1. How can I renew my. .. work-life balance?
BUSINESS MATTERS
How can I renew my.
.. work-life balance?
Ruth Walker
17 September 08

2. Last time I spent significant time here in Edinburgh was the Moonwalk in June
Walking along at 3.30am is no fun…
Until you reach Portobello and then you see the sun rising – and realize there is hope that the walk will end
I was very struck by how lovely Portobello beach is in the sun
I am sure you can picture it - Picture it - a busy businessman finds himself at Portobello beach, he’s just been to a hard sales session and he has a about 30 minutes to spare before he needs to move to his next meeting
He sees the beautiful sand and the gently lapping waves and he stops his car just to get a break
So he gets out, carrying his notes for the next meeting, thinking to sit down on the rock to review them
As he sits down he notices something amongst the stones ,, looks down and sees an Old brass lamp
Very dirty – rubs it on his sleeve
and out pops a genie
The genie says – oh sir you have one wish – use it wisely
Thinks carefully; I wish for… peace in the Middle East
And the genie says –you must be kidding – look at all the people over thousands of years who have tried it – gets out the map
here at Jordan, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Iraq…..
Right enough says the man let me think again
I wish for …….
A good work life balance.
What do you mean by that asks the genie
I wish that I get in every day I go in at 9am and by 5pm I have completed all the things on my to do list. I achieve the objectives set by my boss who praises me for what I have achieved. At lunchtimes I am able to get some shopping for my partner, go for a run or meet my friends for lunch so I keep up with my friends. I never miss a school concerts, I can help my kids with there homework, I am able to go to the gym regularly and keep weight of and my mind sharp, I can visit my elderly parents, I can join the photography club and improve my skills , I have read the latest novels, I get to bed on time and rise refreshed and calm. I wish for a good work-life balance
The genie says – let me take a look at that map of the Middle East again!
Work life balance – has been an issue for many thousands of years I suspect - in fact king Solomon wrote a poem about work life balance
In this case he person he wrote about was a woman
Let me read some of it to you
A good woman is hard to find,    and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve,    and never has reason to regret it. Never spiteful, she treats him generously    all her life long. She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,    and enjoys knitting and sewing. She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places    and brings back exotic surprises. She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast    for her family and organizing her day. She looks over a field and buys it,    then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden. First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,    rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. She senses the worth of her work,    is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,    diligent in homemaking. She's quick to assist anyone in need,    reaches out to help the poor. She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;    their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear. She makes her own clothing,    and dresses in colorful linens and silks. Her husband is greatly respected    when he deliberates with the city fathers. She designs gowns and sells them,    brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops. Her clothes are well-made and elegant,    and she always faces tomorrow with a smile. When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,    and she always says it kindly. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,    and keeps them all busy and productive. Her children respect and bless her;    her husband joins in with words of praise: "Many women have done wonderful things,    but you've outclassed them all!“
Could we ever hope to be like that?

3. How can I renew my work-life balance?
What is Work life balance? – lots of definitions and I think to really are very personal depending on your own experience and expectations
Wikipedia says:
The expression "work-life balance" was first used in the late 1970s to describe the relationship between the worlds of work and of family life. "Work-life balance" was coined to address the unhealthy life choices that many people were making; they were choosing to neglect other important area of their lives such as family, friends, and hobbies in favor of work-related chores and goals.
A century ago people in the UK on average worked more than 50 hours each week. The length of the average working week then fell to around 35 hours by the end of the 1970s, The downward trend came to a halt in the 1980s.Currently, Britons work between 3.5 and 5 hours longer per week, per person, than any other nation in the EU. It is this type of work culture that appears to have caused an epidemic of depression, stress-induced disease, lower levels of parental engagement, relational breakdown and diminished productivity and creativity.
As Mark Greene the Director of LICC would say to those of us in work – it is a Slave New world that we work in
In a 2003, CIPD study of UK workers called Living to Work showed that the main reason for working long hours was workload. However one in two workers said that working longer hours is ‘totally [their] own choice – doesn’t mind working long hours’ – BUT in the same study
more than one in four respondents reported some sort of negative impact on health
more than two out of five respondents reported a negative impact on their relationships
most respondents reported negative effects on their job performance.
And in a National Life Insurance Co survey ., four out of ten employees’ state that their jobs are “very” or “extremely” stressful.Those in high stress jobs are three times more likely than others to suffer from stress-related medical conditions and are twice as likely to quit. The study states that women, in particular, report stress related to the conflict between work and family.
Even David Cameron think this – we saw that when he called for there to be a greater focus on GWP - General Well Being than on GDP when considering economic issues
A 2004 survey by the Department of Trade and Industry's Work-Life campaign revealed that eight out of ten employees would love to spend more time with their family and friends.
So we know work life balance is an issue for many people in the UK
And I imagine if you are here today it is an issue for you.
It is certainly an issue for me!
How DO I manage the conflicting pressures
How can I renew my work-life balance?

