Work Life Balance

What exactly is work/life balance?

What do we mean by Work Life balance ? Equal balance between work and personal activities ? Life is and should be more fluid than that. Is it same for everyone ? … Varies from individual to individual, and varies over time… on a daily basis as well over different phases of life There is no perfect, one-size fits all solution. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives. X X

Imagine…

You have to give yourself PERMISSION to have more integration between your professional work and personal life

… ideas almost deceptive in their simplicity, yet so relevant to all So what exactly is Work- life balance ? Revolves around two key everyday concepts relevant to each of us Daily Achievement Enjoyment Not mere "Ha-Ha". It means Pride, Satisfaction, Happiness, Celebration, Love, and A Sense of Well Being … ideas almost deceptive in their simplicity, yet so relevant to all These two concepts are like the front and back of the coin of value in life. Do you know any "Successful" people who’re not as happy as they should be ?

Defining Work- life balance ? Life will deliver the value and balance we desire ...when we achieve and enjoy something every single day...in all the important areas that make up our lives. Hence, a good working definition of Work-Life Balance is: Meaningful daily Achievement and Enjoyment in each of the four life quadrants:

FRIENDS SELF FAMILY WORK

The Mathematician's View A balanced life is one where we spread our energy and effort - emotional, intellectual, imaginative, spiritual and physical – between key areas of importance.                                                                                         

The Analyst View A wheel has spokes to ensure its strength and balance. Unequal spokes can make the ride very bumpy, or completely break down

How do you define your own work life balance? What are your Values? What’s important to you? What makes you happy ? What did you write down earlier? What are the Barriers? time, stress, dual career family, lack of support from family, supervisor, peers

Work Work Life Triangle Relationships Self-Care

Work Life Triangle Work ( what we do, careers, housework, chores, etc) Relationships (personal, friendships, partners, spouses, children Self-Care (spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, health, wellness, exercise) What happens when we are not balanced. We tip over… Most of us can do 2 out of the 3 at any one point of time really well. The trick is alternating the 3rd component so one area is not neglected. Which area do you let drop too often? Self care?

How do you achieve Balance? Its all in what you think and say to yourself. Robert Ellis – Rational Emotive Therapy A, B, C’s of cognitive therapy “If I continue to think as I have always thought, I will continue to act as I have always acted. If I continue to act as I have always acted, I will continue to get what I have always gotten.” Change the thought, changes the behavior and leads to a new consequence Practice, Practice, Practice, Activating event or thought will trigger a Behavior which leads to the Consequence For Example, I am so behind at work, I’ll never get everything done…. (thought) Therefore, I continue to stress over my work but can’t focus and get easily distracted (behavior) and the consequence is that my thought becomes the truth because I leave without getting my work done.

Work Life Triangle - Work What happens when we are not balanced. We tip over… Most of us can do 2 out of the 3 at any one point of time really well. The trick is alternating the 3rd component so one area is not neglected. Which area do you let drop too often? Self care?

Work is not where you go but what you do John Chambers

So how do we go about achieving the Work-Life Balance ? No cookie cutter solution. Each person has his/ her own formula defining the composition of career, family, friends and self into their integrated whole. Dream When people's lives are out of balance they are unable to identify the obvious options for themselves and their families Be Selfish Yourself First U are no good to anyone if U yourself are indisposed Focus on whatever u are doing. Maximize your productivity at work and don’t let unfinished business carry over into your personal time. Always put in your best effort.. Even if its not your core competence

Be Organized. Disorganisation is the theft of time. Try to manage your day, instead of having the day manage you. Make lists. Use technologies like PDA to offload the stress of remembering Prioritize. Lists invariably become lengthy. Identify those which contribute towards a balance between work and life Don't procrastinate. Why invite stress to build up. It is only a compounding multiplier leading you in one direction only Be flexible. Change is imminent. Those who accept this and work around change are the most productive, best-adjusted individuals Plan, but do not run your life on a time table. Its important to prioritise, but be mindful that nothing is static.

Don't be a slave to your e-mail or to phone calls With Technological advances … peoples expectation of response has risen proportionately. The need to be needed is addictive One needs 'downtime' to refresh mentally, emotionally or physically. Know your weakness and strengths Improve your skills as necessary to enhance your productivity and reduce your stress. Be forgiving, especially of yourself. You are human. You will make mistakes and fall short of the ideal, including your own. Don't wallow in guilt. Learn from your mistakes. Set boundaries and learn to say no. Being a good employee, spouse, parent, and friend doesn't mean blindly giving into everyone else's demands and spending all your time and energy doing for others as they dictate.

Work Life Triangle - Relationships What happens when we are not balanced. We tip over… Most of us can do 2 out of the 3 at any one point of time really well. The trick is alternating the 3rd component so one area is not neglected. Which area do you let drop too often? Self care?

Team Chose the right team members, better than yourself … invest time in the process Know your team members, colleagues & supervisors … their strengths and weakness. Leverage their strengths, and provide support in their areas of weakness Monitor (not manage) initial engagements .. Just like a life guard monitors new swimmers Trust them and delegate … make yourself dispensable, so that u can play a larger role in strategic initiatives and career development of team members Don’t try to soldier along on your own without asking for help … it can only result in a sense of isolation, martyrdom and exhaustion.

Work Life Triangle – Self Care What happens when we are not balanced. We tip over… Most of us can do 2 out of the 3 at any one point of time really well. The trick is alternating the 3rd component so one area is not neglected. Which area do you let drop too often? Self care?

Take time for yourself. This may sound difficult for people who believe they are in very responsible position … who think they are indispensable. Find opportunities within the busy work schedule Take more Frequent though short breaks Establish good, supportive relationships, both at work and home. Give up the hesitation of knowing your colleagues better. Its important to foster real teamwork and create an environment in which employees respect and are willing to assist each other. Children frequently enjoy being a useful member of the family - especially if they understand the importance of it. Try the Home working (tele working) model to address those pressing personal/ family needs. Worry , but only to the point it helps

Take time for yourself. This may sound difficult for people who believe they are in very responsible position … who think they are indispensable. Find opportunities within the busy work schedule Take more Frequent though short breaks Establish good, supportive relationships, both at work and home. Give up the hesitation of knowing your colleagues better. Its important to foster real teamwork and create an environment in which employees respect and are willing to assist each other. Children frequently enjoy being a useful member of the family - especially if they understand the importance of it. Try the Home working (tele working) model to address those pressing personal/ family needs. Worry , but only to the point it helps

Work-life Balance Exercise #1 Sunil is 45-year old man and an only child whose elderly, widowed mom has Alzheimer's disease. Sunil needs to aid his mom with personal needs as well as such things as cooking, housework, buying groceries, etc. Sunil is also a sales representative for an alarm company and must put in endless hours at the office in order to get a promotion to district sales manager. What can Sunil do to balance his work and non-work lives? What can Sunil’s organization do to help him balance his work and non-work lives?

Work-life Balance Exercise #2 Rita is a 26-year old wife and new mother. She has just returned to work after a 6-week maternity leave and found out that her husband, Prashant, was laid off. Rita and Prashant are both paying off student loans, they just put their new baby into a great daycare facility and bought a new car after the old one broke down. How can Rita work toward balancing her work and non-work lives? How can Prashant help? How can Rita and Prashant work together so that they each have balance?