Work-Life Balance | Your Balance | from Lifestyle Careers » Balanced Life

Help for a Life/Work Balance!

Melody Green — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:30:04 +0000

Hello there

Some of you may be under the illusion that I am all about work and no play – what a dull Jill I would be if this were the case! (‘dull’? No that is not a word people use to describe me!)

But seriously what is a life/work balance and surely work is a part of life not separate or outside from it?

Many years ago I spent my hours teaching English to new migrants who would say to me

“It’s hard here – I have to work long hours to get ahead and I don’t have the time to spend with my friends and family. In my country (put anywhere else in the world to replace country) we know how important family and friends are, we have time in our lives for them. Here, I just work, work, work!”

Of course I would ask the rather perplexed question, ‘Why are you here then?’ and they would reply because the opportunities are good, the weather’s great, the economy is stable etc etc.

But it does raise a question about how do we get the balance between work and play?

Australians clock up some of the longest hours at work in the world and research is beginning to show that it may not be the time we spend at work but the fact that we are not as efficient with our time and the processes we follow as part of our work day that may be the culprit.

Efficiency is a matter for management AND staff.

Employees have as much to gain by reviewing their operations on a daily basis and seeing where they can be improved as management has in conducting efficiency audits.

Employers ‘luurve’ employees that are thinking about business improvements, especially those that have a direct relation to profit – so get reviewing and thinking – it’s in your better interests.

And for those of you still concerned about your Work/Life balance Abbie Allen may be able to help. Check out her business blog here: www.lifestyleelements.com.au

Wishing you Radical Career Makeover success!

Melody

Love Is All You Need

Leah Gibbs — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:00:16 +0000

Steve Jobs talked about it. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin sang about it. Kahlil Gibran and Robert Plant wrote about it.

So what is that one common connector among these legends?

It’s a four-letter word that starts with ‘L’, ends in ‘E’ and rhymes with dove.

You guessed it: LOVE!

L-O-V-E.

Love your work.

Love what you do.

Love your job.

Love your career.

Love your skills. Love your abilities.
Love the chance that you get each day to start over.
Love that you can make a difference in the life of one person.

Love helping someone succeed!
Love sharing what you know.
Love that you can contribute.
Love leading someone from hopelessness to a path with purpose.

Love listening to your friend, or mate, or colleague or kid who doesn’t want answers or solutions when all they want is to be heard.
Love saying something helpful instead of hurtful.
Love learning new things.
Love the choice to change for the better when you get a chance.

Love forgiving the person who has hurt you the most.
Love giving a job seeker an idea to help them move forward versus staying stuck.
Love reaching out to others to seek help, ideas, guidance, and support during the career transition process.

Love giving someone a break.

Love seeing an ‘aha’ moment.

Love giving of your time and talents to help someone out.

Love. Love. Love is all you need.

~ Work is Love Made Visible, Kahlil Gibran ~

Source: Career Hub

Reasons Why Teleworking Belongs in Your Future

Leah Gibbs — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:00:55 +0000

Are you interested in all of the latest information about the state of teleworking? In a world where technology use is increasing every day and with every generation of workers, teleworking should be pursued as an employee option. Teleworking is viable and offers significant advantages for the employer and for employees.

Teleworking, and other creative work schedule options, are becoming essential to your ability to attract and retain talented employees. Work schedule flexibility is one of your most significant options in attracting millennial employees and retaining the knowledge and mentoring of Baby Boomeers.

How important is teleworking to US employees? Of the companies that made Fortune Magazine’s 2011 annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list, 82% of the companies allow their employees to telecommute or work at home at least 20% of the time. Is your organization competitive?

State of Teleworking Report

Kate Lister, an internationally respected and quoted expert on teleworking (workshifting), and Tom Hamish, have put together a comprehensive report on the state of teleworking in the US.

Lister’s organization, the Telework Research Network, studied the telework trends over the past five years. Sponsored by Citrix Online, the summary report, The State of Telework in the U.S., reveals who is teleworking, how they’re teleworking, and where they’re teleworking. The report also considers the social and economic impact of teleworking.

Working with their own data and the data gleaned from existing studies and statistics from such organizations as WorldatWork and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Lister and Hamlish present a picture of telecommuting as it currently exists.

