Tweet

How To Achieve Your Ideal Work/Life balance

Written by: Maggie Currie

Article Overview: Achieving your ideal work/life balance can be tricky. Take the quiz and find out if you are in dire need of help to achieve your ideal work/life balance.

How To Achieve Your Ideal Work/Life balance

How To Achieve Your Ideal Work/Life balance:

A balanced life is one where we spread our energy and effort – emotional, intellectual, imaginative, spiritual and physical – between key areas of importance. The neglect of one or more areas, or anchor points, may threaten the vitality of the whole.

The term ‘work-life balance’ was first coined in 1986 in reaction to the unhealthy choices that many Americans were making in favour of the work place, as they opted to neglect family, friends and leisure activities in the pursuit of corporate goals.

The Office of National Statistics in 2004 found that the average British couple spends just 15 minutes a day enjoying a social life with each other.
Success also requires vision, focus, self-belief, resilience, energy and ion -
The key to personal work-life-balance is: time management and realistic expectations, plus coaching to assist with self-improvement that includes self-identity and assertiveness. In addition relaxation and anxiety management techniques can be extremely beneficial.

Coaching provides a rare opportunity to safely develop and test your thoughts and ideas, stimulating increased creativity and accelerating plans and execution, a valuable business advantage.

Uniquely, a coach won't tell you how to run your business, but through coaching you will discover your own answers - fast!

Business people often find themselves isolated, torn between the needs of the business and home, with little support. This is particularly true for sole traders who perhaps don’t see another human being from one day to the next. Coaching provides unique support in this situation focusing solely upon YOUR fears, wants and needs in both your business and personal life.

There is a combination of options that can be used to get the best result for you, depending on your personal requirements. Each person’s perception of an ideal work/life balance is different, find out what yours is.

I have prepared a short questionnaire about your perception of work/life balance, please fill it in and then score it. Please answer the questions honestly, be honest with yourself. It won’t help you if you put the answer you think I want. You may well be very surprised at your answers.

Don’t cheat and look at the answers at the end first. Be as honest as you can with yourself. If you cheat you are only cheating yourself.


Work Life Balance Questionnaire Please choose one

Question 1 How many hours a week do you spend at work and travelling to work? a 50-59
b Less than 39
c More than 70
d 40-49
e 60-69

Question 2 How often do you think or worry about work (when you are not actually at work or travelling to work) ?

Most days a

I don’t b
Rarely c
d Most of time
e Once a week

Question 3 How do you feel about the amount of time you spend at work, travelling to work or thinking about work?

Very unhappy a
Very happy b
c Happy
d Unhappy
e OK

Question 4 How often do you take a lunch break lasting more than 30 minutes?

Most days a
b Once a week
c Every day
d Lunch is for wimps
e If it is free

Question 5 Do you ever miss out on quality time with your family or your friends because of pressure of work?
Not very often a
Often b
c No – family comes first
d No time for friends
e All the time

Question 6 Does work ever have a negative effect on your personal life? a Not very often
b Often
c No – its only a job
d No personal life
e All the time

Question 7 When was the last time you did something for yourself rather than for someone else? This week a
A few weeks ago b
c Every day
d Can’t remember
e Over a year ago

Question 8 Do you ever feel anxious or upset because of what is happening at work? Not very often a
b Often
c No – its only a job
d No time to be anxious
e All the time

Question 9 When was the last time you lost your temper at work? a Can’t remember
b Yesterday/Today
c More than a week
d Always angry
e More than a month

Question 10 Do you ever feel tired or depressed because of work? a Not very often
b Often
c No – its only a job
d Too tired to be depressed
e All the time



Answers:

Question 1. a 3 b 5 c 1 d 2 e4


Question 2. a 2 b5 c4 d1 e3


Question 3. a1 b5 c4 d2 e3


Question 4. a4 b3 c5 d1 e2


Question 5. a4 b3 c 5 d1 e2


Question 6. a4 b3 c5 d1 e2


Question 7. a4 b3 c5 d1 e2


Question 8. a4 b3 c5 d1 e2


Question 9. a5 b2 c3 d1 e4


Question 10. a4 b3 c5 d1 e2


The higher your score, the better.

