Monday, May 27, 2013

Re-claim Your Work Life Balance


I’m busy preparing for a Management Workshop I’m delivering in a few days on one of my most popular Lighten Up for Good speaking topics - How to Stop Stressing and Start Living. One of the many issues I'll be sharing is about our societal values around Work/Life Balance. We'll be looking at how these values are impacting our increasing levels of unhealthy stress. These are the kinds of stress that can lead to many serious health problems whether physical, mental or emotional that can threaten our performance, satisfaction and results in both our work and personal lives.

We are a society that values hard work, putting in long hours to show our commitment to the company or to our own businesses. We value the achievement of our goals and dreams, striving to get ahead, make more money and have more stuff. We’re so busy working and striving to achieve that many of us forget to enjoy the process. We often neglect the simple joys of living. That’s why so many people with lots of wealth and success are still not truly happy or as happy as you think they should be with all that they have.

An effective work life balance is not about a 50/50 split in time and energy. The world is just not perfect that way. It is not a realistic goal. We all have different roles, priorities and lifestyles which also influence our work life balance. A single person may have a different sense of work life balance than someone who is married with children, for example. 
 
Feeling overwhelmed by our multiple roles as worker, parent, spouse, caregiver to an aging or ill relative, family member, friend, work colleague, volunteer, etc… while trying to balance our work and personal lives is just one source of stress that prevents us from living fully. And on top of all that, here I am suggesting that you also need to make time to look after your own health and well-being? Perhaps you’re saying, ‘yeah, right, Roslyn’. Yes, it is exactly what I’m saying. There are ways and that is what this workshop is all about.

On another note, with the increasing prevalence of communication technologies with computers, cell phones, emailing, texting, video conferencing, etc…the work to life conflict is even greater. The boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred with people checking work-related emails, texting and answering phone calls during their personal time. The worst is when you see people constantly connected to work while on vacation or family time. This is not a life.
 
There are many other factors that contribute to our day-to-day stress. Striving for a healthy work life balance is just one of them. In preparing for this workshop, it gives me good reminders as well to practice what I preach as it is far too easy to get sucked in by the currents of the world outside of us. At the end of the day, we still do have choices to make.
 
Looking for a world-class motivational speaker for your next group event? Roslyn Franken provides the ideal solution for your next meeting, conference, convention, retreat, seminar, trade show, strategic planning session, lunch & learn or ongoing health and wellness promotion program. For more information, visit http://www.roslynfranken.com/

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