Dear Sally,

This is the first issue of a new monthly newsletter that’s all about finding your ideal work/life balance. I’m sending it to you because I think you’ll enjoy reading it and may just find it a bit useful!

The seesaw monthly email newsletter aims to

  • sprinkle some fairy dust
  • provide practical and pragmatic hints and tips
  • encourage you to have fun as you find out more about what works for you

I hope you will understand your own work/life balance a little better and take steps towards having a healthier balance.

Because being balanced makes life work.

Warmest wishes

Kathryn


Seesaw - Ideas to balance the ups and downs of your life

Everyone's heard of it; lots of people have lost it; but does anyone really know what a great work/life balance looks like? A report at the beginning of this year from Lloyds TSB and the charity Working Families showed that getting the right balance between work and home life was to be 2005’s most popular career resolution. That means there are a lot of people out there who know that the balance they’ve currently got doesn’t work for them.

Is there a big secret about making sure your work/life balance is terrific? Well, not really. There are a few good hints and tips that can help you improve it, but there isn't a special key or a definitive magic mathematical formula. If you're waiting for the work/life balance fairy to come along and sprinkle fairy dust to make your life ‘just work’, you will be waiting a long time. Comparing your balance to someone else’s and then trying to make what they do work for you isn’t going to bring you a life filled with happiness either. Your work life balance is exclusive to you; what works for you won’t necessarily work for other people – that’s the joy of being a special individual.

Balance – What does yours look like?

Your own balance – what works for you - is purely personal and as unique as you are. Whether that balance means you work less and live life more, work more and live life a bit less, or it’s an even split between the two, is entirely up to you. No one can tell you that your balance is wrong; they don’t live in your shoes. If your balance is a success for you from both a work and a life perspective, then that’s good enough for me!

But what if it’s not? What if you’d like things to be different, but you’re a bit stuck on where to start.

It is worth remembering that whatever you decide is the right balance for you now, a time will come when that balance will need readjusting. Your life will change and develop over time; what was once important and took up much of your time, may fade into the background as something else moves to the forefront of your mind. The right balance for you in January may be different to the balance you strived for the previous June.

There are four key steps to developing your own personal balanced seesaw.

Step one – Your best balance

If you don’t know what your best balance looks like, how will you know when you reach it? The first step to building your balanced seesaw is to understand how you will know when you’ve got the balance right. How will you feel? Relaxed, happy, calm, confident? If you were to take a good look at your balanced self, what would you see? Someone who has had enough sleep and doesn’t have bags under their eyes? Someone who is organised, in control? Or someone who has time for everyone but doesn’t feel rushed?

Step two – Your balance shakers

What does it take for something to shake your balance? What causes your seesaw to tip the wrong way? Do certain events alter your balance e.g. People being late for appointments. Does not being given enough time to complete a task or other people not doing what they said they would (pet hate!) all help disrupt your balance? Identifying what can upset your own applecart can be key to pre-empting the situation and either taking steps to make sure the balance shaker doesn’t occur or having a balance big hitter (see step 4, but only after step 3!) in your pocket as a countermeasure.

Step three – Your balance reactions

You were doing just fine, your balance was good and then from out of nowhere you got hit with a balance shaker. How do you react? Do you scream and shout? Walk off in a huff? Does your motivation take a nose dive and you put on your ‘why do I bother face?’ Do you lose sleep or just worry constantly? It’s important to know how you react both mentally and physically to being out of balance. With that knowledge you can spot the signs and take a hop, skip and a jump to step 4.

Step four – Your balance big hitters

This is the fun bit. When something has happened and you’ve had a reaction, what can you do to regain your balance? Would you go for a walk, take a trip to the gym? Read a book? Take time out away from the situation? Play loud music? Daydream for 5 minutes? Contemplate your navel? It may take a combination of things to get back to your best balance, but I’m sure there is one thing that you can do that will make a difference. After all, doing one thing has to be better than festering and doing nothing.


The 'give it a go' bit

Now that you’ve learnt about finding your own distinctive balance, you can give it a go. Spend just 5 minutes thinking about your balance. For each of the four steps listed above, identify just one element that is true for you.

So…..think of:

  • One way in which you know you are balanced
  • One thing that shakes you and upsets your balance
  • One way in which you react
  • One big hitter you can start doing to move you back to being balanced

If you’ve time, work on building a bigger picture for each of the four steps and drawing and expanding your own seesaw.  On one side put a description of your best balance and your balance big hitters.  On the other end of the seesaw you can list your balance shakers and your balance reactions.

Your balanced seesaw is a work in progress and can be amended at any time. Now that you’re more aware of it, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to identify what shakes you, how you react to it and the best bit will always be the fun things you’ll do to get back into balance.

Being balanced makes life that little bit easier.

Do let me know how you get on.

Until next time

Kathryn

A quote to contemplate: "The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it." - W.M Lewis

If you’d like someone to help you take a look at your life and unravel what’s happening to define your balance, contact No Limits Coaching for a free coaching taster session. Come to the session with an issue you’re currently facing and leave with some options and actions to help resolve it.



Kathryn Proudlock
Tel: (01235) 810938
Mob: 07786 270951
kathryn@nolimitscoaching.co.uk


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