Balancing It All - By Greg Dalton, Life & Career Coach
December, usually the month you’re preparing to close
off the old and promise yourself to set up new and more
positive habits for the New Year. Unfortunately, it’s also
the time of year when you’re probably likely to join the
ranks of the ‘snowed under’.
Balancing a career, a company or business with the
demands of a relationship, your family and friends, you
are one hell of a busy person (the understatement of the
year). It is both exciting and exhausting managing your
multiple roles of partner, mother, father, professional,
wife, kids’ taxi and so on. If you feel more exhausted than
excited, there’s a good chance your life is out of balance.
Give yourself 5 points for each “yes.”
The higher your score the lower your work-life balance is. Unfortunately, high scores are
very common among people in society today. The good news is you can make changes to
lower your score and start leading a more balanced life today.
Work life balance is about identifying the key areas of your life that are causing you the most
amount of difficulty and then working your way through eliminating them or managing them
more efficiently for you, not others. Quality of life is so much more than reducing stress
or having some money in the bank. Choices that are more conscious will improve all areas
of your health and well-being. This includes your physical, mental, emotional, social, and
professional life, and the health of your personal relationship
Murphy’s Law
Stress is a disease of speed. You suffer from “time poverty” when you can slow down the
clock and reclaim your time? Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks when, no
matter what you do, nothing seems to be going your way? Murphy’s Law eh?…
Maybe your boss has just taken you to task for overlooking a key element in the report you
completed last Friday, or your colleague has dropped the ball on getting you the contact you
needed to pursue that contract. Maybe your workload has steadily increased as your team
has shrunk from 15 to 9, and they don’t seem to be replacing anyone. Having to deal with
any of these situations is stressful enough on it’s own, but you have other and sometimes
more important personal concerns to deal with also, what do you do? Take it on the chin, or
jump ship?
Sticking with it!
So, you’ve decided, you’re sticking with
your job, even though it’s stressing you
out. What then can you do to relieve
some of the stress and make your day-today
work life more bearable maybe even
enjoyable? Take a step back to figure out
ways to improve your quality of life.
Get yourself organised, prioritise your
tasks… and get help. If you’re having
trouble juggling a multitude of projects
and activities, and it’s starting to get in on
you, take some time out to work out a list
of things to do. Number your list in order
of most important to least important.
Then tackle each task one at a time,
ticking off each completed task as you
go. (for those regular readers, the ‘eating
an elephant’ task, should ring a bell or
two) This measurement will show you
that things are under control and your
achievements so far will give you a sense
of satisfaction and help you get a handle
on your workload.
Take as many short breaks as you
can, daily. Just 10 to 20 minutes of
quiet contemplation brings some relief
from stress and will also increase your
tolerance of it. Use the time to listen
to music, relax, and simply to think of
nothing. I defy anyone not to be able to
take 10 minutes a day to themselves. If
you can’t, call me and I’ll show you how.
Deep breathing exercises during these 10
minute breaks are also a good way to ease
stress; these expel toxic wastes from your
lungs and draw in oxygen deep into your
diaphragm to cleanse your system. Inhale
through your nose and exhale through
your mouth several times slowly and fully
while sitting up in your chair with muscles
at rest and eyes closed.
In a Changing World…
Creating a healthy balance between work
and home is not such a simple task,
especially in today’s fast paced work
environment. With the work life and
home life out of balance, stress is running
high in most families. If you spend more
time at work, you lose out on your family
and personal life. Alternately, if you
spend more time facing the challenges
of your personal life, such as coping with
With the aspirations of moving up the
corporate ladder in the man-eat-man
corporate world, you work longer hours
than is healthy for you. This makes it
difficult for you to juggle the demands
of your work and family life. To take the
time out as suggested earlier will only
benefit you and your relationship with
the people who are important to you.
Here are some further suggestions to put
some sort of order in your life and create
a more balanced life for you. They will
reduce stress and help you to deal with
the ongoing challenges of modern day
society.
Track Your Activities - Keep a
log of all your activities, and delegate the
ones you do not enjoy, or that you don’t
have the time for.
Check For Flexibility - Find out
if your employer offers flexible hours
for work. This will to enable you to
cope with your personal and domestic
problems. Is working from home an
option?
Time Management - Time
management is not only for office work.
Manage your personal time at home also.
Organise to do the washing in batches
instead of doing it all at the weekend or
on your day off. Keep a weekly agenda
of family things you want to do together.
Involve your other half and kids in some
daily chores, the kids will enjoy the
involvement and won’t be fighting over
the TV channel or play-station game.
Find Ways To De-stress- Take
time out to do things that you enjoy
doing, such as going for walks, listening
to music, practicing yoga, reading, etc.
Set aside one night a week exclusively for
your partner and family. Take the phone
off the hook (it probably doesn’t ring
that often anyway), switch off the mobile
and (I dare you) the TV too, let your
combined hair down. Find activities that
will involve you and your family.
Get Enough Sleep - There is
nothing more stressful as when you are
deprived of sleep, it’s so stressful it’s
been used as torture to make people
break quicker. Take the power nap, this
will not only improve your productivity,
but protect you too. Not getting enough
sleep can cause you to commit potentially
dangerous and costly mistakes.
Seek Help – At times of stress, seek
help from professionals or from your
personal support systems. Talk to your
spouse and friends. Every one needs
help from time to time and you are no
different. Seek help if you find your life
too hectic to manage.
In the end, you need to set your
priorities. What is more important for
you, your work or your family? At the
turning point you need to decide what
is more important in your life, spending
time with your family, kids, and extended
family, or concentrating just on your
work life?
Get Back your balance
and your outlook
When your work day and week come to
an end, make sure you leave it all behind
you. Strike a healthy balance between
work and play. Pursue a fun hobby,
call over to friends, have a hot bath, do
something, or nothing at all. This will
take your mind off work and allow you to
recharge and relax.
On the other hand, if you can’t seem
to let go, talk about what you’re going
through with friends and family. Simply
sharing your feelings, and receiving
comfort and advice, can be enough to
ease some of the pressures and anxieties
you’re feeling by bringing things back into
proper perspective. If this isn’t enough,
then consider seeking the help of a
professional coach or counsellor. Do not
try to cope with your stress alone.
It goes without saying that stress affects
us all differently. What may seem
stressful to one person can be an exciting
adventure to another. Remember,
though, that becoming stressed is your
choice. You can either learn to accept
a situation (bend for others) or make
changes that will take stress out of the
situation. Whether it’s asking for help,
eating and sleeping right, exercising,
getting out more often, or developing a
work environment that keeps you calm
and collected, do what you need to do
to relax and refresh yourself, and do it
often.
It’s typically this time of year that causes
us so much stress.
As I say, if you need
help take it, contact me on 01 260 6000
or greg@Q1etc.com
where I’ll be happy
to help you regain clarity and then refocus
your life to achieve a work life
balance that suits you.
In the meantime, wishing you health and
happiness for the festivities and successes
for 2007 and beyond.
Greg Dalton, Life & Business Coach
Q1etc
David Lloyd Riverview Centre
01 260 6000
greg@Q1etc.com
