Work-Life Balance...finding the Sweet-spot!

Are you working yourself into an early grave?

I recall a very close friend of mine calling me up one time a couple of years ago to tell me that her boss had died. He was married, had kids in college and was a dedicated professional in, ironically, the healthcare IT sector. It all started with a stress related heart attack that was due to work-overload and he was rushed to

hospital and placed into intensive care. On release from hospital he was given a set of strict instructions designed to shift him away from the edge of darkness and back to the light. A month after he was released the first time he was admitted again for another attack, brought back from the brink and given another set of strict instructions that wisely included no email or work related decision making!..."Complete Rest" were the words of the specialists and medical staff. This time round he was kept in the hospital under observation. Unfortunately a few days later he was found, lying in bed with his work email open on his portable device deceased as a result of a massive heart attack.

The Japanese call this "Karoshi", literally translated it means "death from overwork" by heart attack or stroke from stress related causes. Japans first recorded case occurred in 1969 and has been recognized as a serious health issue since 1987. A successful lawsuit in 2008 from an earlier case of Karoshi in 2006 where an engineered worked an average of 80hours overtime per week was the catalyst for workplace regulation reform in that country.

Most of us in the business world don't have to look to far to find evidence of this in our own network of family friends and colleagues, it has touched someone we know directly or indirectly. My colleague and I worked back to back, month on - month off in Papua New Guinea, paid for 12 hours but in reality worked 18-20hr per day. The money was good but money can't buy you your life back, rebuild your family or buy you those fond memories for the rocking-horse days in your golden years.

Saying that their has been some rapid changes in the workplace as a result of advances in technology is putting it mildly. Affordable and sophisticated technology has enabled "technology control" to be employed with both positive and negative effects. On the one hand employees can keep in touch with work. Methods, such as emails, PC, Laptops, and mobile phones, enable them to undertake work beyond the physical boundaries of their office giving the employee the flexibility of conducting business matters in restaurants and airport lounges etc. Coffee shops have become so popular for doing business they're now being referred to as "Coffices".

On the downside employees maybe inclined to respond to work related email and voice mail after-hours and on weekend, typically while off the job. Research has shown an alarming increase in employees not being able to unplug from the workplace outside of official hours as this technology becomes integrate into ones own identity on a deeper level and the boundaries become blurred, so blurred that in some cases an organizations workplace culture has grown the unconscious expectation that you are monitoring your communication and will respond immediately even whilst on leave.

Known as a concept, Work-Life Balance is defined as the proper prioritization between "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (family, community, spiritual, health, finance etc.) and is sometimes referred to as the wheel of life. What happens if you are driving down the road in your car and you have neglected to maintain the correct air pressure in your tires? When it comes time to steer around those inevitable pots holes in the road it is much harder and requires much more effort to avoid driving into them. Drive into enough pot holes and sooner or later you damage a lot more than the rims. Same goes for what sort of fuel you put in your motorcars fuel tank, pay a little extra to put the good fuel in and you get better performance and longer engine life. Such is life, if you neglect the balance between work and lifestyle sooner or later you become a wreck. As with the food you put into your body that determines its performance and longevity of operation. How damaged you become is up to you, damage yourself to much and you may not recover!

Now more than ever is the time to find that sweet-spot in our work-life balance and it doesn't require a massive shift, for most of us it's a tweak here and a tweak there.

So what next. Try these 6 easy steps.

1. Take a snapshot of your present state by completing a work-life balance check using a wheel of life gauge. Take out a piece of paper and draw one up similar to the example below from startofhappiness.com. Place a mark on each line based on how strong or weak you are in each area. Zero being very weak(requires improvement) and ten being very strong(requires little or no improvement)

2. Connect the dots so as to form a pattern or shape enclosing the center spoke.
3. Ask yourself "how round is my wheel of life and what areas need to be inflated to improve the shape you're in?"
4. Write down your ideas for improvement in each of your weak areas. If work and finances are at 7 on the scale but family, health and relationships are at 2 then its clear you need to maintain your work and look to rapidly improve the other areas bringing them closer to a 7.
5. Integrate these small tweaks into your life daily, weekly and monthly using your scheduling tools such as your calendar in Outlook or your diary so it becomes routine. Create some tasks or a to-do list and make sure you synchronize your mobile devices for those reminders on the move to purchase that something special for an upcoming event or booking holiday flights at a certain time to take advantage of the big discounts on offer.

Some examples of small tweaks to wet your appetite on:

Community: volunteer at a local hospice to read to the elderly once a week, fundraise for your local school or church group, get involved in the coaching or management of your child's sports team or youth group.

Family: If you live away from home and have a family of your own make it a routine family tradition to have a dinner get together once a month or more if you can manage it, clutch the family up and take the dog for a walk after dinner every night the weather permits, don't have a dog try going for a bike ride for 30mins.

Spiritual: Reaffirm your faith if its been a while, meditate for ten minutes somewhere quiet - Andy Puddicombe shows you how in this short 9.25min clip, review your values & beliefs, reconnect with beauty in nature, music, art and the creative process, give the gift of yoga, Pilates or Tai chi to your body, do things that make you laugh more regularly, read, implement some positive affirmations, book yourself some time in a sensory deprivation tank etc.

Finance: Engage a financial advisor, seek advice from your accountant.

Health: Review and change your eating habits and set goals around shedding some unwanted pounds/kgs by a certain date/time with a worthwhile reward when you have maintained the desired weight for a set amount of weeks or months, get yourself to the gym - I find I'm more motivated when I'm in an environment where everyone is focused on feeling good and it is the best defense against the damage that harmful stress chemicals build up in the body. Getting on a bit, try spin classes or get in the pool for some laps.

Personal Development/Fun & Recreation:  Join Toastmasters in your local area, take up ballroom dancing or a martial art, get out hiking or camping, boating or fishing, friends of mine go surfing in a different country every other month when they're on break from their mining jobs aka the endless summer.

Work: Get some training on how to manage your time and your workload - experts like Priority Management can give you up to an hour per day back and reduce stress levels by 35-40%. Learn to define what constitutes a high priority and prioritize your time and tasks carefully, make sure you take your lunch break - away from the office preferably and get that valuable 20mins of sun, research has shown it to have a positive impact on your happiness, work from home some or all of the time (virtual offices work well with a set of simple boundaries and guidelines) or change jobs altogether.

6. Complete the another wheel of life gauge in 3-6months and compare your results. Recalibrate and go again as need be until your tire pressure has inflated your wheel enough to get a comfortable ride out of it.

And what does this "Sweet-spot" look and feel like?

a. If you wake up each day excited about going to work,
b. Aren't stressed or overly tired,
c. Relaxed and calm both at home and at work as an individual and/or a family,
d. You have lots of energy and time for things outside of work,
e. You have positioned yourself through good process and use of todays technology to have a flexible work arrangements that enables work demands be kept low and controlled whilst yielding high rewards.
f. When you close your eyes, the picture you see of your self-image is clear bright colorful warm cheerful and confident,

...you've hit the Sweet-spot! (with a little on going fine tuning of course)