You will want to read the full report about telework trends. The report offers some key findings about the who, what, when, where, why, and why not of teleworking. I found especially interesting the factors that currently impede the progress of teleworking in a national employment picture that includes these factors.

45% of the US workforce holds jobs that are compatible with, at least, part-time telework.

Fifty million US employees who want to work from home hold jobs that are telework compatible though only 2.9 million consider home their primary place of work (2.3% of the workforce).

Regular telecommuting grew by 61% between 2005 and 2009. During the same period, home-based self employment grew by 1.7%.

Based on current trends, with no growth acceleration, regular telecommuters will total 4.9 million by 2016, a 69% increase from the current level but well below other forecasts.

76% of telecommuters work for private sector companies, down from 81% in 2005—the difference is largely attributable to increased working at home among state and Federal workers.

Using home as a ‘reasonable accommodation’ per the Americans with Disabilities Act, 316,000 people regularly work from home.

The typical telecommuter is a 49-year-old, college-educated, salaried, non-union employee in a management or professional role, earning $58,000 a year at a company with more than 100 employees.

Relative to the total population, a disproportionate share of management, professional, sales and office workers telecommute.

Non-exempt employees are far less likely to work at home on a regular or ad hoc basis than salaried employees.

Over 75% of employees who work from home earn over $65,000 per year, putting them in the upper 80 percentile relative to all employees.

Larger companies are more likely to allow telecommuting than smaller ones.

Non-union organizations are more likely to offer telecommuting than those with unions.

Lister concludes that 50 million people would be the theoretical maximum for working at home. That accounts for 36% of the total workforce or 40% of the non-self-employed workforce.

Other studies suggest that even more employees would work at home if the option were available. The Telework Research Network, WorldatWork 2011 Telework Survey, 2009 American Community Survey concludes that: of their projected 63 million employees who could work at home:

–30.4 million or 49% could, wants to, but doesn’t work at home,

–16 million or 25% could work at home 1-5 days a month,

–2.9 million or 5% could work at home 3-5 days a week,

–13.4 million or 21% doesn’t want to work at home.

*Unless otherwise noted, all telecommuter statistics refer to non-self-employed people who principally work from home. All information is used with the permission of the report’s author.

Business Benefits of Teleworking

The advantages of teleworking to the employer and employees are compelling. I have explored the advantages and disadvantages of a flexible schedule, including teleworking, at length.

In their teleworking study Lister and Hamish conclude that businesses would experience these benefits.

*”Save over $13,000 per person
Increase productivity by over $466 billion—6 million man years
Save $170 billion in real estate and related costs (assuming a 20% reduction)
Save $28 billion in absenteeism (25% reduction) and turnover (10% reduction)
Improve continuity of operations
Avoid environmental sanctions, city access fees, etc.
Reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint
Improve work-life balance and better address the needs of families, parents, and senior caregivers.
Avoid the ‘brain drain’ effect of retiring Boomers by allowing them to work flexibly.
Be able to recruit and retain the best people.”

* Calculated by the Telework Research Network’s proprietary Telework Savings Calculator™ and assuming: 25% reduction in real estate costs at $43/sf, 1.5 day a year reduction in absenteeism, 10% reduction in turnover, and 25% increase in productivity (at an average salary of $41,605, the weighted average of the jobs included in the projection – based on 2009 ACS.)

Impediments to Teleworking

Lister’s projections for the wide-spread adoption of teleworking are more conservative than the projections of other organizations studying the opportunity. She is not as optimistic about the proportion of organizations that are ready and willing to make the profound cultural shift that teleworking requires.

She finds the biggest obstacle to teleworking is middle management. Lister says, “The issue of mistrust—’how do I know they’re working’, is huge and not easily overcome. Management attitudes that were born in the days of sweatshops and typing pools still dominate. And even in those rare organizations where senior management unambiguously supports the concept, lack of middle management buy-in is the stumbling block.” Additionally, in some organizations, senior management is unsupportive of teleworking.

The second biggest obstacle is job compatibility with teleworking. Some jobs have to be performed on site. But, proportions of many jobs, in an environment supportive of teleworking, could be performed at home or another work location.

Take a look at the Teleworking Trends report for additional insights about the impact of increased teleworking on society, economics, and the individual. You’ll be happy that you did. Lister and Hamish have done a remarkable job of drawing from current research to look at the state of teleworking and the potential of teleworking in the US.

