The Great Balancing Act

Prologue - scene setting

Are you skipping lunch, working late, taking work home, stressed, overloaded with information and struggling to make deadlines?

If so, you are not alone. Millions of workers are finding it difficult to cope with the pressures of mounting deadlines, information overload and the pace of work today.

There's a lot of talk about "work-life balance" - but what exactly does it mean?

Act 1 - Scene 1 - today's workplace

40% of all employees have dependent children; 22% expect to have elder care responsibilities in the next 5 years. Long hours are causing a variety of health, relationship, and other problems for managers. Staff who are unable to establish a healthy balance in their lives are less productive, less motivated and more likely to take time off sick. Yet switching off at work about what is happening at home and putting life into pockets goes against our instincts.

Scene 2 - a vision of the future

It could be different. People could feel their lives are balanced - not just between work and non-work but between all areas of their lives that are important to them - health, recreation, fun, relationships, career, family and so on. They could be happier at work, more committed, motivated and productive. They could have better relationships, improved self-esteem and be balanced, happy and fulfilled.

Safety Curtain - time to do something about it

Act 2 - the balanced life

Employers can create an environment that makes it easier for individuals to attain the balance they want in their lives. Key to this is giving choice. Choice about how much time employees work, when they work, where they work and how they work - flexible contracts that give security.

Individuals also need to have the tools to create the balance they want in their lives. Often people spend more time planning where they will go on their next holiday than they spend planning their life. A good employer ensures that each employee knows that life just doesn't happen to them - they are in the driving seat!

Achieving balance isn't simply about taking a look at your life today and deciding to allocate your time differently. Balance requires constant motion and adjustment in response to what you want in life and to what happens around you.

Finding balance is a key skill. Come to Get a Life an interactive workshop in Winchester in Autumn 2002 and learn how to develop it. Click getalife@c-changes.co.uk for further details.

"One of the symptoms of approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important and that to take a holiday would bring all sorts of disaster" Bertrand Russell