1. Life in Balance: A Roadmap to Success Marion Reeves
Zonta Club of Brampton - Caledon

2. Work-Life Balance: a controversial topic
Is it possible to achieve?
What is it? What isn’t it?

3. Let’s start by setting the stage through some thinking and sharing about our lifestyle behaviours…what we are doing in our personal life.

5. The way forward to the roadmap: preliminary steps
Explore some concepts from Work-Life Balance research
Assess our own balance
Identify our barriers to change

6. DEFINING THE BALANCE
Work–life balance definitions suggest a need for proper positioning between:
work (career activities, work-like activities, Zonta ambitions)
lifestyle (health, hobbies, leisure pursuits, family/friends and spiritual wellness)

7. Work-life Balance – some truths
Work-life balance does not mean that there must be equal balance across all aspects of an individual’s life. This is not a zero sum undertaking.
The optimum work-life balance will not remain static but will vary over time as we go through phases of our life.
There is no one-size fits all in work-life balance. Everyone is unique.

8. Work-life Balance – How did this start?
1960’s thru to 1970’s –working mothers, trying to balance the demands of their jobs with raising children
1980’s – new policies from many companies along with benefits were added. Maternity leave, EAP’s, flextime, etc.
1990’s – General acknowledgement of the effect plus generational studies identified some employees were/are making choices about their jobs based on the culture of the organization and their own work-life issues

9. Work-life balance where is it going?
Cubicles
Bright colors and open space

10. Time to set a quick benchmark… assess your balance

11. KNOW Your Symptoms…do they indicate an imbalance??
Physical:
Headaches, upset stomach, sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, muscle tension, fatigue, heart palpitations
Emotional:
Depression, crying, anxiety, irritability, difficulty making decisions, angry outbursts, resentment, feelings of powerlessness, excessive worrying
Psychological:
Less time spent with friends and loved ones, job burnout, isolation leading to stopping of social activities, relationship loss/difficulties, self medicating

12. What condition do we associate with the symptoms?

13. Maybe your body is trying to give you a signal?

14. But the signal may be ignored because of the barriers…
Time
I should…
Feeling guilty
Climbing the “ladder”
Failure to set limits
Can’t say no
Comparing

15. Explore by sharing
Identify the two areas of your life that you’re most satisfied with.
Identify the two areas of your life that you’re least satisfied with.

16. Reflection is healthy! Individually, Think about need and change.
What do you need to do to improve your level of satisfaction in the areas you want to work on?
What would change for you if you became satisfied in those areas?
Think of a moment in your life when you felt completely balanced. What exactly was happening? What were you doing? How were others involved? How did you feel?

17. Be truthful with yourself!
What do you need to say no to in order to achieve your ideal balance for this stage of your life? What do you need to say yes to in order to achieve your ideal balance for this stage of your life? What will happen if you don’t say yes or no to these things?

18. Strategies to Improve Balance
Set realistic goals
Identify your priorities
Stop living by your to-do list
Stop multi-tasking
Make your activities do double duty
Take one minute to reflect – several times a day
Visualize the finish line
Say ‘no’ in order to put yourself first.

19. Beliefs that keep us stuck
Suffering from stress is a weakness
Keeping stress to yourself is the best approach
Other people or situations are to blame for your stress and imbalance
Cutting back or eliminating social, sporting, or personal interests will restore balance
Believing that there is a single solution

20. Putting it all together to take action
Roadmap to Success: steps to completion
1. Look at your long term outcomes (goals) first.
2. Move to your medium and then short term outcomes.
What resources do you have?
What activity are you going to do to get started?

21. The Zontian’s Roadmap to Success
SITUATION: As busy Zonta members, priorities spring up all the time and create a need to refocus. Our mission is to stay the course, leading the way through service and advocacy. We have the knowledge that allows us to be fluid enough to go with the flow. We use the “Roadmap to Success” and re-orienting our way forward to maintain our dynamic balance at all stages of life.
OUTCOMES
Short term Medium term Long term
Activities
Our resources
Your name
ZONTIAN’S NAME: ____________________________

22. The Zontian’s Roadmap to Success
SITUATION: As busy Zonta members, priorities spring up all the time and create a need to refocus. Our mission is to stay the course, leading the way through service and advocacy. We have the knowledge that allows us to be fluid enough to go with the flow. We use the “Roadmap to Success” and re-orienting our way forward to maintain our dynamic balance at all stages of life.
OUTCOMES
Short term Medium term Long term
Activities
Our resources
Be happier
Your name
Be satisfied with my mental wellness.
Improve my quality of life.
ZONTIAN’S NAME: ____________________________

23. The Zontian’s Roadmap to Success
SITUATION: As busy Zonta members, priorities spring up all the time and create a need to refocus. Our mission is to stay the course, leading the way through service and advocacy. We have the knowledge that allows us to be fluid enough to go with the flow. We use the “Roadmap to Success” and re-orienting our way forward to maintain our dynamic balance at all stages of life.
OUTCOMES
Short term Medium term Long term
Activities
Our resources
Improve my awareness of my moods throughout my day.
I’m able to recognize my thoughts and make changes.
Be happier
Your name
Increase my education of ways to become more resilient.
I practice resilient techniques on a regular basis.
Be satisfied with my mental wellness.
Build my support system with a friend.
My actions are having a positive effect on my friends.
Improve my quality of life.
ZONTIAN’S NAME: ____________________________

24. The Zontian’s Roadmap to Success
SITUATION: As busy Zonta members, priorities spring up all the time and create a need to refocus. Our mission is to stay the course, leading the way through service and advocacy. We have the knowledge that allows us to be fluid enough to go with the flow. We use the “Roadmap to Success” and re-orienting our way forward to maintain our dynamic balance at all stages of life.
OUTCOMES
Short term Medium term Long term
Activities
Our resources
Attend a seminar on developing positive talk.
Improve my awareness of my moods throughout my day.
I’m able to recognize my thoughts and make changes.
Be happier
Time
Funds
Sign-up for a mindful-ness class
Your name
Increase my education of ways to become more resilient.
I practice resilient techniques on a regular basis.
Be satisfied with my mental wellness.
Friends
Create a support contract with a friend.
My actions are having a positive effect on my friends.
Improve my quality of life.
Build my support system with a friend.
Professional guidance
ZONTIAN’S NAME: ____________________________

25. Helpful hints
The roadmap is reusable and adaptable for big and small goals.
Create several roadmaps for the major activities in your life. For example, as a Zontian, you may a roadmap for your Zonta work to keep you on track.
And long term goals are just that – they typically take a long time to achieve. Think in terms of months or years and not days.

26. Thank you for your attention. are there any Questions?