Source: About.com

Full-time workers want to scale back

Leah Gibbs — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:11:39 +0000

Australians want to work less hours
Overtime impacting on health
Calls to cap working week

AUSTRALIANS want to spend less time at their jobs, prompting a push for caps to be put on the working week.

More than half of all full-time workers would prefer to work fewer hours to juggle their work-life balance.

And 80 per cent who work overtime would prefer not to.

They were the findings of a survey commissioned by independent think tank The Australia Institute, which quizzed 1700 people across the nation.

It found Australians’ work hours are impacting on their health, and more than 60 per cent of people working overtime say it prevents them from spending enough time with their families.

Overtime stops 58 per cent of workers from exercising, while long hours prevent more than one in three (35 per cent) from eating healthy meals.

The Australia Institute’s Executive Director Dr Richard Denniss said the findings tip cold water over claims that the nation has one of the most flexible labour markets in the world.

“Millions of Australians are unhappy with their hours of work. The result is unnecessarily stressful family lives, unproductive work lives and higher than necessary rates of unemployment.

“Tackling this problem will require change on a range of fronts. Governments need to follow the European lead and introduce caps on hours.

“Employers need to reduce their reliance on unpaid overtime and employees need to pay more attention to the number of hours they spend in the workplace and talk to both their colleagues and their managers about their
desired hours of work,” Dr Denniss said.

The institute estimates bringing the standard working week down to 30 to 35 hours would create better work/life balance and in turn create nearly 400,000 extra full-time jobs for the unemployed and under-employed.

Recent research by the institute found Australians work more than two billion hours of unpaid overtime a year, a $72 billion gift to their employers.

A typical full-time employee is working 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day, which equates to 33 eight-hour days per year, or six-and-a-half standard working weeks.

Across the workforce, the 2.1 billion hours of unpaid overtime represented 6 per cent free labour for the economy.

Bankwest’s Working Times report found that farmers work the longest hours in Australia averaging 60 hours a week, followed by miners. Government employees worked the fewest full-time hours.

Source: news.com.au

Who needs balance? Dads do!

Leah Gibbs — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:59:29 +0000

We’ve read so many articles about how mums need to balance work and family life. I agree that mums just have way too many things on their plates. I am one. Given what great super powers we have, I am all for some deserving time-out sanity breaks.

But what I want to raise awareness about today is that poor old dads also need a break. Fathers of today would love to be more involved with family life, raising their kids, and seeing them grow up. A work-life balance would also allow them to spend more time with their wives and be better husbands.

Search for balance

A study released by the Boston College Center for Work and Family reveals that first-time fathers want to experience hands-on fatherhood, a concept that eluded many fathers of older generations.

The study also showed that they appreciate if the company they’re working for provides flexibility to balance work and personal life.

A similar study conducted by A Better Balance, a group that promotes for better work-life balance shows that seven out of 10 dads would like to have flexible work arrangements. “A supportive manager and workplace” would allow them to be better fathers.

In the same study, 85 percent of the respondents say that they would take advantage of family-friendly work policies if these are set in place.

Not yet fully accepted?

The same study, however, revealed that while more and more fathers are seeking work-life balance, there is still some who disapprove of this choice. A “significant minority” says they felt the disapproval of co-workers when they leave the office for family responsibilities.

A survey conducted by Career Builder in the US also indicates that many fathers feel the pressure of being more hands-on with their families. While dads want to be more involved, 34 percent admitted that they have missed a couple of family events because of work pressures.

So what can fathers do?

Despite the obstacles and pressures that many dads face, it’s still best if they exert some effort to be more involved in family affairs. Here are just some ways to help you manage your life:

1. Set boundaries. I’ve said before that mums should impose a ‘no-work zone.’ The moment you arrive at home, this should be time for your family only—no work calls, no checking of office emails, etc. If you need to catch up on work, do it when the kids and the wife are sleeping. But then again, if you learn to manage your time at work, there’s no need to do more at home

2. Explore work possibilities. More and more companies are implementing flexible work arrangements like telecommuting. If you are qualified, then take advantage of this to have more time to spend with the family. Other companies also provide daycare facilities and you can use this to bring your kids to work.

3. Talk to your wife. A happy family life involves two-way communication. If you find yourself swamped with work, ask your wife to pitch in. Or you can work out a schedule with your wife to ensure that all family events are noted in your calendar to avoid missing them.

