25 Jul 2023
About 9 million Pakistanis live abroad, most of whom work, earn a living, and send money to Pakistan to financially support their families back home. You might find going to a foreign country easier and finding jobs and work even easier as a Pakistani migrant, provided your documents are complete and you meet all the conditions.
But, soon after the excitement wears thin, challenges emerge.
Keep reading to learn details.
According to reports, Pakistan received around $31 billion in 2022 in remittances. Due to many reasons, remittances to Pakistan fell to $9.9 billion from July-October 2022. It was a decrease of 8.6% compared to 2021 when remittances were $10.827 billion in the same period.
It is estimated that if the current trend in remittances continues, remittances will remain close to $30 billion in 2023 and less than $31 billion in 2022.
All of this seems rosy and propels the economy into performing better as remittances serve countries like Pakistan as a lifeline and boost economies.
But all of it is subject to your jobs abroad, your performance at the workplace, work sustainability and productivity.
Do you know what all of this largely depends on?
As mentioned earlier, getting a job abroad may be easy but sustaining it is not and largely depends on a few critical factors.
One of these important factors is the work-life balance.
This blog will shed light on the work-life balance, its understanding and tips for creating and maintaining an ideal balance.
Let’s delve deeper together to find out the intriguing details.
Work-life balance is defined as the time you spend doing your professional responsibilities versus the time you spend with your family or pursuing your interests and hobbies.
When your job demands more time than is required or your family needs more time which you extract from your professional time, you can potentially throw your work-life balance into disequilibrium.
The first victim of this disbalance can affect your professional performance. This, in turn, can suppress the financial support you send to your family back home through a money transfer to Pakistan.
Because just like in your diets, to stay healthy and energised, you also need variety in how you spend your time. You can be easily tricked into believing that your productivity towards the end of a professional day will be the same, or more, as it is in the beginning.
This is simply not true.
Research and studies have proved that after a certain number of hours, you do not produce anything new or more. Rather, pushing yourself hard after the designated number of work hours can lead to risks to your health.
These risks to your health can increase dramatically.
Before learning about the tips to improve and maintain a healthy work-life balance, let’s take a look at the economy of Pakistan to understand what propels them to go abroad, find work and exert themselves beyond their capacities to earn more, even if it comes with the cost to their health.
With a burgeoning population, it is no less than a daunting challenge for the country to provide for its people.
Segments of Pakistani people, therefore, travel to developed countries to find work and earn a living. These Pakistani migrants then extend financial support back home through an online money transfer to Pakistan, whose frequency they schedule according to their finances, and through service providers charging a low fee, etc.
Do you want to know how to send money to Pakistan with the least fee?
Click the link below:
How To Send Money To Pakistan With A Low Fee? A Quick Guide.
Let’s now study the tips to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
The following tips will help you create and maintain a healthy work-life balance at your workplace abroad.
Keep a time log of things you do for a few days. Use tools to schedule your activities and stick to those. You can use Excel spreadsheets or Word tables to schedule your time, or it will be worth it if you make investments in time-tracking tools.
It is to set your physical, emotional, and intellectual boundaries to abstain from over-committing, being used unnecessarily or behaving unethically.
Certain tasks demand that they be given additional time and effort, and still, you struggle to accomplish them. Remember to let go of them if you can.
Work never remains constant, nor is your productivity and performance. Learn and accept that your more brilliant days will not last forever, nor will your low-performing days stay with you for long.
Do not push yourself during troughs!
Make sure to keep in mind that you will keep working to improve the said balance. Spend every moment that you find trying to improve the balance.
Make it an integral habit to go on vacations regularly with family. It will enable you to spend time with your family and create a work-life balance automatically.
If you do not learn to say no, you will never find the work-life balance. One of the recent books by Mark Manson can be of help in this regard.
Although limited by count, these tips are powerful practically in achieving the goal.
If you send money to Pakistan online with ACE Money Transfer, it will be a cost-effective act as the company charges a low fee, offers competitive and live currency exchange rates, safety, wide service access in over 100 countries worldwide and a speed of just 7 seconds to deliver funds to the recipient in Pakistan from anywhere.
FAQs
What are some challenges that Pakistani expat workers may face when trying to maintain a healthy work-life balance?
Many Pakistani expat workers often grapple with challenges such as long work hours, cultural adjustments, language barriers, social isolation, and homesickness. They might also struggle with maintaining connections with their families back home due to time zone differences and other communication challenges. It's important to understand and acknowledge these issues to develop effective strategies for a healthy work-life balance.
How can Pakistani expat workers manage their time more effectively to achieve a work-life balance?
Effective time management is crucial. Here are some tips:
What strategies can Pakistani expat workers use to maintain their connection with their families back home?
Technological advancements can make maintaining connections easier. Here are some suggestions:
How can Pakistani expat workers deal with cultural adjustments and social isolation?
Navigating a new culture and overcoming social isolation requires time and effort. Here's what could help:
What steps can Pakistani expat workers take to ensure their mental well-being while living abroad?
Mental health is an integral part of work-life balance. Here are some measures Pakistani expat workers can take:
Resources
(Why are remittances falling? - Business - DAWN.COM)
(GDP (current US$) - Pakistan | Data (worldbank.org)
(GDP per capita (current US$) - Pakistan | Data (worldbank.org)