Archive for the ‘Work/Life Balance’ Category

Well, you are not alone. I overheard a woman at a restaurant yesterday say to her colleague: “There could be two of me and I would still work everyday!” She was obviously frustrated by her workload that was not diminishing in spite of her consistent efforts.

Never feeling caught up can be the employee’s problem if they do not know how to prioritize or allocate their time appropriately. Or perhaps they do not focus on the task at hand, and end up doing bits and pieces of projects, never to wrap anything up.

But more often than not, an employee’s feeling overloaded is really an organizational issue. There is no question that employers today are asking more of workers than ever before, and with fewer resources to assist. It is not always the case that an employer wants to overwork their staff by assigning too much to accomplish. If the employees are diligent and committed and act as though they can get the job done in a reasonable amount of time, employers may get the impression that the workloads are appropriate. Thinking that the work is getting done and all is fine, a manager might believe there is room to push a limit and add more responsibilities to a person’s already full plate.

Many employees don’t speak up and let their bosses know they have too much to do for fear that they will lose their jobs. I know that some managers play on people’s fears in order to get the work done. Unfortunately, phrases like “There are plenty of people to fill your shoes” and “You are free to leave if you don’t like what you are asked to do” are not uncommon in today’s work environment. Pressure to do more with less can bring out the worst in people, including managers who think threats are the only way to motivate. In fact, threats do motivate, but in a negative way. “http://www.esmalloffice.com/SBR_template.cfm?docNumber=PL12_2500.htm” \l “process” Research shows that motivation by intimidation has only short-term results and fosters high turnover. In the long run, companies with these types of managers loose out because of increased training costs and resulting from people coming and going and a narrow, outdated perspective on how to get people to feel invested in their work.

If you feel overworked, take a look at why. Have you done all you can to be as efficient as possible, including asking for help from colleagues or your manager? If so, then you may be like the woman in the restaurant—someone in a job that can’t be done by one person working reasonable hours. If you’ve been covering up an organizational issue by overworking, you are enabling the situation to continue. Consider your options to talk with your manager, begin to pull back your time at work so you can have better life/work balance, or look for another job that has a work environment more conducive to healthy productivity.

People are overdoing it at work and in life and they are burning out. If you are asking yourself “Does she mean me?” “Could I be suffering from burnout?” here’s a “http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_08.htm“self test to help you see if you are among the many Americans who are exhibiting “http://www.assessment.com/mappmembera/avoidingburnout.asp?Accnum=06-5210-010.00“signs of burnout or how to avoid it before you become one of the afflicted.

The fact is, there are many reasons people overwork or stay in a state of perpetual busyness. Most are based in a fear of losing something important—jobs, financial security, respect of co-workers, the next raise or promotion or even the affection of a parent or loved one. Making choices out of fear usually takes people in a direction that is counter-productive. Yet for many, acting out of fear is a quick response of self-protection, made without thinking rationally about it. Over-doing it can become a habit, but one that can be unlearned with the first step of awareness.

Then next time you find yourself overworking but wishing you could enjoy more of life, think about what is driving you. If it is fear of something that has not yet happened, bring yourself back to today and consider your options in real time.

Some readers may have caught my article “Vacations Benefit Both Worker and Boss” in the Business Friday section of the Portland Press Herald. If you missed it, it is posted in the “http://business.mainetoday.com/yourbusiness/051028babkirk.shtml” “Your Business Features” section of business.mainetoday.com.

These days, it seems that I cannot stress enough the importance of rest and relaxation, especially as they relate to an individual’s attempts to make a successful career change or effectively search for a job.

While I know there are some professionals who espouse the “make the job search a full-time job” kind of approach, I’m not among them. To me, being out of work or in a job transition is an opportunity to take some much-needed time out. The more I see clients, friends, family and colleagues who are caught in a pattern of overwork and exhaustion, I realize that we live in a culture that demands high activity to the neglect of the natural rhythms of life.

