Work Life Balance

Work Life Balance

Work, life, kids and commitments - it's tough to juggle it all, leaving many of us feeling we haven't got the right work/life balance. Perhaps you're not getting enough time with your kids; you haven't even got the time to listen to your favourite tunes; or you want a new challenge in your life. You don't need to go the whole hog and jack in your job, although after thinking about it, you might decide to!
A few small changes can lead to big differences, banishing that fed up feeling and helping you to feel fulfilled.

The term work/life balance was first coined in the 1980s when people began to recognise that while work is an important part of life, it shouldn't dominate people's family and personal life, and that a happy worker is a productive worker.

The rising cost of living and an increasingly consumer society means that people are more driven to earn.

Supporting a family is more costly than ever with children becoming major consumers.

We work longer hours. UK workers work the longest hours in Europe, employers often insist their staff opt out of the Working Time Directive to work more than 48 hours a week and many companies have a culture of overtime.

Working patterns have changed as service industries have moved towards 24-hour services.

People travel further to get to work, and journey times have increased significantly.

More mothers go back to work and over two thirds of families now have both parents working outside the home which puts a strain on managing childcare.

This all combines to make many of us feel that our leisure time and interests have become a low priority. However, it is possible to change things and to take control back to get the right work life balance.

Strategies

Want to improve your work life balance?
Then consider these simple tips:

Remain confident in your abilities and your worth and realise that you have the power to change how you feel about your life.

Get away

Get qualified Get a new hobby

Change your job or your life

You may benefit from talking to a UKCP accredited psychotherapist outside your usual circle of friends and family. Psychotherapy and counselling are working relationships in which you are helped to explore and manage what is happening in your life. Key aims are to help you understand and control your anxieties and to find better ways of dealing with life’s continuing challenges. Examples include: integrative and cognitive behavioural therapy.