Scores of 40-50 show that you have a fair work/life balance.

Scores of 20-39 show that you need to look at your work/life balance in some areas.

Scores of 1-19 show that you need help in sorting out your work/life balance.

I can help you work on areas that will help you achieve the work/life balance you want.

Call me today to discuss your lifestyle audit. I can help you to achieve the work/life balance that is right for you.

Ends

Words: 896

Contact: Maggie Currie
Professional Accredited Life Coach Practitioner and Group Trainer

Tel: 01983 759213
Email: info@creedencetraining.co.uk
Website: www.creedencetraining.co.uk

Related Articles
  WorkLife Flexibility Primer: Tips on Making it Happen
  WorkLife Serenity: Cold Turkey Style
  What is flexible working anyway?
  Lessins Lessons for Life Balance
  How to Shape Up the Inventory when you have 5000+ SKU’s

Article Tags: anchor points, anxiety management, assertiveness, balanced life, british couple, business advantage, corporate goals, leisure activities, management techniques, office of national statistics, personal requirements, personal work, rare opportunity, realistic expectations, self belief, self identity, sole traders, thoughts and ideas, vision focus, work life balance



Related Forum Posts
Re: Drop out Billionaire - I reveived Bill Bartmann's DVD "9 Steps To Achieve Any Goal" as part of my monthly pack from Success University a few months back. It is a great presentation. I've watched it several times but not for a while so I'll view it again in the coming week. He is one of the greats. Like the best success mentors, he speaks with authority because he has come through much tribulation. His program sounds like a great bargain at $100 a year.
Re: Balancing Your Man & Business - This is SOOOO real. . Keeping first things first has kept the balance. First God, then everything else. When I start the day with prayer and meditation, I prioritize better. There are certain things I must do each day in business but I remember to schedule quality time with my mate AND I'm attentive too. I noticed when I don't put God first, I struggle to keep a balance and wonder how we'll add kids to the paradigm. When I do it right EVERYTHING falls into place. Besides that, we BOTH really ENJOY business. We're both self-employed. I like this thread. This has been BIG discussion with us of late. We've both gotten MUCH better. It's no small thing either.
Credit card management - Too many people - usually young people, but it can strike anyone - mismanage their credit cards and end up spending more than half their paycheck each month on credit card bills - and only paying the interest, besides! Don't let this happen to you! Don't carry a balance at all. Pay off your card every month so you don't have to pay interest on the balance. If you can't afford something in one month's payment - save up until you have enough to pay for it. Otherwise, that item you buy will usually end up costing you twice as much again in interest fees.
Re: Credit card management - [quote="OmnivoreInk":2729cpnx]Too many people - usually young people, but it can strike anyone - mismanage their credit cards and end up spending more than half their paycheck each month on credit card bills - and only paying the interest, besides! Don't let this happen to you! Don't carry a balance at all. Pay off your card every month so you don't have to pay interest on the balance. If you can't afford something in one month's payment - save up until you have enough to pay for it. Otherwise, that item you buy will usually end up costing you twice as much again in interest fees.[/quote:2729cpnx] Great advise that far too many people put into action. Especially with an economy like the US has right now, the least amount of credit card debt, the better. Shri
Re: Is YouTube Going Commercial? - [quote="Kevin":2yd8df44][quote="Alan Mater":2yd8df44]I think it's safe to say that YouTube is going more commercial and providing ways for advertisers to take advantage of User Generated Content.[/quote:2yd8df44] But I think YouTube should also consider that what's best for them (i.e. earning advertiser dollars) may not be what's best for their users. There has to be some sort of balance or YouTube will lose both advertising revenue and its customers. How can a social networking site like YouTube earn money from sponsors without being too intrusive in the "user experience"?[/quote:2yd8df44] I agree there needs to be a balance. Don't they already have one example of this in place? Google Adsense video units is the one I'm thinking of. Basically a YouTube ad or commercial from their partners placed on webmasters' sites.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You Too Good for Your Job?

Are You Fulfilled

Ten Things You Can Do To Be a Better Leader

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.