Tag Archive for: work life balance

How to Create More Work Life Integration

 

Work life integration

 

It’s often said no one wished they had worked more.  Living the life you imagine is about working smarter, playing harder and being with those who are most important.   As we assess just how to accomplish this, we seek solutions to creating more work life integration on a consistent basis.

 

Dig deep: prioritize what is a part of work and life

To start with, you have to cull priorities.  Everything just can’t be equally important. We can have times where priorities alternate, what I call “seasons”.  For each part of the year these priorities can change.  Most likely fall is about getting back to work and routines. Spring is about lightening up your work schedule. Summer is about having fun.  As we seek out priorities for our lives, keep these to your top 3.  That sounds small and insignificant, however it’s what can be accomplished.

 

Engage in weekly planning time

That endless list running in your head? It’s time to capture it and calendar it. Your list and your calendar are your best friends for truly engaging productively.  Meet with yourself on Sunday afternoon to Integrate all the work and life activities for the week.  It’s a well spent hour to assign realistically what you can accomplish.

Set boundaries into motion

Wow, it’s hard to set boundaries and keep them! These intentional boundaries include non-negotiable times that keep your work life in balance.  It’s getting to the gym routinely, setting times to gather with your family, and getting a good night’s rest regularly.

Here’s where interference plays a roll.  Set up boundaries for technology. That’s no tech in the bedroom, after 10 pm or at the dinner table. That rule applies to us all including parents.

 

Set aside time for fun

Fun is not going to happen accidentally in our busy lives.  Setting aside time for fun, game night with your kids, a Sunday bike ride, or knitting a scarf, are all what we can use weekly.  Laughing brings out some of our best qualities and feelings.

Repeat

Work life integration is far from a one and done activity. It’s a daily pursuit.  Give yourself the opportunity to feel good and do well at keeping important personal priorities aligned. It’s always a work in progress. That’s when you know that you are achieving work life integration.

4 Simple Productivity Concepts to Organize Your Work and Life

4 simple productivity tips

 

Take a big step back to think about your productivity.  Are there foundations that you can build on to organize your work and life to be more productive? There are! Think about concepts that can be overarching your work and life. Here are 4 simple productivity tips that can be the base of your producitivity strategies. These are to pause, to consolidate, to chunk, and to create a process. In addition, here are ways to use these strategies in your home and office.

Pause

a temporary stop in action or speech.
“she dropped me outside during a brief pause in the rain”
synonyms: stopcessationbreakhaltinterruptionchecklullrespitebreathing space, discontinuation, hiatusgapinterludeMore

 

It’s so easy to jump right  in and start organizing and getting stuff done. The power of a pause can make your work more efficient and focused. Inserting a pause gives you time to plan and prepare for the outcome. You can look at what you are working on and prepare sequentially for the outcome you want.  With a pause, you can define what is your end goal before you leap ahead.  Giving yourself a pause is a way to ensure your work is your best effort leading to the outcome you have in mind.

  • Use mindfulness throughout the day to stay in the moment as you work.
  • Include meditation or yoga as the first routine in your day.
  • If you are feeling aggitated or anxious, take a few deep breaths or take a walk.

 

Consolidate

combine (a number of things) into a single more effective or coherent whole.
“all manufacturing activities have been consolidated in new premises”
synonyms: combineunitemergeintegrateamalgamatefusesynthesize, bring together, unify

“consolidate the results into an action plan”

 

When you consolidate, you are getting all the items, tasks or thoughts in one place.  If things are too spread, you are not sure what you have, your thoughts are jumbled and your tasks might be in listed in many different spots.  The Power of One is when you only have one place to look, one list to review or one thought that summarizes your results.

  • Write all your ideas and tasks in a single notebook.
  • Gather all your supplies and store these at a single point of use.
  • Add all your contacts to a single database, CRM or contact list.

 

Chunk

divide (something) into chunks.
“chunk four pounds of pears”
method of presenting information which splits concepts into small pieces or “chunks” of information to make reading and understanding faster and easier. 

 

To chunk, or chunking, is a strategy to break a big project into smaller, do-able units.  When you are feeling overwhelmed by a project, create a plan that breaks it into smaller chunks that are manageable. Chunking also creates a unit for context.  By grouping together information into ideally sized pieces, these can be used effectively to produce the outcome you want.  Time chunking, according to Productivityist Mike Vardy, allows for purposeful use of your days.

  • Use a project management tool like Trello to establish chunks.
  • Set up your day with a chunk of time set aside for a daily routine.
  • Create your task list with just the one next step, the one next chunk.

 

Create a process

a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
“military operations could jeopardize the peace process”
synonyms: procedureoperationactionactivityexerciseaffairbusinessjobtaskundertaking

One of my biggest pet peeves is “re-creating the wheel”, that being when I am doing the same things over and over.  There might be a better way to do something, however first I want to establish one way to do that thing with the outcome that I want.  Yes, it is highly linear and specific in that it is step by step. At times we need to know what to do to achieve the end result we want repeatedly. That’s where a process makes all the difference.  Your process should be a tried and true method.  Here’s what basic processes come into play.

