Most people strive to achieve a balance between work and personal life, but very few of us are successful at it. If you’re finding it difficult to juggle the demands of work and the rest of your life, you aren’t alone.

Fortunately, there is a solution for this problem. If you want to achieve work-life balance, you should consider getting a pet.

6 Ways Pets Can Improve Work-Life Balance

1. They Enhance Your Social Life

Pets can be great social lubricants. They’re a great way of initiating a conversation and can help you meet new people and start new friendships. For example, dog owners usually walk their dogs daily, and during their walks, they frequently stop to talk to other dog owners.

In addition, pet owners get to socialize at pet clubs, veterinary offices, pet stores and pet training classes.

Pets in the workplace can also encourage conversations between employees and help them know each other much better at a personal level.

2. They Help Reduce Stress

Scientific studies have shown that having pets around helps with stress reduction, a vital part of today’s modern life. Pets are not only natural stress relievers, but they also help improve workplace morale.

Simply petting an animal or looking at their adorable face can help eliminate your worries. A recent study found that employees who brought their pets to work had much lower stress levels compared to employees who didn’t have a pet by their desks.

Another study revealed that a pet not only reduces stress levels but also reduces anxiety and improves depressive symptoms. And as you know, stress reduction is closely linked to healthier blood pressure levels, decreased hypertension, and many other physical and mental benefits.

3. They Provide Exercise

Many research studies have shown how a sedentary lifestyle can be damaging. Pets are a great way of increasing activity! Pets normally rely on their owners to provide them with their basic needs, including taking them outside and exercising them.

All of these tasks require you to stay active, cutting down harmful effects of sitting down all day (at work). Studies have actually shown that dog owners are much more likely to meet daily exercise requirements than those who do not own dogs.

Taking your dog for a walk, a run, or a hike are all fun and highly rewarding ways of fitting healthy exercises into your schedule.

4. They Enhance Family Bonding

Everyone wants to spend more time bonding with their families; this is a vital element in finding work-life balance. Playing with the dog in the yard and having outings are great ways animals can bring the family together.

Having a family pet is also a great way of training or teaching your kids responsibility by having them take care of the pet. As they play, exercise, feed and take care of the cat or dog, kids acquire the ability to take proactive control of the environment. This is the kind of skill that will really help them when they grow older.

[RELATED: 5 Steps to Keeping a Work-Life Balance When You Work From Home]5. They Promote Creativity in the Workplace

Today, more and more organizations and businesses are recognizing the benefits of bringing pets to work. Pets usually bring a kind of fun energy to the office environment and can help the employees feel more creative.

Pets also need to go outside during the day, and this is a brilliant way of taking quick mental breaks. These breaks can help stimulate creative breakthroughs and inspire employees to come up with new approaches or solutions to the problems they’re working on.

 Some time away from the computer screen and a change of scenery might be just what you need to get that mojo back.

6. They Provide Companionship

Companionship helps prevent illnesses and can even add some years to your lifespan. On the other hand, loneliness and isolation can trigger symptoms of depression.

Having a pet you care for will make you feel wanted and needed and will take the focus away from the day to day life issues, especially if you happen to live alone.

The ways pets can help you with work-life balance are truly endless. No wonder you see so many celebrities with all kinds of pets! Pets are not only key to creating work-life balance, but they also offer many other health benefits. Regardless of just how hectic your day to day schedule is, you should try and find time to spend with your pets.