Search:

Achieving Work Life Balance

Do you ever feel your work life balance is off? The key to living well is finding this balance. You may find one part of your life is going great, but another area is awful. You may even feel like you have it all, but feel confused by the fact you still do not feel happy.

You may feel like the balls are all up in the air, between your spouse, kids, job, health, etc. If you are not careful, some balls are going to drop. Our society focuses heavily on success in some areas, while neglecting the importance of others. It is common for your career to become your identity. Regardless of how financially successful this culture is, it doesn't seem to be a very happy one in general. It is commonplace to see people turning to medication, therapy, and even rehabs to deal with life.

Work life balance tends to be the most obvious area in need of improvement. The work you do requires a huge chunk of your time and energy. It can feel like it really takes over your whole life. You cannot allow it to keep you from attending to other critical areas of your life. Work really only provides two things:

--The financial means to give you what you really want (time with family, ability to travel, retirement, etc.),

--It can provide a sense of purpose, especially if you are doing something you feel makes an impact.

Work must stay in perspective. You cannot allow it to take over your entire life, unless you are a nun. It is easy to get into the mindset of constantly working, with the promise to really start living once you reach a certain goal. Unfortunately, you will always find another goal to reach.

The time to start living is now, in this very moment. Being present in the moment requires a high level of self awareness. Our culture is not good at this on a whole. You eat, drink, shop, work, etc. all to really avoid anything remotely close to introspection. You don't want to look in there--it is really dark and scary.

In order to find life balance, you are going to have to be aware of your inner needs. You have an internal compass, and it will tell you when you need to cuddle with your spouse, play with your kids, have a nap, etc. Being disconnected is easy and accepted in our society. Reconnecting with others requires the discomfort of being vulnerable and open. This connection is essential to being happy.

It is important that you also truly connect to yourself. Even if you are alone most of the time, you are probably pretty disconnected to your inner world. When your inner compass is telling you it needs rest, your brain overrides it because you "should" go to the gym. Even if you end up relaxing, you are filled with guilt and cannot really enjoy yourself.

You won't realize how trustworthy your internal director is unless you are able to let go of your 'shoulds'. Until you stop 'shoulding' all over yourself, you will find yourself out of work life balance.

Article Source: http://articleshouse.info

Jennifer Pereira, RD, LD, CSCS is in private practice in Texas, where she focuses on helping clients create a healthy lifestyle. Additional resources are available on her site to create your own personal development plan.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated