Snippet: I recently stepped into a new role as an executive team member at a high-tempo organization. Later, I found myself having great conversations with friends and mentors about finding a healthy work-life balance.
As we talked though our day-to-day challenges in the face of COVID-19 and shared mutual experiences, one thing became apparent — no one’s balance is exactly the same. We all often discuss this topic as if there is some perfect, universal balance that exists daily. One that we can all can obtain. But no, that is not the way it is. In reality it is unique to each of us and to different times in our lives.
Balance can’t always be measured a day or even week at a time. Balance, like resiliency, is measured over the long haul. And part of finding this long-term healthy mindset is acknowledging the fact that the desired work-life balance may be slightly off day to day.
No family structure is the same, so by default, priorities are different. To address this balance, here are some steps to take; find activities that recharge you, communicate your boundaries, and don’t forget about you. These are three out of nine other suggestions in the Aero tech News report.
Snippet: COVID-19 pandemic brought several fast paced changes to our daily lives, least of which is not the forced working from home. Starting initially with some few weeks of lack of clarity, months have rolled in with many working from home since then.
However, a new report has claimed that the office will remain a key part of British working life. And it describes as speculation and ‘misplaced’, the idea that the office is dead.
The publication warns that workplaces ‘will not return to normal’ after the pandemic is brought under control – with employees having adapted to the ‘new normal’ of working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The 9-5 Is Dead And Workplaces Are Dead – That Is Speculation And ‘Misplaced’
The report collated information and surveys from dozens of publicly available studies. It quoted one source which says that 41 per cent of remote employees reported higher levels of stress. This is high compared with 25 per cent of their counterparts who are in the office.
Another study by NordVPN that the report highlights, claimed that UK employees have been adding around two hours to each workday while working from home. This means that they have been adding an extra working week per month.
Yet another study by the International Workplace Group (IWG) claimed that 85 per cent of businesses had confirmed that productivity increased as a result of having greater flexibility. The group said that 63 per cent of those surveyed report a minimum 21 per cent improvement in productivity.
Snippet: The Irish Government plans to fund remote hubs in rural towns and villages over the next two years. This is part of the development of a State strategy on remote working.
Mr Varadkar, who is Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said the move to remote working in recent months, because of the pandemic, “probably would have taken 10 years as a planned strategy”.
Despite the fast pace of change, there is a growing concern about remote working, which is being ‘always at work.’
Sinn Féin spokeswoman, Louise O’Reilly said that “if you work from home you’re sort of always at work and sort of always at home. There needs to be a clear definition of remote working as a protected form of work.”
There is also the concern that while promoting Ireland remote working hubs, jobs do not to other countries.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar warned that “we have to look at the risks to the country as well of people who currently live in Ireland, perhaps remote working from the Canaries, or Ibiza or Poland or India. That’s a real risk to us in terms of losing jobs”.
Snippet: As the COVID-19 pandemic tightened its grip on Chicago, Danielle Campbell reached out to seven of her dearest friends. Most had gone to college with her; all had been in her wedding. But now one was in Seattle, and three were living in France.
The “Fabulous Babes” group chat that resulted was flooded with messages, and soon there was a weekly Zoom meeting with wine or cocktails. The “Babes” discussed their anxieties and challenges, but they also shared silly photos and joked and laughed.
Chicagoans have reached out to dear friends across the country and the world during the pandemic. And in some cases, they’ve stayed in close contact with multiple conversations, texting sessions or video chats.
According to a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they worked more than 65 hours per week.
“… when the assumption that everyone needs to be always available was collectively challenged, not only could individuals take time off, but their work actually benefited.”
The EU Gender Equality Index 2019 focuses on Work-Life Balance (WLB). The EU WLB scoreboard cuts across three broad areas {paid work, unpaid work (care) and education and training}. These is presented with 15 indicators in six specific areas of concern.
Snippet: Are you living your passion? As success coaches, people often come to us because they want to enjoy life by living their passion. They realize there is more to life than what they are experiencing. Mark Twain addressed that when he said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
To find and pursue your passion can apply to many areas of life, but as an example we’ll look at finding passion in a career. Fortunately, we love what we do, but could you imagine having to go to a job daily that you hate? While we all have to make money to survive, we all deserve to feel fulfilled after completing a hard day’s work. Sure, there is a paycheck at the end of the week, but does that really make up for all the unhappy time? The answer to that question is certainly no.
According to a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they worked more than 65 hours per week.
“… when the assumption that everyone needs to be always available was collectively challenged, not only could individuals take time off, but their work actually benefited.”
The EU Gender Equality Index 2019 focuses on Work-Life Balance (WLB). The EU WLB scoreboard cuts across three broad areas {paid work, unpaid work (care) and education and training}. These is presented with 15 indicators in six specific areas of concern.
