30 Days to Sanity

Plan Ahead

2007-08-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

One of the most powerful tools for gaining more control over your life and increasing your productivity is plan your day the night before. Decide what you want/need to accomplish. Take on the Girl Scout’s motto, “Be Prepared” as a way to keep yourself on track. Planning ahead is one of the best and easiest ways to create better work/life balance.

Decide the night before exactly what you are going to accomplish during that first critical, uninterrupted hour of the day. Ask yourself, If tomorrow gets cluttered with a chain of emergencies what one task would I be thrilled to tackle? In other words, what can I do to earn my salary by 10 A.M.? Deciding the night before will give you an opportunity to think it over in your sleep and on your way to work.

By creating your to do list the night before, you can start your day running. You don’t waste your precious hour figuring out what you should do. You know exactly what you’re going to do and in what order. If you have three telephone calls to make, you would then have them organized in order of importance with phone numbers, the names of the people and all the supporting material at hand. By midmorning, you would be way ahead of most people who waste the first half of the day clearing their desk, making lists, finding the necessary paperwork—in other words, just getting to work. Try it.

An enormous amount of time is lost wondering what to do next. Without a clear plan you don’t know. The best to get your work done is to have a plan for your day or week that determines when you will do what. A to-do that not connected to a when doesn’t get done. When you plan your day you find that time stretches—you’re suddenly able to get much more done, yet you feel calmer. You can focus with confidence in the moment in the knowledge that there is a time and place for your other responsibilities. Having a plan frees you from confusion and distraction over what you should do next or anxiety about what you might be missing.

Sanity Savers for Working Moms

2007-08-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

According to a CareerBuilder.com survey of 1,124 women, employed full-time, with children under the age of 18 living at home.

Nearly one-in-ten say they would give up ten percent or more of their salary.
Of working moms that are not the sole financial provider, nearly half (49 percent) say they would leave their job if their spouse or significant other made enough money for the family to live comfortably.

Unfortunately, moms are also missing quality time with their kids.

Thirty-two percent of working moms say they spend less than three hours per day with their kids. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) reported they have missed three or more significant events in their child's life in the last year and more than a third have missed two or more.

Working moms should keep in mind that compensation isn't the only thing that is negotiable -- you can (and should) negotiate your schedule as well.

As companies face a shrinking pool of qualified labor, retaining top talent has become a key business objective and companies are reshaping their policies. From mother's rooms to flexible work schedules to job sharing to onsite daycare, company-wide initiatives to accommodate and even encourage employees to balance work and family life are becoming commonplace.

According to the survey, nearly four-in-ten working moms say their companies offer flexible work arrangements. Of those who have taken advantage of these arrangements, the vast majority said it has not negatively impacted their career advancement.

How to present a more flexible schedule to your boss:
1. Plan ahead -- Your recommendation should be presented as a well thought out strategy that demonstrates how you'll be more productive in a flexible work situation. Come with a plan already laid out and show your boss you have thought through the process.

2. Take small steps -- Often companies implement new programs and strategies in stages -- in order to make your plan more palatable to your boss, consider a plan that will gradually work up to your goal.

3. Be prepared and practiced -- Anticipate questions/concerns your boss may raise and determine in advance how you will address these concerns. Also, be prepared to negotiate.

And while you’re implementing your new strategy here are a few tips for maximizing your time with your kids.

1. Have a date night -- Schedule dates and special activities with each of your kids. This allows you to start traditions, create fond memories and will remind your kids how important they are to you.

2. Use one calendar -- Unfortunately, it's often easier to cancel on your child than on a potential client.
Scheduling business and family obligations on the same calendar will lessen your chances of forgetting a personal commitment when you're planning work activities. It will also help you avoid over-scheduling and alert you if your commitments are unbalanced.

3. Leave the building -- When you go on vacation, go on vacation.
When you have a day off, take a day off. Many working moms feel they will lose a competitive edge if they ever truly leave the office at the office. But when you focus on other things and come back refreshed you will deliver a better work product.

BlackBerry Increases Productivity While Decreasing Work/Life Balance

2007-07-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

One of my psychotherapy clients asked me, “Is it normal for my husband to have his BlackBerry sitting next to us when we’re making love?” This woman’s doubt was proof positive that we’ve entered a brave new world. When our sending and receiving messages takes such a high priority that nothing, not even making love could stand in the way and when an intimate partner could doubt herself for feeling upset by the intrusion of this electronic device I knew that we had gone crazy.

According to a USA Today Digital Dependency survey 60% of respondents around the world say that they can't live without their devices and nearly four out of ten say the loss of their digital PC data would be an “unmitigated disaster.”
While Blackberrys have had a positive impact on productivity they have also had a negative impact on work/life balance. Technology can be your best friend or worst enemy. The compulsion to communicate incessantly—involving nonstop use of cell phones, BlackBerrys, PDA’s and the Internet tend to leave people emotionally breathless.