I think it is stunning that the only way some Americans get to take a break from work is to get sick, laid off from work, or fired! While not working is often a dreaded fate, it can provide an opportunity for a person to achieve (to borrow a term from Wall Street) a “correction” in their life. Easing into a different pace may take time, but eventually a new way to doing life sets in. If, during that time, an individual has made an effort to attend to the neglected parts of their life, it is possible that they will establish a new status quo. Then it is less likely that they will continue their pattern of work and no play.

To me, this idea begs the question “How can we get the balance we all need without compromising our health or losing our jobs?” I’m open to your ideas…

That’s what the ad said and it caught my eye. While I don’t play golf, the thought of playing hooky was enticing. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my work or that I find it boring. Rather, it was the idea of breaking from routine and doing something unplanned and spontaneous that made me consider the gist of the ad’s invitation.

With the hours many of us work and the long list of tasks to accomplish in any given day, spontaneity is often considered a luxury someone else might afford. I believe that there are dangers from our heavy workloads and the  “http://www.policymattersohio.org/media/DDN_sowo.htm” increasing hours worked per year that go beyond the stress of managing it all. I fear we also run the risk of becoming so narrowly focused on our work that we forget about other activities that give us joy and satisfaction and round out our lives. I can see that “http://business.mainetoday.com/virtuallyorganized/002434.html” Celia (Virtually Organized) and I are on the same wavelength this week in our similarly themed blogs.

Here are questions to help you look at your work life balance as it relates to your leisure time: What would you do if you had an unplanned afternoon away from work? Does that question leave you clueless, or does one or many options easily pop into your mind? When was the last time you engaged in any activity that you enjoyed so much you lost track of time? If your answers slant toward “work and no play”, you might want to consider a former hobby or activity you once enjoyed and fit it into your schedule in the next couple of weeks—if not spontaneous, planned will do.

It’s not infrequent that I encourage a client to pursue an activity that appears to have nothing to do with their career goals or work transition. Because I like to have a sense of how work fits into the context of a person’s whole life, I am interested to know what passions, interests or goals are not acted upon. If taken into consideration, they could either shed light on a new direction or improve the person’s work/life balance that may be affecting their attitude toward their work. Sometimes, the activity is symbolic of a larger challenge. Take for example, the case of a woman client I saw several years ago. She had forever longed to take voice lessons, but for a variety of reasons, never got around to it. As she described her work issue, which involved her need to be more assertive with her subordinates, it became clear that the time was right to find her voice. She hired a voice coach and covered two issues at once. Her voice lessons were not only enjoyable, they gave her the confidence she needed to shift her communication style at work.

Doing what you love to do can be productive.

Some people like to talk about how busy they are. Take for example, the story of Julia Beck Bromberg in last month’s edition of  “http://www.worthwhilemag.com/”Worthwhile Magazine, who has two kids, three companies, 14-hour days and a life that spans two cities. It made me dizzy to read about her frenetic life. Most of us do not aspire to a life like Julia’s—we’re just trying to do our jobs and have a life that matches our priorities. Nonetheless, work and life outside of work keep us out-straight. It’s no wonder that 70-80% of all visits to the doctor are for “http://www.mapi.com/en/newsletters/success_and_stress.html”stress complaints or illnesses. I don’t see our work-related stress diminishing any time soon since Americans have just earned the dubious honor of “http://www.worthwhilemag.com/entry/2004/04/30/do_americans_work_too_much.php“working more than any other nation in the world.

It is no surprise that for the past five years, the topic I am most asked to speak about to organizations is how to gain a better balance in life. One solution I suggest is a set of steps—simple, but not necessarily easy. These steps include:

• Slow down your speech and your pace—it may help you think more clearly.
• Pay attention to your breathing. Inhale and exhale deeply throughout the day.
• Attend to one thing at a time—a practice that counters multi-tasking.
• Think of what you are grateful for on a daily basis.

Once you’re in a rut of trying to keep up with what you should have done yesterday, it’s difficult to switch gears and take things down a notch. From my own experience, if you try these steps each day for 3 weeks, your life will likely change. So, why not begin a new habit that may decrease those visits to the doctor and have you enjoying more in each day.