  • Set up a process for getting laundry complete and dinner on the table at home
  • What is the process for when you have a new client?
  • Use a bill paying process that includes setting up online bill paying.
  • Create a paper process for your home or work.

 

This is big picture stuff! One of these is most likely already a part of your productivity toolbox. Think about how one of these as a single concept can make a difference in your work and responsibilities. All 4 concepts help you use your time productively as well as efficiently.  Assess which tip is already working for you and that could be enhanced, as well as which tip you would like to try out.  If you are already working hard, it’s time to assess and work smarter.

 

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How taking a vacation makes you more productive

productivity

 

Look around at kids in your home or neighborhood on vacation!  The joy of longer days to swim, the fun of time off, and time to do whatever they want spontaneously keeps their spirits and energy high.  We can have that too! We can be healthier, happier and more productive with a vacation and time off.  Although it seems counter intuitive, there’s lots of reasons what taking a vacation helps improve productive.

 

 A vacation energizes you

Working to declutter and organize requires energy.  In our day to day busy lives, we are giving a lot of energy to what is required. We seldom have energy to get done what is required of us in a day.  After a vacation, being refreshed, you are ready to take on decluttering and organizing. You are ready to make decisions and let go of what you don’t need.

 

Take a vacation and do your organizing

Some times we take a vacation and do the tasks we seldom get to during our typical time at home.  Some of us enjoy organizing but seldom have the time to get organized.  It may be that your vacation is a gift to yourself to get your organizing done.  It makes sense to take a vacation and get your organizing done in order to create balance and serenity.

 

Open ended time helps you improve productively

When you are away from work, you are more open to fresh ideas.  Your brain refreshes just like when you sleep.  Your time away is taking care of you. It’s a wellness break that is required for you to be your best. “Getting away from a familiar environment help gain clarity on life,” says Adam Galinsky, professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

 

This year my family will be taking a vacation that helps us all get away. Not only will it improve productivity, it will increase our connectivity.  Share where you will be heading off to on vacation this summer!

 

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Work Life Balance

work life balance

 

Is there such a thing a work life balance?  Does balance mean the “scales” are always even?  Work life balance can be seen as always a work in progress, arms of the scale going up and down in small increments, but mainly toward the middle where balance occurs.  In pilates, balance occurs when you are moving many parts in very small ways to keep the momentum of balance in place.   That is really what our lives appear to be when we are balancing home, work, relationships, wellness, spirituality and community.

How do we get this momentum of balance together?

Work life balance comes together when you are strategic about your goals and your plan.   Know what your goal of the balance is.  It can be many different aspects of your life, but not every aspect.  It could be to be healthier, “me” time, career advancement, contributing to the community, deeper relationships or peace of mind.   Choose three areas you can positively change to add to your balance.  Then think through your elements to keep them in balance.

 

Then here are my six elements of balance.

  1. You can do it all, not all at once.  Again, it comes down to choices.
  2. Put in the big rocks first.  do the most important first in your day.
  3. Plan your work and work your plan.  Have great tools like a planner and task list, have a weekly meeting with yourself and keep a task list for every day to keep focused.
  4. Build a team using everyone’s strengths.  Learn to delegate waht you don’t do well.
  5. Power periods and productivity.  Be in the moment, set up power periods in your day for productivity and be brutal about disruptions.
  6. Put your own oxygen mask on first.  Have time in every week to rejuvenate and take care of your health in exercising, relationships, proper sleep and good eating habits.

 

 

Decisions make work life balance happen

Decide on actions that fulfill these elements and position them in your calendar as “sacred” and unchangeable.  You have established a boundary for the really important aspects of your balance, and have flexibility on the rest.  You have to know that your goal is and aim at this with specific actions, not generalities.  Having specific times these actions are set, you can now work around them.  It comes down to plan your work, and work your plan!

Tough to do? Knowing what  is most important to me, I find really makes the difference. If being a great mom is most important, drill down and decide what 3 actions show this.  If being top in your field is most important, you must decide what 3 things establish this criteria for you.  If it is both, let’s create a balance between considering the actions.   I think of it as a road map, getting you to where you want to be.

Work life balance for me means a full schedule of clients, time with my grand kids, time to exercise and time with my husband.  I work with clients in blocks of time throughout the week, including Saturday.  On Friday is my “Gigi” day where I pick up my grand daughter from school.  Each week I schedule pilates, and then walk with a friend 3 times a week on a flexible schedule.  Dinner time each night is my time together with my husband, but it can happen anytime between 6 and 8 pm.  Everything else I work around these 3 aspects of what I consider the most important parts of my week. I see clients around the schedule, accomplish tasks at home including paper work, and take personal care with a good bedtime and focus on healthy eating.

Find your work life balance with this equation and share with us what made the difference for you!