How balanced are you?

Does your life feel out of balance right now?

Are you spending long hours at the office, or working from home and unhappy about it?

Do you feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do?

Do you often feel, no matter what you’re doing at the time, that you should be doing something else?

Do you feel guilty taking time out for yourself?

If you do, you are probably not alone.

I recently read this years Global Human CapitalTrends report from Deloitte and one of the opening paragraphs read ‘In this new world of work, the barriers between work and life have been all but eliminated. Employees are “always on” – hyper-connected to their jobs through pervasive technology.’

Whilst there are organisational challenges in this we also all have choices to make. After all the only person who really controls what you do and where you spend your time is you.

Too much, too little or just enough?

If you think you’re spending too much or too little time on certain areas of your life take some time out to consider how you will redress the balance.

Develop a list of where you do spend chunks of your time and decide whether you are spending too much, too little or just the right amount of time in each area.

Here are some ideas of what could be on the list:

Work

Family

Friends

Health and Fitness

Holidays

Hobbies

Personal Development

Home

Now, consider if there is anything missing from that list; an area of your life that is currently neglected, where you’d really love to allocate some time. Add this to the list.

Next, identify which is the most important area for you to address.

Now, identify one thing you can start to do to redress this balance. I’m suggesting one thing as it’s the first step and you want to succeed. If it’s relatively simple great! You can now move on to the next thing…

Don’t be surprised if you run up against some limiting beliefs you might have too. This could be the very thing that’s causing the imbalance and may take a little longer to resolve and adjust to.

Take one step at a time and review your progress regularly. Your needs may change over time so it’s always good to revisit this exercise and check you are spending your time and energy where you want too.

If you find you are struggling to create the future you want email me to set up a discovery call and we’ll explore together what action you can take.

‘A balanced work-life is primarily a mater of deciding when to hold on and when to let go.’

Jacques Limoges

Ending your Day on a Positive Note

How do you end your day at work?

Do you rush out of the office to ensure you catch the train knowing there are still things to do and you’ll do them once you get home, feeling stressed?

Do you finish your task and then prepare for the next day carrying forward the things you didn’t get done today?

Do you finish what you are doing and then switch off to now focus on what needs to be done at home?

Or

Do you spend a few moments reviewing your day recognising what has been achieved and feeling good about it?

A lot has been written about positive emotions and how they enhance cognitive, affective, and physical resilience and broaden our repertoire of thoughts and behaviours.

Hundreds of studies have reported associations between positive emotion and tangible outcomes such as higher wages, customer satisfaction, and creativity, big picture thinking, physical health, quick cardiovascular recovery and work engagement.

So what can you do to begin to think in a more positive way?

As human beings we are all very good a identifying what is wrong, what hasn’t been done, what is unfinished, so you have to make a conscious effort to look at the positive and recognise it.

An end of day practice

To help you create a new habit, and to end the day on a positive note, here are some things you can do to establish an end of day practice:

1. Write down 3 things that went well about the day. This has been shown to increase happiness.
2. Write down everything that you have achieved today. We are all very good at thinking about all the things that didn’t get done rather than pat ourselves on the back for all the things that did get done.
3. Where did you perform at your best today? We often take these for granted and overlook them and yet they are the things that make our reputation – our brand.
4. If you are angry with someone and you feel the need to counterproductively chastise him or her – STOP! Identify things the employee has done to inspire you, that you are grateful for. Take a more balanced approach of the individual and then decide on the best course of action.
5. What did you really enjoy doing today? Savouring life’s pleasures both subtle and spectacular can enhance wellbeing.

You may choose to do all of these or just one and if every day is a step to far start with doing this at the end of the week and make it a regular practice.

Cultivate a ratio of positivity that will generate success.

“Don’t let people; places and things determine your moods. Take charge of how you feel each and every day.”

Michael Barbarulo

Enjoying Weekdays as much as Weekends?

If your answer to the question is no – read on, you may be able to identify what you can begin to do to change that.

Even if your answer is yes there may be some areas of your life you could enhance to be even better…

I very recently revisited Wellbeing – The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter and it spurred me to re visit how I live my life holistically against their 5 elements.

If you have the book and haven’t revisited it for a while I’d encourage you to do so, and if you don’t have the book here is a thumbnail sketch of the key themes.

The Five Essential Elements

Founded on comprehensive research they found there are five interconnected elements that shape our lives and wellbeing:

• Career Wellbeing: how you occupy your time, or liking what you do every day.
• Social Wellbeing: Having strong relations and love in your life.
• Financial Wellbeing: Effectively managing your economic life.
• Physical Wellbeing: Having good health and enough energy to get things done on a daily basis.
• Community Wellbeing: The sense of engagement you have with the area where you live.

They describe wellbeing as:

“the combination of our love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and he pride we take in what we have contributed to our communities…. It’s about how these five elements interconnect.”

From their research they found 66% of people are doing well in at least one area, only 7% were thriving in all five. I’m not sure if I’m one of the 7% however, my results were pretty good. If you’re interested the website address is: www.wbfinder.com. If you are one of the 7% I’d love to hear from you.

We’re our own worst enemy

We tend to get in our own way of succeeding in all five areas through in the moment decisions like, having the extra portion of food when you know you shouldn’t, deciding not to get up and go to the gym today, spending money on something you don’t really need.

The book is full of hints and tips to improve your life in each area such as:

1. Use your strengths everyday
2. Spend 6 hours a day socialising – this includes work, email and phone communication
3. Spend on others instead of on material possessions
4. Sleep enough to feel well rested (7-8 hours)
5. Opt in to a community group or event

What one thing can you start to do regularly that will improve your wellbeing?

Post your comments below.

“Those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.”

George Bernard Shaw