A Juggling Act: Work Life Balance

G'day,
It's no secret to us all that we live in a very busy society, with so much to do that we can feel a little over-whelmed, pressured and often unable to make a decision. There are so called so many ways that we can get a 'work-life balance' that offer us an elusive quality of life called 'balance'. The biggest challenge is finding the right path for us that will lead us to a real improvement in the quality, appreciation and joy in our lives.

In an increasingly hectic world, it's becoming more difficult to achieve a balance between all the competing demands we face. Often, work alone becomes our focus, to the detriment of health, personal relationships and family life.

The work/life balance initiatives we are experiencing such as job sharing, flexible working hours, working from home and paid maternity and paternity leave are all steps in the right direction but as we know, these don't always translate to a work/life balance in our personal lives.

So what steps do we need to take as individuals to ensure we are living a balanced life and not relying on external factors to make it happen for us.

So here are some useful tips to help you live a more balanced life from now on. It takes great effort to decide to focus on you and not be bombarded by external influences. So this is a start....

Become self aware
The first step is to become self aware of our behaviours, until we are aware we cannot make any changes. We need to observe and take note of where we currently are before trying to make changes. I know this may sound obvious and a pretty basic step, it's one that many of us fail to do properly and then often wonder why things don't change. Generally, any change in behaviour, usually only lasts when our underlying values and beliefs towards this behaviour are understood.
Look closely at the key areas of your life in which you are seeking to find more balance. Everyone's priorities will be different in for different people, so become clear what is important for you to focus on.

Address your stress
When our life is out of balance there is often a trail of signs that follow it....stress, over-whelm, exhaustion. Our moods will often reflect who we are being, so take the time to be aware of our reactions so you can make an informed decision to condition the behaviour or to change it. Our perceptions play a role in relation to how stressed we feel. If we're in a rush and we panic to complete and get everything done in the day, then we may need to assess our perceptions towards our behaviour.
If we learn ways to relax and stress reduction techniques, we will often experience a shift in ourselves and our minds and can enormously contribute to a renewed sense of balance. Often, we may hugely overestimate what's humanly possibly in one day. Juggling several demands such as work deadlines, parenting, housework and downtime with friends and family will never go away, but our perceptions towards these conflicting demands can chance - and they can change instantly.

Manage your time meaningfully
Isn't it interesting that we have a tendency to think good time management is about fitting more activities into the same amount time. Increased balance in life has nothing to do with fitting more in, but rather fitting more things in our life that are meaningful to us. What is a good idea is to become really clear what is important to you for example, health, physical fitness, family's wellbeing, financial security etc.
How many times have you heard somebody say they would go to the gym and work out if only they had the time? So if this is you, then question whether or not you truly believe physical health is a major priority for you in the first place. It's amazing how we can seem to fit in the things that are truly important to us.

Plan purposefully
Many of us love to plan our day, however if we still feel like we haven't achieved enough we will feel a sense of dissatisfaction. Too often, we assume that engaging in the exercise of planning is equivalent to ensuring we are creating work/life balances for ourselves. We need to do more than just plan, we need to align our plan with our purpose and a sense of why we are doing what we are doing. It is generally the big picture that helps shape and determine the smaller picture. So think big when initiating change.

How can you regain your own work/life balance?
1. Become aware of your behavioural patterns. Start a journal and note your biggest time-wasting or least productive activities throughout your day. Commit to reduce the total time involved in these activities over a period of time. You will be amazed when you go back and reflect after a month.
2. Work/life balance is not about fitting more in your day. It's about engaging the things that bring satisfaction, fulfilment, enjoyment and meaning on a professional and personal level. Firstly try to establish what your core values and desires are. Once you have established these, reduce or even better eliminate everything in your daily life and work that do not contribute to your levels of satisfaction, fulfilment and enjoyment.
3. Look at all the areas of your life including physical and emotional health, friendships and family. Are there any areas you can identify that are in need of improvement? Are there any unnecessary financial or professional pressures that coudl be eliminated by an attitude shift? Eliminate stress and worry where possible and commit to your decision to change your life.
4. Make exercise a top priority and ensure you feed your body with healthy food so you increase the amount of brain power foods in your diet. Memory enhancing foods are also 'feel good foods' and great energy providers. These include fish, nuts, berries, dark leafy vegetables.
5. Practice proper breathing techniques, or even better begin to meditate regularly, if you haven't already. This a wonderful way to give to your daily balance.

Just start with one thing tomorrow and you are on your way....

Good luck!!!