WORK/LIFE BALANCE

The ability to stay holistically healthy by properly proritizing and balancing the time spent on various areas of one's life such as work, family, friends, physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, and mental health.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The best adjusted people are generally the busiest people, on and off work. Balance is not achieved only by people who are not busy and have the time. It's the non-work related part of balance that gives most people problems. Many people are too exhausted to do much more than refuel after their work day. Nonetheless, frustration and stress are often the result of not forcing the issue of balance in one's life.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.Genesis 2:2-3

Advice

• Diversify

  DIVERSIFY: Add things to your life outside of work. Batch tasks, bundle similar activities together, delegate to children or set up pools with coworkers or neighbors to share tasks such as car pooling, soccer games, etc. Pay to have some things done that are not mission-critical to your home needs. Organize and manage efficiently. Have a schedule. Set up goals and plans. Use some of your skills and passions outside of work.

• Find Balance

  FIND BALANCE: Balance doesn’t mean for every hour of work, you must have an hour off-work. It means finding what is a reasonable balance for you. Is it a few hours a week without work worries? Is it four breaks a day? Is it some solitude before bedtime? Is it playing with your kids more? Is it having a deep conversation with your spouse each day? Is it a community, religious or sports activity that you’re passionate about? Schedule them; structure them into your life.

• Focus

  FOCUS: Learn to enjoy life without carrying the stress of the burdens, concerns and deadlines associated with all the tasks you’re responsible for at work. For example, when you’re playing with your kids, allow yourself to leave all other concerns behind and simply have fun. Train your mind to be where you are. Focus on the moment.

• Create Deadlines

  CREATE DEADLINES: If you are organized, organize something. If you are very personable, get together a regular group. If you are competitive, set up a regular sports match.

• Define Your 'No'

  DEFINE YOUR ‘NOs’: Part of maturity is letting go of nice, even fun and probably valuable, activities. What can you say ‘no’ to at the office or at home that really isn’t a priority?

• Spice it Up

  SPICE IT UP: Make your non-work time more exciting. What are three really exciting things you and/or your family could do? Identify your passions outside of work.

• Relax

  RELAX: Signal yourself that work is over—play music in your car, immediately play with your children, go for a walk, swim for 20 minutes—give your mind a clear and repetitious breakpoint. Write down what you’re worried about, which is almost always unresolved problems. Write down everything you can think of. You’ll usually find it’s hard to fill a page and there will be only three topics—work problems, problems with people, and a to-do list. Note any ideas that come up for dealing with them.

• Workaholic?

  WORKAHOLIC? Find three people who remind you of you but are 20 years older. Are they happy? How are their personal lives? Any problems with stress or depression? Is this OK with you?

• Friend

  FRIEND: Talk to people who have your best interests at heart, who accept you for who you are and with whom you can be honest. What do they want for you? Ask them how they would change your balance.

Resources