Mums don’t have it easy and dads don’t, either. It takes a lot of effort, patience and a little teamwork

Further Reading

A Better Balance

Career Builder Survey

Can you be productive while commuting?

Leah Gibbs — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:00:02 +0000

Long commutes are boring, annoying and a real waste of time. I HATE commuting. When I find myself stuck on public transport. I usually drift off to sleep.

When I lived on the Gold Coast I commuted by bus each day from Kirra to Surfers Paradise, an hour each way. I had it down pat; I would be dozing, 5 minutes into the trip, and wake up about 45 seconds before my bus stop. I was amazed at my ability and super powers to do this. I never missed my stop.

In saying that, I could write a VERY funny blog post about the time I had way too many Friday after work drinkie poos and was woken by the bus driver at Tweed Heads at the depot at 3am in the morning…Love…love…wake up !! Mmmm very embarrassing. God love him, he actually drove me back home in the bus.

Anyway since my horror story above, I have since realised though that there’s a much better way to spend my time than sleeping or getting irritated.

1. Read a book.

I have tons of books that I haven’t come around to finishing. Long commutes are a great time to catch up on my reading. I just bring a book and let time pass me by. For an hour of commute, I am bound to finish at least three chapters.

But you tell me, “I’m not into reading!” Why not give audio books a try?

2. Know what’s going on.

If you are like me, I am sometimes way too busy to catch up on current events. Do you know why traffic today is more horrible than yesterday? Is a major road construction going on? Who’s the prime minister, again? Know what’s going on in your area by reading the newspaper or surfing the net for news. Subscribe to RSS feeds from the Sydney Herald or the ABC News – Keep updated on events.

3. Text a friend.

Working can take a toll on relationships. I get that. I have several friends who I haven’t talked to in months except for the occasional emails or quick chats. Long commutes are a great way to check up on your friends. You can text to catch up – Better yet, set a coffee date. You could call them but one of my absolute pet hate is people who talk (sometimes loudly) on public transport – everybody can hear their conversation. So up to you text (my suggestion) or call.

4. Learn something new.

So you can’t learn to play a new instrument unless you want people to call the transit police but there are a lot of things you can study while commuting. There are thousands of podcasts to listen to whether you want to learn a new language, brush up on your communication skills, or know more about fitness. There are fun or weird podcasts, too. You want to listen to Irish Celtic music?

5. Check your emails.

Have you ever noticed that you spend at least 30 minutes of office hours checking, reading, and responding to emails? This probably doesn’t include several more minutes deleting spam mails. Save some time by checking your mails when commuting. This saves you a lot of time and allows you to focus more on your work so you can hit the ground running when you arrive at the office.

6. Make a to-do list.

You can be more efficient by creating a to-do list not only for the things you need to do at work but also stuff you should do at home. A to-do list can be a list of items that you need to pick up from the grocery or arranging your family’s schedule. A to-do list ensures that you do not miss out on the important things and dates.

When I do commute to client meetings, I must admit that I still catch myself nodding off instead of being productive during long commutes but I’d like to think I’m on my way there.

What about you? What do you do during those long hours of commute? Share your thoughts.

Further Reading

Tips to avoid burnout at work

Leah Gibbs — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:00:20 +0000

The alarm goes off. You hit the snooze button. It’s Monday morning and you wake up thinking, “Why should I bother going to work? It’s Ground Hog Day. I just am so over it, I am going to chuck a sickie today.If you find yourself saying and doing this one too many times, you just might just be feeling a tad burned out. Everyone strives for a perfect work life balance – but it is easy to get caught up in a mountain of paperwork, back to back meetings, constant deadlines and coping with life/work in general.

What is burnout?

Help Guide says burnout is emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by too much stress.

Symptoms of burnout include:

feeling overwhelmed
feeling unable to meet demands
feeling as if you can’t give any more
feeling helpless, hopeless, cynical, trapped, defeated, detached and resentfulreduced productivity
low energy
lack of motivation
disliking work you used to enjoy

What causes burnout?

In most cases, your job is the primary cause of burnout. Employees who are overworked and feel undervalued are at a huge risk of burnout. Monotonous and unchallenging jobs can also cause this. Stress, overloaded schedules, lack of rest, taking care of the kids, financial pressures, ailing parents, working two jobs, unsupportive relationships – the list goes on.