In a world where working from home, family, recreation, faith and other factors compete for our time, people speak about the need to seek work-life satisfaction through a “balanced life.” But maybe “balance” is the wrong goal. “The concept of being in ‘balance’ has the potential to set us up for immediate […]
Laura Gordon: Work-life balance and Japanese ikigai
OPINION: I’ve heard so many people talking recently about reassessing their priorities in life. Without a doubt the pandemic has played a role in that. For one, the terrifying mortality rates remind us how fragile and precious life is. On top of that we’ve all […]
Left: Michelle Brenner cooking her sauce; A load of Michelle’s lasagnas ready to donate/ Finding Purpose during a Furlough
When Michelle Brenner moved to Gig Harbor, Washington, about six years ago, she did not realise that her new abode will open a mix bag and different chapters in her life. She was furloughed from her job at a menswear store after Covid-19 pandemic hit. She was not looking at finding purpose during a furlough.
Booted out of a normal routine, locked in like everyone else, she quickly realized that she is not very good at sitting around. She decided to use her extra time and a family lasagna recipe to create a free food movement in her Washington community.
So far, she has made more than 1,275 pans of lasagna for friends, neighbors, first responders, and anyone in need of a good fresh meal — without charging anyone.
For Brenner, this is a labor of love, and she has no plans to stop.
Is It Possible Finding Purpose During A Tough Time?
“I knew it was my time in my life to give back to the people who paved life’s path for me to have the 45 years of life that I’ve had,” she said. She decided she wanted to help elderly members of her community and those who could not get out and shop for themselves because of the pandemic. So, she signed up to work as a shopper for Instacart.
She only spent two days working with the grocery delivery app — but during that time she noticed one item her customers kept asking for: frozen lasagna. One of those customers was a man in his nineties. Brenner said when she delivered the frozen lasagna and other items to him, he confessed to her that he had not had any fresh food in nearly a month and a half.
That moment inspired Brenner to do some grocery shopping of her own and pick up the ingredients to make her family a fresh lasagna based on her grandmother’s recipe.
Myfwl adapted the write up for short minutes readers. Click here to view the original write up at CNN. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit us on Social Media.
Procrastination is often a symptom of perfectionism. Because perfectionists fear being unable to complete a task perfectly, they put it off as long as possible. This stems from the fear that not meeting the goal means that there is something bad, wrong or unworthy inside of them.
Whaoh! Sixteen (16) days gone already. My last post was published sixteen days ago? It sure is a lot of work to write each post. But I flow so naturally and unstoppable once I start writing. Though I know it can be tasking, but am always unfettered and unruffled by the hard work involved. So, why did I stop for this long?
Not that I did not have a daily urge to write or at least a topic to write on. I have actually started a post and left it as a draft. But I could not just spare the time to write because I was not in the mood. I also seem to have a silent fear that I will not be able to deliver the kind of quality write up that I want without distractions from my other life pursuits.
But this gave me a sense of loss. Loss of productivity, loss of connection with my online friends and co-bloggers. And a loss of traction to the speed and momentum I was building up.
Wait a minute, sense of loss? Did I write that? 16 days of FAILING to write or 16 days of SUCCEEDING only in procrastination? Even in this, my cup is half full not half empty. This makes me to remember, I have Succeeded in Zero out of 3 Happiness and Confidence Test.
I will speak and write about succeeding and not failing. A failure is someone who has given up, who has not started, or taken a step. I only had a break. A failure will be the car maker stopping work in 1914, simply because he/she could get a futuristic glimpse of the fast cars of 2018. A failure can be likened to a snail that refuse to starts its journey simply because it sees ahead, a tortoise, then a turtle, then a cheetah.
Therefore today, I choose to direct just one deadly shot against procrastination. Just write! And guess what, I choose to write about that one thing that is holding me back, procrastination. I faced the elephant in the room.
I realize that I procrastinated on this very important journey because I allow it to drop in my order of priority. I allowed myself to be bugged down by the same old “other people’s very urgent and important businesses”, and things that are in my comfort zone, rather than push my limit in this one area of flow and joy. This seemingly unimportant and not so urgent area of my life, but where I want to start making the biggest changes and achieve the highest growth.
I understand your personal frustration as you too sit in the hall way of procrastination.
But you too can get up, dust off the lethargy, arm yourself with your clearly identified life goals, game changer ideas or pursuit and just go for it! Get on board that stimulating train or activity again. That one jolly train that was taking you on your journey of purpose and accomplishment.
So, what are you going to do, differently?
My one deadly shot against procrastination, was; just start, just do it.
