Life is a complicated business these days with many people trying to juggle work, home and leisure commitments.

Put simply, Work Life Balance is about having enough time to be able to work AND to have outside interests, along with catering for your responsibilities, for example time with your family.

Life is a complicated business these days with many people trying to juggle work, home and leisure commitments. Many people often feel they are not getting the best out of any of them, as work is taking over. They feel they are almost tippling over they are so out of balance. Does this sound like YOU?

If any of the following comments ring true for you, then it certainly is time to take stock and strike the balance between YOUR Work and Life:

If some of the above sound familiar, then the chances are you haven"e;t so much chosen this unhappy pattern as drifted into it under the false belief that there is no other way. You have allowed the relationship between Work and Life outside work to fall into imbalance. You have been hypnotised into believing that this is the admission fee to the world of ‘success"e;.

Sometimes workplace culture can unfortunately foster a skewing of priorities. For example: work hard and you will be successful. Unfortunately we all too often equate working hard with long hours. It doesn"e;t have to be that way; working hard is about working SMART and prioritising through effective time management.

When an employee chooses to work smartly you can allow yourself to be very competent at what you do and give the message of being “in control”. This in turn can make you indispensable to your employer.

When you do this, your employer won"e;t want to loose you and may even work around possible work/life balances measures to retain you. Adopting the work SMART strategy is a WIN/WIN all round.

BE CLEAR about what Work/Life Balance means to YOU?

Striking the right balance is very much about how YOU define balance and how you would view yourself being successful in terms of work/life balance. I cannot tell you what success in the area of work /life balance should mean to you. It can depend on so many things - the nature of your work, your age, your commitments to family and many others.

One thing is for sure, you will want to find the right balance that works for YOU. One key aspect of this is to acknowledge your successes and when you have reached certain goals, celebrate these and avoid always dwelling on what you haven"e;t done or your failures. Just as life is a process, so is striving for balance in your life.

It has much to do with your priorities and your use of time, which in turn depends on your goals and personal values. Simply ask yourself what are your top 3 professional and personal goals/needs in life right now and consider what values these goals embrace. Once you do this you will get a clearer picture of how to prioritise in line with your goals.

It is important to add your life/personal goals here too. It means deciding exactly what you want, and then going for it in a way that doesn't cause you or those you care for unhappiness or worry. In order to ensure this doesn"e;t happen you will want to get things in perspective and have a checklist to keep you on track so you can get off the treadmill and reassess from time to time.

TIPS for doing this:

The is an alarming number of clients who cannot understand why they feel so unhappy when they have the trappings of what is perceived by many as success - good job, nice car, house, family. But there is a still a void. The usual causal factor is LACK of Work/Life balance. When a client becomes aware of this and takes control and decides not to accept these things and learns he/she has choices, their world opens back up for them and their life is upgraded.

If you are one of those people that believe that exploring issues of Work-Life Balance is a luxury you simply cannot afford at this juncture in your life, then I urge you to think again.

People need to realise that by placing the focus firmly back onto their authentic values, goals and needs, they can resourcefully finds ways of making their work accommodate their life rather than the other way round. Suddenly, the world opens back up.

Simple daily steps YOU can take to strike a successful Work/Life Balance:

1. What does work life balance really mean?

Work life balance means having policies and procedures in place which support staff in combining their employment responsibilities with personal commitments and choices. Some of the issues that raise awareness of work life balance are based on stages of life e.g. caring for children or elderly parents, whilst others are personal choices e.g. undertaking voluntary work, further education or travel. Of course any work life balance policies that an organisation introduces are in addition to their statutory requirements under protective legislation.

2. How will my company benefit from offering my staff family friendly working arrangements?

When the benefits of work life balance are explored they frequently focus on the benefits to the employee. For example, flexible working hours, sabbaticals, achievement of personal objectives, reduced stress, enhanced quality of life. Remembering that an organisation is ‘nothing but the people in it"e; a more contented and fulfilled workforce is a more productive and committed workforce. The benefits to the employer are improved staff retention which can save employers from costs associated with the recruitment and training of new staff. It also means a company is retaining intellectual capital, that is, the knowledge and experience of its staff.

3. How have other companies integrated a work life balance strategy?

Companies have integrated a work life balance strategy by introducing a range of polices including -

4. Will offering work life balance initiatives increase my staff"e;s workload, if so how do I manage this?

There are issues that have to be addressed when new work life policies are introduced. It is important to see the bigger picture. If some staff members are going to work reduced hours, then perhaps additional employees are required to ensure work backlogs are not created. However, if staff feel their employer is investing in their well-being, productivity levels will increase. Most companies closely monitor workflow and productivity after introducing new work life balance policies, not only to assess their effectiveness but to ensure company operations are not adversely impacted. The key is to see work life balance policies as proactive initiatives that will benefit the organisation long-term, rather than a short term quick fixes.

5. How do you know when work life balance policies are successful?

It depends on the definition of success. Is it increased productivity and profitability, a greater sense of fulfillment amongst the workforce, or both? To manage anything you have to be able to measure it. I believe an effective work life balance is achieved when the individual's right to a fulfilled life both inside and outside paid employment is accepted and respected as the norm, thereby benefiting the individual, the company and society, in other words a win/win/win.

Want to know more about Flexitime and other Worklife Balance Initatives? Contact Softworks...