Adrenal burnout can be the best thing that happens to a person. It is a wakeup call. A major part of your life is out of balance. Addressing burnout is often the beginning of exploration of life at a deeper level from a more spiritual perspective as well. For help along the way to taking back your life, you may want to read Dr. Wilson’s book, Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.

So, how can one avoid burnout? Balance is the key. Sure, it’s easier said than done but with some effort, you can have a burnout-free life.

1. Stay connected
Family and friends are so important in one’s well-being. Regularly touch base with your family and friends by catching up for a walk, or via phone for a chat. Coffee dates, watching movies, or lunch together can spell a whole lot of difference to your emotions.

2. Schedule a holiday
Gone are the days when employees work non-stop, spending holidays at work, and even missing family milestones in the name of one’s career. A happy and productive employee is one who understands that his /her job is not the end-all and be-all of his life. Call the travel agent and go on holiday, use up your sick days, ask for a temporary leave-of-absence—anything that allows you to recharge your batteries outside of the workplace. No leave. No life.

3. Pursue a hobby
A hobby is great thing to do because it is something you love to do and it doesn’t involve your work. Whether it’s knitting, reading for pleasure, fishing, golf or bushwalking. A hobby gives you something tolook forward to after a stressful day or week at work.

4. Stay healthy
Make sure you eat nutritious meals and have plenty of physical activity. Exercise releases endorphins, which are also called ‘happy hormones.” Eating right also helps prevent you from getting sick, getting adequate amounts of sleep and exercising regularly is so important.

5. Pay it forward
Some of the happiest people I know reach out to the less fortunate. You can volunteer in your church or your town’s soup kitchen or street bear. You can donate old clothes or other items that are still in good condition but you no longer use. Paying it forward gives you the perspective that everything is not that bad and your life is actually pretty good.

6. Ask for help
Remember that no one is an island and we need all the help we can get. Even if you’re the resourceful type, don’t be tempted to do it all alone. You’ll be surprised at how helpful other people can be. All you need to do is just ask.

7. Avoid becoming a workaholic – Burnout is guaranteed if you are determined to work around the clock. Determine a time that you will leave the office every day and stick to it

8. Sleep. Get 7 or 8 hours sleep each night. It is very difficult to work all day if you are not getting enough sleep.

9. Create a to-do list… and stick to it. The to-do list is a time saver for the time-strapped professional. But make sure you stick to it. Make a list of all your responsibilities and build a schedule around them.

10. Take a break from technology and social media. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect. Put away your laptop, turn off your phone, stop checking email and get off Facebook.

11. Talk to a Professional. If your company has an EAP (Employee Assistant Program) take advantage of it, which includes confidential counseling, or even workshops to handle work pressures. Seek professional support and assistance to help you deal with your stresses.

12. Get a new job. Last, but not least, you’re in a career that you’ve discovered isn’t for you. You hate doing what you do and that’s causing you to experience burnout. If you can afford to quit your job then you should consider it. If not, check out Lifestyle Careers to find a new job.

No one ever said that work is easy but you don’t need to be bogged down by it. Are you on the verge of burnout? What do you do to avoid it?

Further Reading

How to Achieve Great Work-Life Balance

Leah Gibbs — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:00:11 +0000

There is a lot of talk these days about work-life balance. Now, more than ever, people are not satisfied with working long hours and sacrificing their home life for their work. At the same time, we want to find work that engages us and that we enjoy. So how do we find a balance?

Enjoy Your Work

As much as you can, enjoy your work. To varying degrees, this is where most people spend much of their week. If you can enjoy your work it will have a ripple effect to the rest of your life. I have found that when I really enjoy the work I do, my life feels much more balanced as I like this part of the day. This may mean a change of attitude or mindset if you are used to not liking your job. Sometimes making new friends at work or taking on a new project can help you feel differently about your work. You could meet with your manager and ask if there is a change of role or responsibility that could help you enjoy your job better. If you really are not enjoying your job and feel like you have done everything you can, it might be time to move on.

