gym is you have time, or for a run if you’re not worried about the sweat. It’s amazing how much faster the day goes when you break it up with a mini-adventure.
Unplug For A Bit: Establishing digital detox habits are an amazing way to create time for small adventures during the day. Disconnect from devices and engage in some offline hobbies or activities… Not telling you what to do, but give it a try and notice how much more free-time you suddenly have.
Micro-Adventures: Discover nearby hiking trails, urban parks, or historical sites for short, spontaneous adventures. It doesn’t have to be wilderness to be an adventure. Just doing something that you’re a little bit unsure about can be an adventure.
Fitness Breaks: Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine, whether it's a morning yoga session, a lovely nearby walk after work, or a quick gym visit at lunch. That little boost of feel-good hormones can work wonders for your daily outlook on life.
Flexible Scheduling: Negotiate flexible work arrangements that accommodate personal interests and adventures. This isn’t always possible but it never hurts to ask, and you may find that your employer is more open to this than you think. This might look like asking to work later one day a week, so you can leave early on another day to catch the sun for a hike.
Learn Something New: Adventure is all about doing something new and rising to that challenge. Learning in itself is therefore an adventure of sorts. Dedicate time to acquiring a new skill or exploring a subject of interest, nurturing your curiosity and empowering yourself through challenge.
Make weekend adventure a priority: Exploring a new place or taking part in a new physical challenge at the weekend will not only give you something to look-forward to, but will also help build your confidence outdoors and make you feel more empowered in everyday life.
Share Adventures: Share your adventures with colleagues, inspiring others to embrace and share their little adventures and find work-life balance. Start a work group chat about adventures- you might even end up with a weekend adventure crew!
Remember: The key to work-life balance is finding harmony between your professional responsibilities and personal passions. Encourage these small daily adventures to create a more fulfilling and balanced life.
In a world where work-related demands are seemingly ever-present, embracing adventure, be it small or large; outdoors or at home, can help foster a better work-life balance, as well as improve our overall outlook on life. As employers and employees alike recognise the significance of nurturing well-rounded lives, integrating adventure into your routine and into your business can become a transformative step toward achieving equilibrium.
We spend a third of our life asleep, a third at work, and for many the remaining third, getting prepared or getting over the work. Work is a massive part of our life, and therefore what we take out of it is considerably more than just finances. In a world where we increasingly desire security, guarantees, certainty and predictability. The value of adventure is that it forces us to confront and manage uncertainty, risk and potential danger. Adventure helps us not only navigate change and pressure in our work lives, it gives us a great opportunity to develop real and deep work-life balance for both ourselves and our employees.
For amazing Adventure experiences that will bring your team closer together and encourage work-life balance, check out our Team Retreats.