Make Exercise a Part of Your Routine

Exercise can benefit pretty much every aspect of your personal and working life. It can help you sleep better, maintain a healthy weight, combat poor mental health, be more focused, have more energy… the list goes on! 

Do you incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine? If not, it’s time to start. Doing so can help you to maintain a healthy work-life balance by ensuring that you’re in tip-top condition to tackle the mental rigours of a day of translation. 

Say you provide Chinese translation (the English-Chinese language pairing is one of the most commonly requested, in our experience). It’s important to ensure that every character is absolutely perfect, even as your specialist subject knowledge is tested to the max. When you’re facing a full day of English to Chinese translation, it’s essential to start it in the right frame of mind – and exercise can help you achieve just that. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Nap if You’re Tired!

Ok, so this tip comes with a firm ‘within reason’ attached to it! Obviously you can’t spend the whole day snoozing if you want to keep paying the bills, but a quick nap when you’re feeling worn out at work can actually make you more productive. 

Do you believe in the power of naps? A study by the University of Michigan found that adults who took a 60-minute nap, when compared with adults who watched a 60-minute nature video, exhibited less impulsive behaviour, had a higher tolerance to frustration and displayed improved focus and alertness. 

Still not convinced? Well, a study based on data from the American Time Use survey found that sleeping for an extra hour each week correlated to a 1.5% increase in short-term wages and a 4.9% increase in long-term wages. 

Next time you’re yawning at your desk, why not grab a quick 20 minutes and find out for yourself whether you feel more productive afterwards? 

4. Be Firm with Your Friends

It’s important to have a clear distinction between working time and personal time. That means being clear with friends and family that they can’t just pop round for a cup of tea when you’re working from home. 

Working from home means just that – working! If someone arrives to disturb your work, you have every right to explain that you’re in the middle of a translation services and that you will need to catch up with them later. Some friends seems to find this harder to grasp than others, but be consistent and eventually the message will get through!