I was recently at a business luncheon. I had presented my program and was sitting at a table with a group of high-level executives. Once the organizer stood to say grace everyone bowed their heads. When the luncheon began these men and women kept their heads bowed with their hands on their laps. Even as the food was served they seemed to be immersed in deep thought over the profound questions of the day.

Then I realized that they weren’t praying at all. They were all intensely focused on their BlackBerry sending and receiving emails, frantically working on their little keyboards like frantic teens playing video games. They were lost to the world around them as they messaged back in forth, some of them with other people in the same room. They had fallen into a technological black hole in which they were drowning.

Think about how much time do you give away without meaning to. The more you give away, the less you have left for what you need and what you consider important. Remember, attention isn’t limitless nor is your energy. We have to take charge of technology and use it to our advantage.

The Multigenerational Workforce is Here to Stay

2007-07-06T07:45:00.001-07:00

This new multi-generation workplace is a complex and dynamic organism that requires flexibility and skill from everyone, especially from managers. Many organizations are sensitive to issues of diversity in race, culture and gender and have developed policies and programs to protect and promote diversity. To some extent, generational diversity has yet to be addressed. And yet in order to recruit and retain the best and the brightest this issue must be attended to.

As we look at the current labor market, in which the Traditional Generation delays retirement or returns to the workplace, Baby Boomers begin to retire, Generation Xers realign their work/family priorities and Generation Y enters the workforce with increased and distinctly different demands of their employers than those of previous generations, we are reminded about the challenges and opportunities of the multigenerational workplace.

All too often, people of different generations just don't see work (or life) the same way. Eliminating generational conflict is rooted in understanding what makes each tick. As the global marketplace expands, the talents of all generations must be leveraged and the behavioral and work/life balance challenges must be minimized to increase employee productivity and retention.

Traditionalists (those age 61 to 73 years old) and Boomers (those ages 42 to 60 years old) are the most work-centric. Gen X (those age 30 to 41 years old) and Gen Y (those age 12 to 29,) are more family-centric. Where the Boomers motto has been “live to work” the members of Gen X and Gen Y, “work to live.” These younger employees have a very different sense of success as well of loyalty.

In a study conducted by the Families and Work Institute entitled, Generation and Gender in the Workforce it was reported that 61% of the entire workforce and 80% of college educated Gen X, Gen Y and Baby Boomers would like to work fewer hours. However, as Boomers start to retire there is a vacuum that these younger employees must fill, thus they are in greater demand.

The initial challenge companies face is attracting this young talent. But many of the Gen X workers are opting out of long hours--and they have high expectations for personal and professional growth, even in entry-level jobs.

According to a recent article in Time Magazine “more than half of Generation Y's new graduates move back to their parents' homes after collecting their degrees, and that cushion of support gives them the time to pick the job they really want. Taking time off to travel used to be a résumé red flag; today it's a learning experience. And entrepreneurship now functions as a safety net for this generation. They grew up on the Internet, and they know how to launch a viable online business.”

With all these options, Generation Y is forcing companies to think more creatively about work-life balance. The employers who do are attracting the best and the brightest of the young talent.

Understanding Gen X and Gen Y is important not just for employers. Older workers—Boomers and Traditionalists need to know how to adapt to the values and demands of their newest colleagues. Afterall, before long, they're going to be the managers and supervisors.

Don't Become a Statistic: Take a Vacation

2007-06-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

According to a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive only 14% of Americans, plan to take a two-week vacation. This is down from 16% in 2006 and a full one-third of American workers don’t use all their vacation time!

All too often we allow demands at work to interfere with our taking time for our self and our family. Granted, the demands at work are intense, but we don’t have to adopt the mentality to just keep on working. I recently gave a presentation at a Fortune 500 corporation and after the program a woman came up to me and said, “I can’t even consider taking a vacation because I’ll be flooded with work when I return.”

Many people are simply taking a long weekend and calling that their vacation, but that isn’t enough. A few days off isn’t enough time to disconnect from the demands of work and daily life and to fully relax and recharge your battery. Think about it, it usually takes at least a couple of days to just distress. You need a good stretch of time to truly unwind and nurture yourself.

Americans are suffering from The Shrinking Vacation Syndrome. This has become so bad that PricewaterhouseCoopers has decided to close its entire national operation twice a year to guarantee that their employees stop working. Now that the 29,000 employees take a vacation the company is seeing positive results.

You need to take breaks from your work to rejuvenate yourself. Your personal and professional lives will be enhanced when you do. The truth is that when you return from vacation, you are a better more productive employee.

Here are some Sanity Saving Solutions for Ensuring Your Vacation is Truly a Vacation:

Set Limits: Let your employer know that you are not going to check email or call into the office during your vacation. Keep in mind that it’s rare that something is so important that it can’t wait until your return to the office or be handled by one of your colleagues.