Spend Less

Spend less than you earn. However much you enjoy your work, it is nice to have some room to move. The better you are at managing your money, the more flexibility and options you will have which in turn will make you feel better in all areas of your life. For example, if you can only work part time to look after a child or want to leave your job to freelance, you will have more options if you have a safety net and are used to living within a budget. Spending all that you earn will leave you reliant on your job and at the whims of any external changes. Getting used to managing what you earn will empower you and help you to feel in charge of your life at work…and at home.

Learn To Say No

A big issue for many people with regards to keeping a good work-life balance is knowing how to say “no”. You don’t want to let people down (or appear unwilling), so you continue to do unpaid overtime or take on more than you can handle. Of course, sometimes there may be situations where you need to step in and help out — but if you are consistently finding that your work is creeping into other areas of your life, it’s time to learn to say no. This also applies to taking on work. People often feel overwhelmed with work or out of balance if they are taking on too much. Remember, you don’t have to say “yes” to everything.

If you are not used to saying no, start small and keep practicing. It gets easier each time you do it. If people are used to you saying yes to everything then it may take a little time to adjust to your new approach, but give it time. They eventually will and, as a result, get used to your new boundaries. Be clear and value your time and others will, too.

Create A Good Life Outside Work

Often the reason work creeps into other areas of our lives is because our life outside work is lacking. It can be easier to throw yourself into work if you feel like things are not going well at home or your social life feels empty. I don’t think this is always a bad thing; sometimes work can take our mind off things or be therapeutic for a while. However it is important to be honest with yourself and if you find that you are using work as a crutch for the rest of your life, it could be time to look at creating new habits. Joining a new class or exercising are two examples of ways to keep that balance and create positive experiences outside your work life. Start with one thing and build on these experiences.

Remember That No One is Indispensable

No one is truly indispensable. It can be nice to feel that you are needed or that you are the only person that can do something, but ultimately it’s not true. If you are finding that you are relying on that feedback to feel good about yourself, it’s time to take a step back and see the bigger picture. In my experience, when you feel this way it can be a sign that your approach to work is becoming unhealthy. Realize that you don’t have to do everything yourself and that it is okay to delegate work to other people. It can take a bit of adjustment and will involve letting go of some control, but taking a step back will result in a better experience for you and the people you work with.

Conclusion

This is the time of year when goals and resolutions start to go off track, and achieving great work-life balance is a familiar one. Hopefully by trying some of the above tips you’ll be able to stay balanced when going off kilter isn’t all that uncommon.

(Image courtesy of SashaW under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 generic license.)

Source: Work Awesome

The Future of Work – Workstyle

Leah Gibbs — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:00:46 +0000

Recently I have noticed a few articles discussing the predicted trends for the workplace and how we will work in the future and was interested to note that some of these trends already apply here at White Now!

Forecasters predict that women will account for 46 % of the workforce by 2020, more Australians will work part time, the median age will be 38 and more of our colleagues will be over 65, thanks to a growth in ‘grey power’. Women will hold more management roles and our leadership style is expected to become more collaborative, motivational and engaged.

There is also a trend towards what is being termed as ’workstyle’ (rather than lifestyle) where you fit work AROUND your personal life and family commitments. Makes sense as more and more, both partners are in the workforce and the responsibility for care of children is being shared more equally. And who says you have to get your work done between 9am and 5pm – what about the rest of the hours in the day and night??

‘Workstyle’ allows the worker to attend school events, go to the gym or attend appointments in traditional work hours, do an intersst course and work when and where it best suits them – perhaps from home after the kids are in bed, in the early hours of the morning or on the weekend. It means that the worker is always ‘on’ but with the ability to work around other commitments whether that be family or other interests and use ALL the time available to them.

With access to the internet and mobile communications tools, we can now work from almost anywhere and at anytime so work and life can intersect and ’seep’ into each other.

This was one of the things that attracted me to working with White Now, having the flexibility and tools to manage my work and life and make the most of both. I was interested and pleased to realise, when reading these articles recently, just how forward thinking this company is!

While not every job can operate this way, (hard to deliver great face to face customer service from home or when your venue is closed!) there still may be opportunities for greater flexibility and incorporating some aspects to give ourselves or staff more of a ‘workstyle’ lifestyle. Start the conversation with your Manager or staff and find out what could be a ‘workstyle’ for both!

Being happy at work, having an enviable workstyle, may just be how we will measure our career ’success’ in the future!

