Achieving Work-Life Balance

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Achieving Work-Life Balance

Balancing a career with life outside work is a complex task. Life is a juggling act with work, home, the family, errands ... we sometimes feel like hamsters on their wheels. When your work and personal life are out of balance, your stress level is likely to soar. It's important to take the time to step back and take a good look at your work-life balance. Here are some tips to help you put some balance back into your life:

Set Goals:  

Set specific goals with actions and incremental milestones that you can track. Define your goals in terms that create a vivid mental picture of your desired end-state. Written goals help you establish clarity of purpose and provide accountability. Regularly review them and your progress against them. It has been said that “true character is the ability to carry out a goal long after the mood in which it was created has passed.”

Create a Personal Mission Statement:  

A personal mission statement defines who you are, what’s important to you, and what you’re all about. It will help you make difficult decisions when faced with the myriad of choices that life presents. It will also help you recognize when you’re off course and steer you back in the right direction.  Use your personal mission statement as your benchmark and standard of excellence that you measure yourself against.  When you’re making changes in your life and setting new goals, remember to refer to your mission statement.

Focus on the Important:  

With the many communication channels and other distractions vying for your attention, staying focused is a constant challenge. Be proactive. Track everything you do for one week, including work-related and personal activities. Decide what’s necessary and what satisfies you the most. Drop activities that sap your time and energy, or that add no value to your life and goals. Stay focused on reaching the milestones that support your goals.

Learn to Say “No”:  

You can’t do everything. You can’t attend every seminar or go to every social function, or every family gathering. Of course you might like to, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Learn to say no. Or if it is truly worthy, learn to use “yes, if …” instead of just “yes.” In other words, put conditions on activities you can influence like adding “if you can make the food this time” or “if there is a way to shorten the event to a half hour.” Remember that it’s okay to respectfully say no.  When you quit doing the things you do out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you’ll make more time in your life for the activities that are meaningful to you.

Be More Productive at What You Do:  

For those activities you must do yourself, find ways to be as efficient as you can. Your time is your most valuable resource—don’t squander it. Create reusable templates for anything that you do repeatedly. Employ tools and computer applications to automate your tasks as much as possible. Streamline your processes so that there is little wasted time and effort. Everything counts when managing your life. If something in your life is an energy drain, replace it with something better, delegate it, or eliminate it.

Get Organized:  

You will not be as productive if you’re not organized. A little planning can go a long way. Take some time to plan your activities and appointments well ahead of time. Slowly build more activities into your schedule. Getting organized will serve you well in your quest for balance and it will make you feel better.

Nurture Yourself:  Being tired robs you of the energy you need to stay productive and focused. Eat healthy foods and include exercise in your weekly routine, at least 30 minutes a day – three times a week. Experts say that exercise will help boost your energy level and your ability to concentrate. Be sure to get enough sleep, at least 7 to 8 hours a night. Set aside time for an activity or hobby that you enjoy.

Maintain Some White Space on Your Calendar:  

Pretend there isn’t as much availability on your calendar as it affords. Take a break. Carve out some time for reflection. The cliché that your best ideas come to you in the shower is more fact than fiction. When relaxed, your brain is free to unleash its power. Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, Archimedes of Syracuse and countless other historical figures were relaxing when they came up with their world-changing ideas.

Don’t Worry: 

 Leave your worries behind. Do what you can to resolve your problems. Worrying and chronic stress are bad for your health and energy level and provide no substantive benefit to you or others. Studies show that 92 percent of what people worry about has already happened, won’t change a thing, or is completely unfounded. Channel your energy into more productive uses such as exercise, reading, or any other physical or mental enhancing activity.

Know When to Seek Support:  

No one is successful on their own. Everyone needs help from time to time. Solicit the help of others, family members and friends. If your life feels too chaotic to manage and you’re worrying about it, talk it over with a trusted friend or professional mental health counselor. They can be a good source for helping you reframe your situation and offer advice. Seeking support will also help you release the emotional stress you may be feeling. Whatever your situation may be, it’s important that you have people in your life that can offer you support.

Remember, striking a healthy work-life balance isn’t a one-shot deal. Creating work-life balance is an ongoing process as your family, interests, work and life continually change.

Sources:

Mike Hawkins; author of Activating Your Ambition: A Guide to Coaching the Best Out of Yourself and Others

Robert Brooks, PhD; co-author, The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence, and Personal Strength in Your Life

Laura Stack, president, The Productivity Pro, Inc.; author, SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best