Fully Disconnect: Leave your BlackBerry at home. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted or concerned about what is going on at work while you are away. Don’t check messages or call the office either! I know, this requires self-discipline, but you can do it. In fact, you must.

Delegate Your Responsibilities: Make sure that your tasks and responsibilities are covered by a colleague or colleagues so that you can fully relax and enjoy your time away

In our 24/7 society it’s all to easy to allow the busyness of life to consume us. But, if you’re running on empty your not doing anyone any good, not your spouse, children, company and certainly not yourself. When you take time off you return to work more focused and productive and in a better frame of mind. So don’t become a statistic, take a vacation.

Leave Your Work at the Office

2007-06-22T06:28:00.001-07:00

More than 2,300 Beyond.com Network visitors responded to a poll “How often do you bring work home?” Surprisingly, only 34.71 percent said, “I never bring work home.” A majority of survey participants responded that they bring work home either once or twice a week (23.09 percent), everyday (29.82 percent) or only on the weekend (12.38 percent).
There is no doubt that with our 24/7 work environment there are more demands being made on our time. May companies are requiring their employees to work longer hours both inside as well as outside the office. Despite these new demands you can still find a health work/life balance by working smarter and setting priorities and boundaries to more effectively manage your time.
Don’t get me wrong establishing a good work/life balance is challenging, but here is a Sanity Saving Tip that will help:
Sanity Saving Tip: Maximize Your Peak Energy Time.
There will always be more to do than you can ever accomplish in the time you have available to you.
One of the keys to work/life balance is to get control over your time by changing they way you think and deal with the never-ending responsibilities that flow over you each day.
We spend too much time on what I call Junk Time. This is the equivalent of Fritos or marshmallows. This is the time we waste on activities before we get to the main task, leaving little room for it.
For example, a person can sit down at his computer fully intending to compose the important memo that needs to be sent out soon. When the computer boots up instead of going straight to the word processing program he checks his email and ends up spending 45 minutes. Email is a classic consumer of junk time. Other dangerous consumers of time include your cell phone, instant messaging, newspapers, magazines, TV, or colleagues who stick their head in your door to say, I don’t mean to interrupt you, but…”
There is a time of day when you are mentally at your freshest, most able to concentrate and think clearly. This is your peak energy period. For most people this is the morning. Figure out when your peak time is. It’s important to know when your energy peak comes and to make sure you use this time to your full advantage doing your most important and demanding work during this time.
Remember, do first things first. Identify the five things you must accomplish on any given day, and then pick the one you absolutely have to do first. This becomes your biggest and ugliest frog. This is the task you must do first. By doing that task first, in essence you eat that frog first—and in so doing you relieve some of the pressure and make the rest of your day much, much easier. It’s a great strategy. But unfortunately most of us leave the biggest and ugliest frog for last—hoping it will go away or somehow become easier. It never does.
However, when you accomplish your toughest task early in the day, it sets the tone for the rest of your day. It creates momentum and builds your confidence. In other words, tackle your most important priorities immediately.
In other words, do the important work first. Put an index card on your desk that reads DO IT NOW! The flood or email, voicemails etc is like a riptide that will pull you out to sea never to return.
The ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the key to great success and work/life balance.

Dads Want Flexible Work Schedules Along with Working Moms

2007-06-19T10:42:00.001-07:00

For the most part we have thought about flex-time policies for working moms, but with more Gen X and Gen Y fathers in the workforce men are seeking work/life balance in a similar way to working mothers.

With the competition for talent and the looming skills shortage as the Baby Boomers reach retirement employers must recognize the necessity for offering flexible work schedules and paid paternity leave as a key strategy for recruiting as well as retaining top talent.

However, one of the keys to making father friendly work environments effective is making such benefits acceptable and communicating this acceptance openly throughout the company.

A new poll conducted by Monster.com indicated that when searching for a job, 82% of working dads view companies more positively if they offer a flex-time benefit.
According to the Monster Intelligence Father's Day survey, 71% of dads with a child under five took paternity leave when offered, compared with just 48% of dads with a school-aged child, indicating that dads are increasingly embracing work/life benefits.
Approximately one-third of dads with toddlers reported that their employer provided paternity leave benefits or flexible work schedules for fathers; among working men whose employers offered paternity leave, 58% took advantage of it, and 71% adopted flexible work schedules when it was offered by their employers.
Monster's survey also reports that if money were no object, 68% of dads would consider being a stay-at-home parent.
The Monster survey demonstrates that the workplace benefit fathers appreciate most is a flexible work schedule (53%), followed by telecommuting (24%), onsite child care (12%), and paid paternity leave (10%).
It is becoming apparent that as more Gen X and Gen Y fathers seek to devote more time to their families companies will have to adopt gender neutral flex-time policies if they are going to retain as well as recruit the best and the brightest.