Many of you contributed to a recent survey through Careering into Motherhood and it’s no surprise that Life Balance was one of the hot topics for discussion. This is an area that I have been working on for a few years, well 8.5 to be honest since I had my first child. This is interesting in itself as no matter what career you are in or how many additional commitments you have, creating a healthy balance between work and your leisure time is essential but often only comes into real focus when we have a family.

 

Habitually at the start of the year we evaluate our life, our goals, what is important to us! We focus on our health and wellbeing – drink less alcohol, eat less sugar, exercise more – I know I am not alone! I have by no means cracked it and the last year has been even more complicated since I went fully self-employed.  By seeking alignment in our life, we are aiming to reach our potential as a parent and also as a professional.  This balance will be different for everyone, we all have aspirations that we are driven to achieve no less important than those we work alongside or even those we live with for that matter!

 

The main benefits to a balance life include:

 

  • Health and wellbeing – You will see an improvement in your health and wellbeing such as reduced stress and more energy.
  • Create more time for the things you enjoy – whether it’s a hobby, reading a book and having fun.  I may not look like the image above but Hot Yoga has formed a huge part of my life balance.
  • You become more productive – this might be a balance of how you work and when, create time for deep thinking and time for collaboration, getting the best out of you will ensure an increase in productivity.

 

We often look for the golden bullet or quick fix, there is no such thing but in the meantime. Here are 5 top tips to get you started:

 

1. Establish clear boundaries – This has become harder since a lot of us have started working from home and the boundaries get blurred but whilst we enjoy the flexibility, we are more and more letting work leak into our home life.  Make sure these boundaries are clear to you, your team and/or your clients.

 

2. Make technology work for you not against you – this is one area I have a daily battle with, whether it’s a parents What’s App during the day or work email at night we get interrupted when we don’t want to be so manage your phone the best way that works for you!

 

3. Set time aside time – I have found a regular commitment to a class works for me, enough commitment that I need to book and pay for the session gets me out of the house.  It also commits my partner to the childcare.

 

4. Prioritisation – we all set goals and tasks but often we fail to reassess them on the go, life is a moving feast and changes on a daily basis don’t be afraid to reshuffle the priorities.

 

5. Expect the unexpected – hybrid working has seen us pack in more and more to our daily diary, leave space in your schedule for the unexpected thing that ALWAYS come up! If we don’t it is these things that put the balance off and put us under pressure.

 

It is important to remember if your life isn’t working then the only person that can change it is you, these changes can be easier with the support of a coach. Coaching creates an opportunity for you to explore the balance in your life and discover changes you can make to get better alignment with your priorities. If you are interested in hearing about my approach or working with me, please get in touch.


 

This article is written by Beth Macleod, beth@bespokeconsulting.org, Careering Into Motherhood partner coach.