Achieving a Work/Life Balance

What is Work/Life Balance?

Work/life balance is a sense of control and the balance of achievement and enjoyment in all parts of everyday life. Achieving balance requires constant attention to avoid conflict between different areas of your life.

Work/life balance is important for companies because employees who achieve work/life balance:

• Are more productive
• Have less absenteeism
• Are more likely to return from a leave
• Stay in their jobs longer
• Experience less stress-related illness
• Have higher morale and commitment to the company

Focus on Your Priorities

Because we all have a limited amount of time and energy, it is impossible to do everything we want or need to do and do it well all of the time. But many times, we do try to do everything, and when we fail, we feel guilty or regretful that we were unable to accomplish the impossible.

As a first step in achieving a healthy balance between work and other obligations, identify what issues and responsibilities you are experiencing and which of these are priorities for you at that given time. These issues can range from raising a new baby to planning for retirement.

Following are some tips for prioritizing:

• Be clear about your goals/values
• Classify your tasks by importance and urgency
• Get help from others
• Avoid doing only the things you like
• Take time to plan

Once you have identified your priorities, you can then align your activities with them.

Managing Your Stress

We often try to do too much in an effort to balance our work and personal responsibilities. This frequently results in stress as the demands of a situation exceed our ability to cope. Managing stress is essential to feeling fulfilled and to maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Each of us has a different breaking point for dealing with stress. Up to a certain point, productivity increases because you are challenged. Beyond a certain point, additional stress causes productivity to decrease, resulting in burn-out. When stress continues to increase, strain is experienced. This is the emotional and physical reaction to stress and can have a negative impact on your health if it continues.

There are many signs of stress, both physical and psychological. Physical signs include muscle tension, fatigue, headaches, stomach upset, perspiration, colds/illnesses, and lack of sleep. Psychological signs include irritability, anxiety, depression, aggression, and lack of concentration.

Below are some tips for managing stress:

• Develop healthy lifestyle habits, including exercise, proper nutrition, and enough rest
• Build a network of friends, family, and co-workers
• Do not take work home with you
• Learn to recognize situations you cannot change and do not waste energy trying to change them
• Be nice to yourself - reward yourself if you feel good about an accomplishment and accept compliments

What can Companies do to Promote Work/Life Balance?

According to Lori Long, president of human resources firm LK Consulting and author of "The Parent?s Guide to Family-Friendly Work: Finding the Balance between Employment and Enjoyment," there is a huge demand for family-friendly benefits, but people aren?t comfortable asking for what they need. It?s not just mothers who need these benefits - it?s Generation Y employees who want more flexibility as well as older workers nearing retirement. There are also many men who want more balance in their lives and more time with their children.

There are many things a company can do to promote a healthy work/life balance for its employees. First, however, Ms. Long says a company should talk to its employees and find out what they want as far as work/life balance. From there, flexibility ideas can be implemented on a trial basis, so that the company can see what works and what doesn?t work. Keep in mind, however, that flexibility needs are not the same for everyone and a company may need to come up with several different solutions. Some people, for example, may need reduced hours, while others may simply need a later start time. Ms. Long adds that it is very important that everyone at a company be eligible for flexible arrangements. It shouldn?t matter the reason an employee wants flexibility, as long as the work gets done.

Offering flexible working arrangements is a good recruiting tool for companies and can lead to increased productivity, retention, and motivation and reduced turnover. It can also lead to improved health, less stress, and fewer unhealthy habits, all of which can reduce employers? health insurance costs.

In conclusion, many people are trying to achieve a balance between work responsibilities and those of their personal lives. While the responsibility of achieving this balance primarily rests on the individual, companies can help by offering more flexible working arrangements, such as flexible schedules. Whether you are trying to achieve a work/life balance for yourself or are trying to help your employees, we hope this information was beneficial to you. Here at Westfield, we are dedicated to helping you improve your life and your company.