4. Work life balance
How do I manage the competing pressures that life brings
The desire to do my job well
The new job I have just got
The community involvement I participate in
The hobbies I want to do to be a rounder person
The gaols I set to make sure I keep fit
The charities I am involved in to give something back to the city I live in
The sick family members I have responsibility for
My lovely husband, daughter and son I want to spend time with
Let alone the current affairs I want to keep up with, the reading I’d like to do etc etc…..

5. Time
Oh, for an engine, to keep back all clocks; Or make the sun forget his motion!
Ben Jonson ( )
You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
Charles Buxton
Much of the literature on this area, much of the advice is given is around time management
Indeed when I asked our T&D department at Se about what material they had on work life balance and they gave me a fantastic course on time management
It gives a whole lot of detail on how to use your time wisely so that you have more time free to spend on the important things /or the things you really want to
To quote some great advice from the flm Gone with the Wind:“Do not squander time, that is the stuff life is made of”
One of the best pices of advice I got on time management I I remember as student this speaker, Andre Mcrar talked about how to be disciplined in the way you used your life – when the alarm goes, put your feet on the floor! But does this really help me with work lif balance?
This HR course also gives advice on How to become more efficient in the way you handle paper work –mark a dot on each piece of paper each time it passes your desk undealt with for a week – so your shocked by the number of dots that you start managing you paperwork better deal with it, pass it on, fie it , dump it. I’ve been on that course – but I love paper so my desk is full of it
Or there is advice on having a clear to do list – make sure you have a list every day of what need to achieve – the last time I did that I had about 45 things on my list!
How you plan your day – schedule in time for things you need to do so the day is not filled up with appointments, only read your s 2/3 times a day, have a brought forward system
In 80s the filofax was introduced – in a big way to help with time management – here is mine! Given as a leaving present!
All these are great and I do use them as I am sure you do.. they do help me us efficient BUT – do they help renew our work life balance?

6. Prioritising tasks Urgent but not important Urgent and important
Deal with quickly e.g. trivial requests,
Deal with urgent part of the problem.
Delegate if possible.
Tackle briskly and efficiently to allow time for the important tasks.
Urgent and important
Emergencies.
Boss’s demands
Deadline looming
Keep on top of the important to reduce the urgent
Not urgent or important
Do it.
Delegate it.
Dump it.
Defer it.
Keep these time wasters away!
Important but not urgent
These tend to be the core tasks of the job.
Slice up into manageable chunks
Allocated time to these tasks, or they may not get done.
Urgent ones will squeeze them out, until they become urgent themselves
URGENT
Perhaps it is that we need to get Getting better at prioritising our work – and it can certainly help
That same course I got form our T&D department gives you a prioritisation grid
Using this can certainly help prioritise the work you are doing
Bit does it help us achieve the work life balance we desire?
IMPORTANT

7. How can I renew my work-life balance?
So How can I ?
How can we renew our work life balance?
Today I want to give you a few ideas on how I think you can mange the work life balance
Or perhaps the best way we can consider this is 9as Paul Valler ex HP calls it work life integration
By discovering how to integrate the different arts of life, we can get better at achieving the work life balance
Some of the things I will suggest to you today have been borne out of for the last 30 years or so in the public and private sector
I have been used to competing pressures of work, family, home – of money making , of relationship building, of political views, demanding bosses, needy colleagues, young families, great staff, short deadlines
All these competing pressures mean that you have to keep watching out to see if you have gone of course – if there is too much of one or too little of another facet
integration
How can I renew my work-life balance?

