PERTINENT INFORMATION LTD. A center for information to help businesses grow faster "Giving You Valued Information"   Susan Pilgrim, Ph.D. specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Balancing Life & Work -- Can It Really Be Done?

You've heard it before: There is more to life than work. You've thought about it and agree that it's a good idea. Perhaps you've even struggled with just how to make that idea a reality in your life. You just can't seem to find that balance between your work life and your personal life. There are only so many hours in a day. Eight-hour workdays are remnants of the past. You now spend 10 and sometimes 12 or 14 hours working. That doesn't leave much time for anything else, does it? Finding and maintaining a comfortable balance in life is a universal challenge. As an executive, you're always aware that the success of your organization is up to you. It's likely that you focus so much time and attention on work that you sacrifice other areas of your life. Your responsibility for finances, products, services, customers, and employees is time-consuming and often overwhelming. There's no surprise that you feel out of sync. Part of the confusion about "balance" comes from thinking that balance means equal amounts of time. Consider a new definition of balance -- paying attention to every aspect of your life on a regular basis. Balance is about living InSync® with yourself so you can live InSync with others. It's about attending to your multidimensional self so you can make conscious choices about how you spend your time and energy at work and in life. There are five aspects of living that need your attention. They are the physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. Too little attention to any one of them will create the feeling of being out of sync with your self. Appropriate attention to each dimension will give you the power to find the right mix of priorities and actions for creating a balance between life and work. When you're in balance, you are more creative, more productive, and can truly experience the process of life. Here are some actions you can take in each of the dimensions that will assist you in creating more balance between work and life: In the Spiritual Dimension At work: Keep focused on the mission of the organization. Make your decisions based on what the organization is all about. Set aside time to reflect. Retreat with your executive team to spend time evaluating the vision, mission, and goals against the actual behavior of the employees and the performance of the organization. Reflect daily about your personal goals and behavior. Consider if you're on the most appropriate path for you. Determine if your daily activity is aligned with what you truly want to accomplish. In the Mental Dimension At work: Plan your work and your time. Be sure to include your personal appointments, like your daughter's soccer game, in your scheduling. Look for ways to eliminate time-bandits, by using technology, uncluttering your office, and saying "no" to requests that don't fit with your master plan. Set reasonable time-lines for project completion. Hire staff who enthusiastically support the vision and mission of the organization. Delegate the work you don't really need to be doing. In life: Schedule family and personal activities. Unclutter your home. Simplify. Let go of perfectionistic tendencies about how things should be. Set goals that allow you to discover yourself. Pursue a variety of interests unrelated to work. In the Social Dimension At work: Honor relationships through open communication and conscious cooperation. Treat everyone--employees, customers, and vendors--with dignity and respect. Look at situations from different points of view. Look for the humor in running a business. In life: Nurture your relationships. Refrain from canceling personal "appointments" because you have too much work to do. Do things for their pure enjoyment. Laugh often, especially at the silly things you do. Look for the humor in life. In the Emotional Dimension At work: Monitor the emotions you feel. Take time to process what you observe. Refrain from dumping your feelings on another, especially when you're feeling angry. Take a break before dealing with an emotionally-charged situation so you can respond in an appropriate manner. At the end of the work day, release all of your concerns so you can be ready for time outside of work. Leave work at work. In life: Take time for your self daily. Meditate, commune with nature, or read inspirational material. Get a massage. Sit and do nothing. Become comfortable with who you are outside of your title and occupation. In the Physical Dimension At work: Take frequent breaks. Move around. If you find you're sitting a lot, stand up and move around about every 15 minutes. If you're on your feet, wear comfortable shoes, stretch your back and legs, and sit down periodically. Invest in an ergonomically correct work area. Take time for well-balanced meals. In life: Exercise. Rest and relax your body. Get the appropriate amount of sleep you need. Play with young children. Eat nutritious foods. Refrain from smoking. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. How you live your life is much more important than what you do. Creating and maintaining balance in life is worth the effort right now because you'll live a richer life, enjoy the process of living, and nurture your relationships while being true to your own essence. In the end, the fact that you ran a multi-million dollar organization will pale in significance to what you contributed to life. You can balance life and work if you really want to. It starts with that first step. Newsletter and Ezine Resource Find exactly what you're looking for In our quest to provide you with tools and information to help you change the way you work and live, we've gathered a comprehensive list of newsletters on all aspects of business and life. The benefits are all there. Click here to go there.

A Practical Guide for Taking Gentle Control of Life Living InSync is a way of life, a way of living, a lifelong process that exemplifies the mind-body-spirit interconnectedness in life. The essence of being InSync is found in the five dimensions of life--physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual.Living InSync® means assessing and optimizing your personal power, understanding yourself and others, envisioning what you want from life, making conscious choices and pursuing goals to be the person you want to be. By assessing your personal power, you become creative, decisive and productive and can take gentle control of your life. Living InSync® offers a personalized, proactive, step-by-step approach to help you assess where you are in life, who you want to be, and where you want to go. Maintaining a balance between and within the dimensions offers you a perpetual challenge because the evolving nature of your being is dynamic and ever-changing. By responding to life's challenges in new ways and by recognizing that perfection is a static, nonexistent state, you'll experience insights about yourself and the unlimited opportunities for success and peace. You'll find that when you live InSync with yourself, you're more InSync with others and the Spirit.

Dr. Susan Pilgrim, author of Living InSync® -- Creating Your Life with Balance and Purpose (Health Communications Inc.) and Moving InSync® with the Spirit (in press), and president of Life Investments, is an Atlanta-based international speaker, business consultant, and coach. She specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Her work represents a unique blend of experience and education in the areas of business management, education, and psychology. She customizes programs to meet the needs of the client and designs them to increase personal, professional, and organizational productivity. Susan's committed to positively influencing the lives of those in her audiences. She encourages all who experience her work to invest in themselves so they can get what they want in life. She earned her B.S. at Presbyterian College, her M.Ed. at the University of South Carolina, and her Ph.D. at Georgia State University. Her memberships include the National Speakers Association, American Society for Training and Development, and the Georgia Society of Association Executives. Her columns appear in a number of business, health, and personal development publications. Susan Pilgrim, PhD 877.467.9627 209.825.9459/fax spilgrim@transbay.net

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