Source: The NOW bunch of companies

5 Steps to Creating a Balanced Life

Leah Gibbs — Sun, 15 May 2011 22:00:22 +0000

In today’s “hustle and bustle”world, it is getting more difficult to separate our professional lives from our personal time. People in this era (more than in any other time before) find themselves taking work home and spending late hours on their laptops. Most of these hard workers justify their misplaced time with their large salaries. However, they fail to see the costs of such a distorted work-life balance.

Family and friendships are negatively affected when you take the time that you once used to play with your family or hang out with your friends and repurpose it for work. The increased stress levels and lack of rest can have a terrible impact on your health and personal well-being. Here are some ways you can start working towards creating a more balanced life — and you can start them right away.

1. Create personal balance by deciding what is important to you.

Before it is possible to bring balance to your work and personal life, you need to make up your mind as far as your priorities are concerned. Is it your family or your work? If you are not able to immediately and honestly make this decision, you can try the following simple exercise. Try staying away from both aspects of your life continuously for at least a couple of days. Maybe you should go away for a few days all by yourself to make this easier. The thing that you miss more during that time is the area of your life that is most important to you. You should focus more of your attention on that area; the area of your life that is most important to you.

Your overall goals and purpose should reflect your priorities. You should be working towards something that will bring you satisfaction and joy. You should do what is important and meaningful. So take the time to figure out exactly what your priorities are.

2. Create a balanced life by doing what is important and leaving the rest alone.

Regardless of whether your priorities focus on work or home, you must begin weeding out the senseless tasks that do not directly relate to your overall goals and priorities. You can do this by making a list of activities and tasks required for both home and office and rate them in order of importance. Ask yourself, does the task or activity relate to your goals and objectives, which are not important, and which activities would you have a hard time living without? This kind of differentiation and identification will help you concentrate on the important parts of your life, adding a little more space to your personal and professional lives.

3. Create life balance by remaining grateful for your family.

It is easy to forget that your family is along for the ride, even when it comes to your career. Some of you might even think two or three times before taking a personal day in order to spend some quality time with the family. It is easy to take them for granted, to see only the work that comes with the relationships with your spouse and children. Ask yourself if taking the kids to a soccer game is a chore or a pleasure. Are you able to enjoy sitting down and watching a family movie or do you constantly glance down at the laptop or phone in your hand wishing you could be somewhere else doing something else? These are sobering questions. However, you need to come up with the answers if you truly want to create balance between your work and personal lives.

Try turning the computer and cell phone off while spending time with the family. Take a vacation with the time you have earned through all your hard work. Whatever you decide to do, do it will all your focus and energy. Your family deserves to be the center of attention whenever you are spending time with them. Leave work out of family time.

4. Create balance through relaxation.

Many people have misplaced the age-old practice of doing absolutely nothing. This is probably the most forgotten aspect of creating balance in your personal life. Being task oriented is not necessarily a bad thing. However if you are spending all your time doing something from your list, you are never taking time to just relax. The result is a very tired, ineffective, and overworked you.

You can change this by practicing some or all of the following relaxation strategies.

Take up yoga. You can find all the instruction necessary on the web.
Practice breathing exercises to restore peace. Just relax, close your eyes, and take a deep breath in through your nose and out through the mouth. This can be done anywhere at any time.
Take naps when you have time. Or, make time for naps.
Kick back and watch a kid’s movie with the kids. They will love it and you can relax for a little while

Obviously, there are many ways to relax. The important thing is just relax.

5. Create balance by seeking solutions to problems that are hindering balance.

There comes a time in everybody’s life where their best efforts just do not produce the desired results. You may find yourself stressed and stretched even though you have been working hard to produce balance in your life. You have turned of the computers and cell phone when with family. You are working whole-heartedly on professional work while at the office. These can be very frustrating times.

In closing…

Do not fret. Success never comes without hard work and perseverance. A wise man once wrote that we are made perfect through suffering. Creating balance is a learned experience in life. Your personal journey will take you to heights of satisfaction, where everything seems to come together and it will also take you through the valleys, where even the most productive people in the world are unproductive. The trick is to stay focused on the solution and continuing in your course of action. There is a lot of information out their regarding the solution. Get a book or find a friend who has achieved a sense of balance and start seeking answers. Whatever you do, do not give up; if you forge ahead you will create a balanced life.

(Image courtesy of woooody under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 generic license.)

Source: WorkAwesome