Finding  Your  Work-­‐Life  Balance…  Your  Middle  Way  

 Key  Points  • Scoring  your  work-­‐life  balance…are  you  happy?  • How  to  Find  Your  Work-­‐Life  Balance….  Your  Middle  Way  • Managing  work-­‐life  balance  for  your  team    The  promise  of  work-­‐life  balance  seems  like  the  new  norm  in  the  business  world  today,  especially  in  how  companies  are  recruiting/attracting  new  employees  and  how  the  general  population  searches  for  the  company  that  best  fits  their  needs.  Many  job  seekers  look  for  the  ideal  “Best  Company  To  Work  For”,  but  today  that  ideal  is  quickly  becoming  synonymous  with  “Best  Company  For  Work-­‐Life  Balance”.  Best  example  of  this  is  Google  (ranked  #1  and  #7  respectively),  who  exemplifies  what  it  means  to  offer  work-­‐life  balance.  Every  company  defines  work-­‐life  balance  differently,  but  today’s  top  companies  are  really  talking  about  benefits,  the  availability  (transportation,  free  food  and  drinks,  working  remotely)  and  the  uniqueness  (daycare,  dry  cleaning,  on-­‐site  healthcare).      I  recently  discovered  a  company  that  truly  embodies  the  ideal  of  work-­‐life  balance  if  exercise  and  fitness  are  what  you  are  in  to:  unplugged  vacations  meaning  no  calls  from  the  office  or  being  CC’d  on  emails  when  you  are  using  vacation  days,  1.5-­‐hour  lunches  if  want  to  do  a  spin  class  or  catch  a  pick-­‐up  game  at  the  gym,  ability  to  earn  extra  vacation  days  by  competing  in  health  challenges,  and  100%  paid  health  care.  Work-­‐life  balance  means  something  different  for  everyone.  The  most  important  thing  for  you  to  do  is  define  your  own  work-­‐life  standard…  I  mean  really  sit  down  and  make  a  list  of  the  things  that  really  matter  to  you…  discuss  the  list  with  your  family/spouse/significant  other  and  identify  how  to  make  that  list  a  reality.    If  you  are  having  trouble  building  your  own  list,  let  me  get  you  started  with  some  common  requests.    1. Game  Rooms  (pool,  darts,  foosball,  arcade  games)  2. Food  (free  doughnuts/pizza/breakfast,  on-­‐site  food  trucks)  

Art  of  the  Wingman  for  Business  is  dedicated  to  the  businesswomen  and  businessmen  who  seek  greatness  beyond  their  own  and  find  their  successes  through  helping  others  succeed.  The  Business  Wingman  follows  the  path  of  the  selfless  person.  

3. Physical  Health  (on-­‐site  yoga/Pilates/crossfit,  on-­‐site  gyms,  race  enrollments,  acupuncture,  smoking  cessation  and  weight  management  programs)  

4. Mental  Health  (company  paid  boxing  classes,  singing  lessons,  dancing  lessons,  stand-­‐up  comedy  classes)  

5. Time  Off  (paid  or  sponsored  vacations,  4-­‐day  work  weeks,  paid  maternity/paternity  leave,  paid  sabbaticals)  

6. Company  Retreats  (happy  hours,  celebratory  vacations)  7. Freebies  (Netflix  subscriptions,  tickets  to  sporting  games,  customized  shoes,  free  

spa  services,  babysitting,  on-­‐site  kindergarten,  technology  products,  private  concierge,  free  flights)  

 Sources:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/kateharrison/2014/02/19/the-­‐most-­‐popular-­‐employee-­‐perks-­‐of-­‐2014/  http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-­‐with-­‐awesome-­‐perks-­‐payscale-­‐2013-­‐1?op=1      

     1) Scoring  your  work-­‐life  balance…are  you  happy?  Now  that  you  have  an  idea  of  the  what  to  look  for  and  what  is  being  offered  out  there,  let’s  start  by  thinking  about  the  actual  hours  you  put  into  your  work  week.  Off  the  top  of  our  head,  do  you  have  a  strong  work-­‐life  balance?  In  2009  on  cnn.com/living,  there  was  a  great  article  that  had  a  work-­‐life  balance  calculator  that  

easily  calculated  work  time  vs.  personal  time.  I  feel  that  this  is  (at  it’s  simplest)  a  great  way  to  get  general  view  of  your  average  week.    If  you  don’t  want  to  click  on  the  link  and  try  out  the  calculator,  I  have  a  simplified  version  of  that.  Below  is  a  set  of  questions  that  will  help  gauge  (at  a  high  level)  whether  you  have  work-­‐life  balance.    

Answer  simply  YES  or  NO  to  each  of  the  7  questions  below    1. You  can’t  remember  the  last  time  you  went  on  vacation.  Your  last  long  weekend  

was  because  of  a  forced  work  holiday  like  Labor  Day,  Christmas  or  New  Years.    2. You  have  abandoned  any  hobby  that  you  used  to  have.  You  live  to  work.    3. Because  of  the  level  of  stress  at  work,  you  have  become  short-­‐tempered  and  tend  

to  easily  lose  your  temper  on  the  little  things.    4. You  know/feel  that  you  are  out  of  shape  but  feel  that  there  is  never  enough  time  

to  exercise  before  or  after  work.  So  then  you  choose  just  not  to  exercise.    5. You  take  more  pride  in  getting  recognized  at  work  than  praise  at  home  from  

friends  or  family.    6. While  at  work,  you  feel  that  you  are  constantly  overwhelmed  by  projects  and  

that  there  is  never  a  moment  to  relax.  You  are  working  on  your  commute,  every  minute  at  the  office  and  on  your  commute  home.  Plus,  you  feel  that  you  have  to  quickly  glance  at  your  emails  at  night….  just  in  case.  You  cannot  disconnect.  