8. Achieving work life integration
Value your self
Value your work
Manage your self
Manage the moments
Recognise the mistakes
Recognise the “seasons”

9. Value your self Know your strengths Someone else’s eyes
Set out what you want to achieve/ your own mission statement
High Q12 answers?
Value your self and the skills you bring
sometimes so busy so many pressures that you forget about who you actually are, what you are actually good at , the value you bring to the job
Sometimes it feels as if you are on a tread machine and you can’t find the off button
Take time to look at your self and assess what you are good at, what makes you who you are. In the UK, we are often not good at that
So I would recommend two things
Now discover your strengths – a book by based on research done by the Gallup corporation In their work they have uncovered 34 themes of human talent — those naturally occurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior. Combined with knowledge (the facts and lessons learned) and skills (the steps of an activity), these become an individual’s strengths. The results reinforce what you already know about themselves, but can also reveal misperceived talents. For instance, I found Intellection, and Learner on my list- I love to collect new ideas, to think and learn new things – I love people, but I discovered that I was a theme realtor –m eans that I like to build relationships one by one – means I don’t go into aroom and try to be life and soul of the party but I do take time to know people one by one By knowing what I am good at I don’t concentrate on what I am poor at – but build on the verry best- and if you get your team to do the seam test – you can find their strengths and play to them
There are lots of tools many of you will have used – this is the one I like the best
Or if you don’t like that – try and see you slef through someone else’s eyes
ask a trusted friend/colleagues to write down why they would trust you say with with a piece of work. In fact I did that before I went for a job – (kind of things words she used about me Passion-Encouragement- is sensitive to needs of others Energy. Ideas. Her imagination, use of her large network Honesty. Track record. Calmness. Ability to delegate.
Gosh _ I hadn’t thought of myself like that
You can use that kind of information to set out what you want to achieve – or some people like to write that a their on mission statement
My mission is to encourage others, bring out the best in them and deliver projects in and outwith work that use my imagination and ideas?
Then when you do that it helps you make choices about what you choose to get involved in at work and at leisure

10. Achieving work life integration
Value your self
Value your work
Manage your self
Manage the moments
Recognise the mistakes
Recognise the “seasons”

11. Value your work
the superstition that all our hours of work are a minus quantity in the happiness of life and all the hours of idleness are plus ones, is a most ludicrous and pernicious doctrine and its greatest support comes from not taking sufficient trouble, not making a real effort to make work as near pleasure as it can be.”
Lord Balfour
I joined Face book recently – my friend Lawrence sent me pictures and he wanted me to see his family and what they were like
So I am on Face book and I discover that my son is on face book
So I try to join his network
He accepted my request to be a friend saying friendship is a privilege, use it wisely –
and I think work is a privilege – use it wisely
Value your work
We are in a sc=society where we are each used to being masters of our won destiny and we can find wok frustrating because we seem less so there – I recommend that you look a work and consider what it brings to your life – perhaps it is cash to dot he things you need, perhaps it is friendship
Perhaps it is new development opportunities
When I talk to some people who would love to work – or to work in a different job, it Good to stand back and be reminded of how good your job is
When we take this attitude – it is easier to bring out the best in ourselves’

12. Achieving work life integration
Value your self
Value your work
Manage your self
Manage the moments
Recognise the mistakes
Recognise the “seasons”
The third thing I think you need to do is be purposeful in what you want to do – you have to look at how you manage yourself with work life integration