1. Pick your poison – this is about focus and choosing/ prioritizing on ONE thing.
2. Start today – taking immediate action.
3. Five Minute Miracle – taking a small doable chunk, or identified small action.
4. Do a Power Hour – put away all distractions and work in concentrated chunks of time.
5. Kill it With Kindness – forgive yourself for past procrastination.
6. Have a Procrastination Power Song – get a song that really gets you energized.
7. Get under the hood – understand exactly why you’ve been procrastinating a specific task.
8. Let It Go – decide if this item need to be dropped off the ‘to do list’.
9. Make a bet – have an accountability buddy and have a bet with the person.
10. Make it fun – create a reward for yourself if the procrastinated task is completed.
Finally, I have done it again. I have gone a long way writing another blog I can be proud of simply because I took the first steps.
Prior to now, I had finished some other “pressing” priorities. Yesterday, I had a very lively and stimulating conversation with a colleague about my blog. This spurred me into action and made me refocus to do just this ONE thing that I have procrastinated doing for so long. I had the conversation yesterday, failed again (did not succeed) to start yesterday even though it was on my ‘to do list’ for several days. But I took action today. At least, today is closer to immediately, more than tomorrow or never. I just wanted to kick start it. But I went more than 75% with the first shot. I did not just do a five minute miracle slot, I used a two hours online meeting to multitask.
Surely, according to the research referred to in the Forbes write up,
“… once you start something, you’re much more likely to finish it”…
This is a psychological phenomenon called, the Zeigarnik effect. With two hours spent now, I had moved from a five minute miracle to doing a power one hour. I have also forgiven myself (maybe not totally), for procrastinating this long. I also overcame the lethargy of not wanting to fail. My accountability buddy sent me a reminder email this morning, funny, just remembering. Did all these seemingly unconnected actions actually contributed to me writing this post today? Maybe.
What are you currently procrastinating doing? What will you do now, immediately, to make a difference? What can you advice to help someone stop procrastinating? Are you been daunted by procrastination triggers?
Chris Bailey’s Harvard Business Review write up on 5 Research-Based Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination listed Pychyl’s seven triggers that make a task seem more averse. They are, if the task is, boring, frustrating, difficult, ambiguous, unstructured, not intrinsically rewarding, or lacking in personal meaning.
SPARE ONE HOUR – For Additional Knowledge From Multiple Videos
I started with my ONE shot, 5 miracle minutes, 2 hours of multitasking doing this post, and ended up spending additional hours to learn more.
I realized from Robin Sharma (How I Beat Procrastination) 2WW, that my walking exercises over the weekend could also have aided my “readiness” to write today.
Rafeal Eliassen sounded so persuasive in Killing Procrastination – COMPLETELY Eliminate Putting Things Off, FOREVER. He talked about how most of us do to tap into our potential and talent. This is the same damning verdict I got yesterday when I finally made a so long procrastinated call to someone. Again, perhaps another unknown and seemingly unrelated shot that may have helped me to write this post.
Mel Robbins TEDxSF How to stop screwing yourself over came late, but made me realize that I stopped screwing myself when I pushed my ONE first shot and started to just write. I actually talked and opened up to a friend over the weekend. This is someone who had always harassed me that I don’t talk freely. Someone I can call a close stranger. I said I was not FINE! That I needed to do things differently. This is the same person who helped me get back to my exercise routine, just been an exercise buddy.
Mel Robbins piece in Retrain your Mind, and The Secret to Self-Motivation is also fantastic. The question, “why is it so hard to do the little things that will change my life”, struck a deep cord down my heart. The importance of the DECISIONS or INDECISIONS I make, daily, the 5 seconds rule, etc also corroborate the other advise from other writers or “coach”. Then comes again that powerful fact of, JUSTDO IT NOW!
DON’T wait for TOMORROW before you ACT.
Infact, don’t wait for the 6th second after now.
Within 5 seconds from now, DO SOMETHING POSITIVE to move your life, task or project FORWARD.
Beat the procrastination triggers off this game.
PLEASE, don’t throw away tomorrow.
(By the way, that’s the title of a great book by Robert H. Schuller, you need to get one and read.)
Or, if we neglect today, can tomorrow be better?
I started in the morning with a first shot.
I have done several reviews and rewriting all day, actually dropping everything else.
It’s evening and am beginning to get a bit frustrated that I have not been able to finish the post. I feel like just publishing it as is. But I can’t. It’s not yet good enough. Is it my perfectionist self at play again? Now it will want me to procrastinate on publishing this for you to read. Why should there be so many obstacles and barriers towards a good cause? At every new turn, after one other victory, why is perfectionism and procrastination there, standing in the way of my tomorrow?
Starting is just the beginning. There should be no delusion that there is always a lot of hard work involve in delivering our goal.