 7. On  your  lunch  break,  you  feel  that  you  have  no  time  to  relax  and  must  keep  

working.  You  tend  to  eat  lunch  at  your  desk  everyday.    If  you  answered  YES  to  all  7  questions:  You  are  a  workaholic  and  have  no  work-­‐life  balance.  Basically,  you  have  no  personal  life.    If  you  answered  YES  to  at  least  4  of  the  7  questions:  Then  work  still  controls  your  life  but  there  is  still  hope  for  you.    If  you  answered  YES  to  at  least  1  and  3  questions:  You  are  starting  to  show  signs  of  a  being  a  workaholic.  Act  fast  before  it’s  too  late.    If  you  answered  NO  to  all  7  questions:  Then  you  are  in  control  of  your  work-­‐life  balance.  Be  proud  of  yourself.          

2) How  to  Find  Your  Work-­‐Life  Balance….  Your  Middle  Way  A  healthy  work-­‐life  balance  is  different  for  everyone.  Before  you  can  find  your  balance,  it  is  best  to  understand  the  meaning  and  origin  of  it.  The  work-­‐life  balance  concept  was  first  introduced  in  the  UK  in  the  late  1970’s  and  then  in  the  US  in  1986.1  Studies  have  shown  that  this  was  an  inevitable  evolution  in  the  workplace  because  of  the  advancement  of  technology  and  the  increased  connectedness  of  an  employee  to  his/her  job.  Because  employees  are  now  able  to  stay  connected  all  day/night  and  on  weekends  because  of  email,  cell  phones,  and  other  technologies  that  keep  us  connected  to  work.    By  finding  your  personal  work-­‐life  balance,  I  personally  feel  that  it  is  more  than  just  taking  actions  to  give  you  more  personal  time  in  the  day,  but  taking  a  spiritual  and  philosophical  approach  to  it.  This  way,  you  are  not  only  physically  making  a  change  but  also  making  a  change  to  your  demeanor  and  way  of  life.  A  core  philosophy  of  Buddhism  called  the  Middle  Way,  best  exemplifies  this….  the  simplest  translation  of  this  is  that  you  should  never  live  in  extremes.  Find  a  middle  state  of  being  that  works  best  for  you.  Everyone’s  Middle  Way  is  different;  find  what  works  best  for  you.  You  do  this  by  sacrificing  and  weighing  the  values  or  work  life  vs.  personal  life.      If  Buddhism  is  not  for  you,  reference:  

• Jewish  physician  and  philosopher  Moses  Maimonides  (1135–1204)  • Qur’an  verse  143:chapter  2  • Ecclesiastes  4:4-­‐5:7  

 If  the  spiritual  approach  seems  not  your  approach,  then  I  recommend  you  find  someone  that  lives  the  balance  that  you  are  looking  for,  talk  to  them  and  find  out  how  they  found  their  work-­‐life  balance…  their  Middle  Way.    To  get  started,  here  is  a  simple  approach  to  finding  your  ideal  state  of  work-­‐life  balance.    

1. Build  a  work-­‐life  balance  approach  plan,  give  yourself  a  timeline  to  developing  one  and  a  goal  to  what  you  want  to  accomplish  from  it  

2. Once  you  have  your  approach  plan,  run  tests  to  validate  that  it  makes  you  happy,  but  be  careful  to  not  put  your  job/family  life  at  risk  

3. Identify  where  you  are  now,  and  where  do  you  want  to  be  in  1  year,  then  where  do  you  want  to  be  in  3  to  5  years  (be  sure  that  this  allows  you  to  have  the  personal  life  you  want)  

4. Identify  any  resources/family  or  friend  supporter(s)  that  will  help  you  achieve  your  goals  and  just  go  for  it    

       

                                                                                                               1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work–life_balance  

3) Managing  work-­‐life  balance  for  your  team    As  a  team  manager,  you  are  not  only  responsible  for  the  production/output  of  your  team  but  also  their  happiness  in  the  workplace.  If  you  have  someone  on  your  team  that  feels  like  they  are  overworked  and  unhappy…  it  may  be  because  you  are  not  managing  work-­‐life  balance  for  your  team.  A  happy  team  is  a  productive  team.  Remember  that  work-­‐life  balance  is  one  of  the  keys  to  team  retention.  There  is  not  one  specific  way  to  approach  this  or  tackle  this…  you  know  your  team  better  than  anyone  else.  Find  what  works  best  for  your  team  and  do  the  right  thing.      In  Conclusion:  In  life,  sometimes  you  need  to  run  and  sometimes  you  need  to  walk…  meaning  there  are  times  when  you  need  to  put  in  the  extra  hours  at  work  everyday  to  make  that  career  jump  and  get  that  needed  promotion  and  there  are  times  when  you  need  to  focus  on  family  and  home  life  and  not  answer  work  emails  at  10pm.  You  need  to  be  aware  of  what  state  you  are  in  and  be  ready  to  adjust  as  life  throws  you  a  curve  ball.  Stay  alert  and  be  open  to  change.        Visit  our  blog  at  http://www.artofthewingman.com