Learn to Manage Your Work Life Balance

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC) Answer the opinion poll. More...

Julie Silfverberg gave a very stimulating talk on work life balance at the Dublin City Enterprise Network June 2007 event. Her presentation included the following tips and advice. Balance is a natural state and when you are out of balance, it feels wrong in some way and you strive towards balance. Surveys show that the key challenge facing managers is work life balance. The corporate approach tends to be to allow you to take time off in one place and make up for it at other times. But time is not necessarily the issue. If you break your day into three sections of approximately eight hours – work, sleep and “life”. There are different definitions of balance but she likes the “pleasing integration” approach rather than exact balance in every way. The greatest hope for achieving equilibrium lies in ourselves. We need to look at the wheel representing the different elements of our lives (career, family and friends, significant other, finance, spirituality, health and fitness, physical environment home and work, personal growth, fun and recreation) and rate how satisfied we are with each one. These ratings when joined up highlight how balanced our lives are. The next thing is to consider which ones are the most important and to bring those back into balance. One important thing is to look at how many things need to be completed and to question this – what would be the worst thing that could happen if you don’t complete a particular task? She used the analogy of the performer spinning plates – the more there are in the air, the harder it is to keep them all spinning. Likewise, we need to decide on what “spinning plates” to focus on. How do you really want to spend your time? The problem is that we often don’t put ourselves first but if we’re taking care of ourselves, we are of more benefit to those around us. Some tips on how to work towards greater work life balance: 1.Define success/happiness for YOU! Do you want to achieve a turnover of €10 million, €100,000, etc – this will partly determine how you spend your time. 2.Simplify. Keep things in your life as simple as possible and keep asking yourself what is important. 3.Dream. Take time to dream. Sit down and allow yourself to dream. 4.Don’t be so focused on your end goal that you don’t enjoy the whole journey. Stop and enjoy the view along the way! There are always more goals so achieving goals alone won’t make you happy. 5. Be organised. It is easier to live in balance if you can find things and don’t have to search constantly. Decluttering is very good for you. One way of doing this is to have three boxes: Keep, Dispose of and Hesitation – this last box can be revisited in a week or two and the same exercise done again, 6. Take advantage of teamwork and delegation. Subcontract work where possible, not just in work but throughout your whole life. 7. Say NO! 8. Let go of perfectionism. This can slow you down and often isn’t necessary. 9. Live in the moment. See life as a journey and take pleasure all the time. The allows you to think more clearly and to maximise the experience. You need to raise the bar and set boundaries in your life, to guide you: a.What do I want? At the end of my life what was important to me? b. What do I need? (Lowering your expectations) c. What will I settle for? You need to aim high, for what you want but accept that you need to make choices in your life to achieve balance. In Summary: • Ask yourself what is important for you in your life as a whole. • You may not need to have all elements of the wheel in balance but need to consider which ones are important. • Live with the end of your life in mind. Stephen Covey says you should decide on your epitaph and live your life accordingly. Time Management Training Module Date: Wednesday 2nd April, 2008 Time: 14:00 – 18:00 Duration: 1 Afternoon Venue: National College of Ireland, IFSC Cost: €40 This module will present powerful insights into the nature of planning and organising work and will support participants in developing the necessary skills for planning, prioritising and delegating their tasks. The content includes elements of effective time management; the T.I.M.E. model; Planning, Prioritising , Self Awareness and Dealing with others. During the training module you will develop a Personal Plan of Action Learn: How To Plan Your Day How To Stop Procrastinating How To Prepare For Meetings How To Handle Paperwork How To Delegate How To Say No How To Simplify Your Life How To Reduce Stress How To Prevent Interruptions Book online today.

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