See you tomorrow, with your yesterday’s goals achieved, as you fiercely progress towards your life purpose and as you brighten up the world around you with the smile of someone who has had fulfilling today.
Why should the “grey matter” inside the skull be called a brain and the whole system not called a thinking box? And why not call the long fluffy end of a female hair, a mop stick end. You got it? Ok. So, why can’t the teeth and mouth joint structure be called speaker, chair called floor brush, toes called floor rake and breakfast called dinner?
When I shared with a 14 year old who is learning the rudiments of coding how a blog or website can be created from a WordPress theme template rather than from the scratch, I got what I did not bargained for. I was questioned why anything on the internet should be believed. She wondered if a “toddler professor” or an “acclaimed academia”, “subject matter expert” or anyone that simple want to expresss his/herself can’t also just pick up some ideas and share on the web. This can be picked up by someone else, and used as from an “authoritative source”.
Before I started this post, I asked WordPress support team to assist with a theme customization that I had struggled with for a while. And bingo, within minutes, I got some tips, applied it myself, and I got the result I had struggled to get on my own. So, there are tested hands who know their onions and should be listened to.
My co blogger who is battling with PKD go regularly to see medical professionals who are helping her with her health challenge. I read HBR, Forbes and other magazines to enhance my knowledge since the articles seems to make some sense. And just yesterday at a meeting, the coordinator said some words and some others also said theirs, … and am suppose to believe they will all come to pass? They call it prayers!
The last time I checked, there is still no border wall separating America from Mexico, but it may come tomorrow. During the last American election campaign, that seemed like a given, just waiting to happen, a day after inauguration.
And if a total stranger or familiar acquaintance just yell at you now and call you stupid, big piggy fat-liar, a slob, disgusting animal, a beautiful or ugly piece of ass, a failure, or a wasteful spender who will not amount to anything; am sure your emotions will hit the roof. Yet, what authority has this abusive stranger or acquaintance? Who submit “power” to this person by a “supportive emotional response” and thereby validate the negative venom flushed out?
Emotions don’t ask for a degree, experience or reference to believe or react so passionately to junks – spoken, acted, or written!
I hope you are not at a loss now as to which “professional” you should believe or doubt. I know you don’t easily believe one, that’s YOU! You possible rarely even trust YOU enough to speak, act or write down who YOU truly are. Including who YOU are now compared to who YOU used to be, and who YOU will be soon in-spite of all the nay sayers, self doubt, obstacles, current realities and negativities that surround YOU.
The ability to create is in the mouth, the mind, the head or “thinking-action-box”. You’ve got all these as an individual, great, frail or small. Privatelyme and you, we need to take more control of our life, our actions, reactions, responses and behavior. Each of us is immensely qualified to. If YOU are gone today to the great beyond, no matter the best of wealth or medical expertise, no one can be you again. At best a close clone, an imitation or a recasting of your past or possible future by an actor. Definitely, not the reality that could have been, with you in control.
Switch on to maximum pitch
So, what 3 steps are you to follow to maximize your brainbox especially when it comes to maximize your life? In this issue, I will give the top headlines and expand on them in subsequent issues;
1. Control your environment
2. Know your planned destination
3. Follow the law of Jordan to Galilee to a Life sea
Next time your brain wants you to freeze, run or stay your ground and fight as is normal for a particular situation; pull the nerve trigger, stop all motion. You are the “toddler professor” in-charge here. You are determining the right next step. You are the one writing, telling, yelling, ACTING OUT the post and story of your life for a better and greater future, and clicking “publish”.
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When I shared with a 14 year old who is learning the rudiments of coding how a blog or website can be created from a WordPress theme template rather than from the scratch, I got what I did not bargained for. I was questioned why anything on the internet should be believed. She wondered if a “toddler professor” or an “acclaimed academia”, “subject matter expert” or anyone that simple want to expresss his/herself can’t also just pick up some ideas and share on the web. This can be picked up by someone else, and used as from an “authoritative source”.
And if a total stranger or familiar acquaintance just yell at you now and call you stupid, big piggy fat-liar, a slob, disgusting animal, a beautiful or ugly piece of ass, a failure, or a wasteful spender who will not amount to anything; am sure your emotions will hit the roof. Yet, what authority has this abusive stranger or acquaintance? Who submit “power” to this person by a “supportive emotional response” and thereby validate the negative venom flushed out?
The ability to create is in the mouth, the mind, the head or “thinking-action-box”. You’ve got all these as an individual, great, frail or small. Privatelyme and you, we need to take more control of our life, our actions, reactions, responses and behavior. Each of us is immensely qualified to. If YOU are gone today to the great beyond, no matter the best of wealth or medical expertise, no one can be you again. At best a close clone, an imitation or a recasting of your past or possible future by an actor. Definitely, not the reality that could have been, with you in control.