13. Manage yourself Diary reconciliation Learn new things Eureka notebook
Review and plan
Keep fit
Keep friendships
If like me lots of people come and ask me to do things – an I keep saying yes!- so the most important thing I do at the strta of they year irite every I get out my outlook diary, my family calendar and then I get out the school diary, and the birthday book – and I write in special family dates, school concerts, I block out a Monday evening – keep that as a family evening. I put all the family things in the work dairy – and any work things that will imoinge on family life in the family calendar – so we all know what are the pressures. I mark in death to be remembered. I also try and get a sense form my husband and kids what are some of the things they want to do – so we have that in place. Try and agree holiday dates even if not where we are going
That way I can make sure that we have the things in place we want to do as a family
I got great advice from the late Neil Hood, deputy chair of SE - work out what you can take on in terms of charities, outside work commitments and then when you reach optujoined Face book recently – my friend Lawrence sent me pictures and he wanted me to see his family and what they were like
So I am on Face book and I discover that my son is on face book
So I try to join his network
He accepted my request to be a friend saying friendship is a privilege, use it wisely –
and I think work is a privilege – use it wisely
Value your work
We are in a sc=society where we are each used to being masters of our won destiny and we can find wok frustrating because we seem less so there – I recommend that you look a work and consider what it brings to your life – perhaps it is cash to dot he things you need, perhaps it is friendship
Perhaps it is new development opportunities
When I talk to some people who would love to work – or to work in a different job, it Good to stand back and be reminded of how good your job is
When we take this attitude – it is easier to bring out the best in ourselves’
nimum , always drop one before you take on something else
I also thing it is important to look at what you want to learn – we have a development session every year at work – looking at where want to develop - you need to do is to learn new things – to keep your slef fresh in the way you think
This can be a course, or through work, or someone you meet, or something you read – ina ll sort of way – I try to plan for something new
I keep on top of what I have learnt by using what I call is a Eureka notebook
There I set out anything I have learnt – or a new idea I want to think about – or an article recommended – or can be a new recip idea – or a game to play with kids or a site to look at. Or I try to read the bible every day – so it may be a verse format he bible
and every few weeks I will review this – what did I learn
And then at the start of the year – I try and review what I have discovered , what I want to acehove at the part of the year.
I am a Christian and I will also look at what I am reading in the Bible to see if there is something i really want to tackle in my faith life
This allows me to make some kind of plan for the year ahead – even if not formally written down
The final area I think is to look at how to keep physically fir –my son says – I am not sure I like running – but I do like wat it des to mind – if keep physicay fir then help us manage ourselves and keep a perspective
Some of you will b easy – but for me a new thing – so I give myself a target – this yea the 10k and the moon walk and I walk with friends
Being part of a community, can really hep you keep a perspective on managing work life balance – people why love you enough to challenge you when you work – or perhaps play too hard
You may want to join a club where people know you and look out for you
I walk and run with some friends which has a dual purpose
I am also a member of a church where I have people who know e well I

14. Achieving work life integration
Value your self
Value your work
Manage your self
Manage the moments
Recognise the mistakes
Recognise the “seasons”
When all is said an done we are often in a hard a

15. Manage the moments Create traditions Meal times together
Phone free moments
Hobbies for all ages
Have fun - do the unexpected
Create sense of “I’d rather be with you”
Quality Time
The reality is for many of us that work is busy – and we have no choice but to work hard
For those of you like this – can I recommend the 60 minute father by Rob Parsons – a spending book full of hints and tips about how to help you balance
There are a few that I’d like to share
Create traditions – kids want to come and spend time together – Friday night curry/ new year/loch Fyne
Meal times together – time to speak to find out what happening
Phone free moments – kids hold your face and turn you for attention 0- so give them attention – but you can also use the phone /text to keep in\touch when you are away
Hobbies for all ages - do something you can all do – I am learning bridge – we play on holiday – or golf – what can you do – bird watching – something regardless of age an infirmity
Do the unexpected – story of women
Create sense of “I’d rather be with you” –n when I have been on business – series of presents to open every day a letter something that they know feel valued – can do that for adults/friends as well
Create moments that give anyone a sense of real quality time

16. Achieving work life integration
Value your self
Value your work
Manage your self
Manage the moments
Recognise the mistakes
Recognise the “seasons”
Third area – is remember your going to make mistakes on all of this
And few are irredeemable
There are some great books that help you prepare and manage these mistakes
The ones I would recommend are these:
The sixty minute father
The heart of success
Now discover your strengths
Get a life

17. Achieving work life integration
Value your self
Value your work
Manage your self
Manage the moments
Recognise the mistakes
Recognise the “seasons”
Last area to say anything about I think is about life's’ seasons – O think life is full of seasons
Kids are small, work is full, partners are fractious
Fitness is hard
Keep yourself adaptable- keep looking forward

18. What helps me achieve work life balance?
“So here is what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your every day, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around life - and place it before God as an offering.” The Bible: Romans 12:1-2,
What makes me act
Work whether paid or unpaid – is part of what I offer to the god I follow
If we offer our work to God as our offering, our service. I believe this can help us deal with the work/life balance. For when we consciously bring our work as an offering to God, we must bring all of our ordinary every day life to him. If all we have to offer is work, I can imagine God saying- and where is the family, the time for your mother, playing with your kids, keeping fit etc

19. May you renew your work-life balance
To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking
Goethe