Hope you are all having a good week so far, fingers crossed we’re through the storms over the last couple of days – although some of the pictures I’ve seen are pretty impressive.
This week’s topic is work-life balance and what we can do to help us achieve balance whilst working from home.
When we asked what further support you would be interested in the most, nearly 30% of those who responded to the recent survey said work-life balance and I for one will take any tips or tricks anyone can give me.
So, for this week we asked Alex Elmywood, Organisational Improvement Commercial Director, to share some advice:
“There are many different aspects that influence our wellbeing on a day to day basis. Take some time to think about your:
Physical wellbeing – Are you getting enough sleep? Are you making healthy choices when it comes to what you eat and drink? Are you satisfied with your levels of physical exercise?
Emotional wellbeing – Are you able to recognise and reduce your daily stressors? What are your personal goals and how are you spending your free time to relax and experience joy? How do you reward and recognise your achievements? How is technology and social media influencing your current mood? Are you able to connect with family and friends? What positive relationships can you draw on to boost your morale and energy levels?
Intellectual wellbeing – how are you stimulating your personal and professional growth and capabilities?
Social wellbeing – do you give and receive affection? Are you able to connect with people you enjoy being with and give you positive energy? Are you free from loneliness and isolation? Are you able to maintain your sense of belonging?
Occupational wellbeing – how content are you with the balance that you have between work commitments and home life? What aspects of your work brings you joy and what doesn’t?
Spiritual wellbeing – And finally, what is important to you? What gets you out of bed in the morning? Does your life have meaning and are you able to live a life that brings you joy and happiness? Looking back at your life – what do you want to be able to say you have achieved? What is stopping you?
Environmental wellbeing – how psychologically and physically safe do you feel in your home and the places around you? How safe do you feel in your community and the places you visit? How safe do you feel when travelling or getting to the places you want to visit?
Financial wellbeing – how secure do you feel? Are you able to make the most of your money in order to live the life you want and without the worry of debt?
Once you have reflected on these questions, you then have the opportunity to make some conscious choices in order to find ‘your balance’. This is important as everyone’s balance is different because different things motivate and make us happy.
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom” Vicktor E. Frankl.
In his book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Stephen Covey encourages us to consider the things in our lives that we are concerned about, the things that we can influence, and most importantly, the things that we can control. Covey argues the case that we are more successful, effective and resilient if we are to focus on those things that we can control.
To find your balance – consider the final points from your reflections on the six areas of wellbeing:
- What are your ambitions or goals for each of those elements?
- What are the things that you can personally control – and have the power to change? As such, what are the steps that you can take to strengthen your health and happiness?
- What are the things that you can personally influence – and as such – what are the things that you need to do to influence others to make improvements to your health and happiness?
For the things that you can’t influence or control, self-care is incredibly important from both a physiological and psychological perspective. Here are eight tips on self-care:
- Do something that makes you smile for at least an hour each day.
- Be mindful of how lifestyle choices influence your mood and energy levels.
- Spend time with people that make you laugh, cry, think and feel (this can be virtually or using social distancing).
- Strive to make every day a school day.
- Find your purpose – and live by the values that make you, you.
- Find one thing a day which you are grateful for.
- Give, give, give – in whatever form makes you happy.
- And finally, be active in your body, mind and soul.
“Life is a sum of all your choices. So, what are you doing today?” Albert Camus.
We also published some great tips at the start of lockdown on working from home and avoiding distractions unique to the home environment. Albeit I know a massive challenge a lot of us have been and continue to face is home schooling while working from home – that’s a tricky one but one thing I would say is try not to put too much pressure on yourself. There is more information on working from home and guidance for parents on the coronavirus hub.