April 2009 Archives

Work-Life Balance: Take the time for loved ones.

By Kristi Daniels
Work-Life Balance Examiner

A key challenge for anyone trying to balance work and personal life is making - and taking - the time to spend with loved ones.

Whether you are single or married with children, each of us desires fulfilling relationships with the important people in our lives. And when you're working 10+ hour days, it's easy to fall into the work, work, work zone and completely neglect your personal relationships.

Learn to head off relationship killers such as apathy, a lack of passion and disconnectedness, by being fully engaged in your connections with others. Make the time, take the time and spend quality hours with your loved ones. Here are some suggestions to consider:

Schedule specific times of the day or week to spend with family and friends. Treat your date night, family night or friends' night out just as you would an office appointment. Set a start and finish time and don't be late! Get creative and put a little thought into your plans. Try doing something out of the ordinary - pick a new cuisine or a card game or a new activity.

Learn to leave work at the office. It's not so easy to compartmentalize our lives. When we've had a stressful day at the office, we bring it home. When we have a fight with our spouse, we bring it to work.

Instead of compartmentalizing, try a technique to release your thoughts, emotions and stress. The Sedona Method suggests asking yourself the following questions. Notice the instant "release."

"What emotions or thoughts am I feeling?" Accept that you are feeling them.
Ask yourself, "Could I let them go?"
"Would I let them go?"
"When?"
Repeat these four questions as often as needed, until you begin to feel the release.

Be fully present in all of your interactions with family and loved ones. Nothing says I'm not really paying attention to you like a blank stare or when you are multi-tasking or when your mind is back at the office. Take the time to be fully here for your loved ones. Take a deep breath and focus on the conversation. Be curious. Make the most out of your quality time together.

Ask for what you need.  Perhaps you need 10 minutes to vent to your spouse each day after work. Ask for a listening ear and keep your commitment to limit the talk to 10 minutes. Create rituals to help you leave the office with a clear mind and return home to your family in a good mood. Perhaps you need to ask your loved ones to greet you with a smile when you walk in the door. What do you need at the end of every day to transition from work mode to life mode? Identify your needs and ask for them.

Take back control over the clock: time management strategies for the workplace.

By Kristi Daniels

Work-Life Balance Examiner

Ever peer at the clock striking 5 pm, only to wonder where your day went and recognize you still have a half dozen tasks on your "to-do" list? Do competing demands of your boss, colleagues, clients, urgent phone calls and e-mails and impromptu staff meetings throw your schedule off and you just can't accomplish what you planned for the day?

Take stock of some proven time management strategies from leaders in the field:

• Eat that frog! Professional management and leadership guru Brian Tracy suggests you start your day by eating that frog. That means take the most important item on your to-do list - no matter how big or how small - and put a dent in it. That's the one project that is "very important" and "very urgent." As soon as you get into work in the morning - determine how much time you have before your first meeting or conference call - and block off time to make progress on that task. If it's a huge task, such as completing a 20-page report, then decide what steps you can take to make a dent in the task - draft an outline, collect your data or just begin to write. If it's an important, perhaps difficult conversation you need to have - then make it. By taking action first thing in the morning on a priority task, you'll achieve a sense of accomplishment right away, even if the rest of your day escapes you.

 

• Get your to-dos out of your head.  Best-selling author David Allen suggests you find a time management system to organize all of your tasks. An organizer, a calendar or even a notebook - get all of the tasks in your head onto paper, and then figure out how to organize it. Do you ever remember your grocery list in the shower, but draw blanks when you're in the grocery store? Create "buckets" for your to-dos: work assignments, phone calls or emails to make, errands to run, your grocery list, etc. Allen says that "every open loop must be in your collection system and out of your head," so you can create more space for productivity and getting things done. He also recommends having as few collection buckets as you can get by with, and emptying them regularly.

 

The Power of Goal Setting: Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want To Be

by Kristi Daniels
Work-Life Balance Examiner

Professionals who struggle to balance work life with personal life are often exasperated by the excuse "There's just not enough time in the day to do all I need to do." We feel frazzled because we're always on the go, compiling to-do lists and doing, doing, doing. And at the end of the day we feel like we haven't accomplished anything.

What if you could wave a magic wand and instantly receive more hours in the day.

Would you use them effectively? Or would you squander the precious time and hop back in the hamster wheel without any direction or purpose?

A critical component to achieving balance and enjoying success in all areas of your life is to create a clear picture of what you want to achieve, where you want to go and who you want to be. You cannot compartmentalize your work life, your home life or your social life. If you're suffering in one area, it's bound to cross over and negatively impact the other areas.

The first step in achieving greater balance in your life is to clearly define what you want. Try this exercise to get clear on your purpose, goals and vision for the future:                                                                                                     

What Do You Want?

In each area of your life name 3 things you want for yourself in the next year.                             

•    Career/work life

•    Finances

•    Health and physical fitness

•    Relationships with family and close friends

•    Recreation and free time

•    Personal goals (learning, spiritual growth, personal achievements)

•    Community service, contributions, your legacy

Take a look at your list and visualize what each area of your life will look like once you achieve those goals. What are you doing? Who are you spending time with? Who have you become?

•    Career/work life

•    Finances

•    Health and physical fitness

•    Relationships with family and close friends

•    Recreation and free time

•    Personal goals (learning, spiritual growth, personal achievements)

•    Community service, contributions, your legacy

 

Write your goals down and describe what you visualize in a journal or notebook. Keep these notes handy and reflect on them throughout your week. Spend the precious minutes of your day with direction and working towards the ultimate goals you want to achieve in your career, personal and home lives. Live on purpose and unleash the power of goal setting.

Work-Life Stress: Don Your Armor or Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve?

by Kristi Daniels
Work-Life Balance Examiner