Work Life Balance

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Work life balance may be as important as healthy habits in preventing stress. According to some studies more than half of all employees say they experience fatigue, high stress levels, and feel out of control.

When is your quiet time? If you don't have time set aside consider the following....

1. Would you miss work every other day?
2. Would you miss a parent-teacher conference?
3. Would you miss putting an important meeting on your calendar?

Okay, it is up to you to set aside time each day to revitalize your soul. Your quiet time, me-time, is very important for maintaining a balance. You must start today to make this a priority.

To much work and less family time and me-time causes your work productivity to eventually suffer. Take it from me, I was there. My work productivity and my family life were suffering.

You start to...
• have difficulty concentrating
• fell resentful
• experience headaches
• experience back pain
• experience upset stomach
• or sleep disturbance.

These are all early signs of job stress. You have to be careful because you might feel increased stress in your personal life and begin to increase your focus on work life as a coping mechanism. This can be the start of a dangerous cycle. You will have stress in your personal life and also start to experience stress at work with no apparent relief.

Stress can lead to hypertension, depression, fatigue and exhaustion. Exercise is one of the best ways to relieve stress and increase energy. A main part of work-life balance is physical activity.

Another important part is making time for things that are important to you, feeding your soul, spouse, children and friends. Your schedule is set by you. You have to set boundaries so that work doesn’t intrude on your personal time. I did just that and what a difference it has made. I continue to keep my work time and personal time separated.

Assess your situation, Is your time balanced when it comes to work and personal time?

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