Here we are. Part two of our blog on Work Life Balance Training. For those of you who missed reading part one, we advise you to head over there and read that first. Then when you read part two, it will make all the more sense to you!
Now I’m sure many of you must be wondering what we do in our Work Life Balance Trainings. Apart from sharing its meaning like we did in our previous blog Work Life Balance Training – The Road to Happiness, we also share the various areas that if focused on can lead to a fulfilling life. And which are those areas? Well, let me tell you through a tool we commonly use, the Wheel of Life…
The Wheel of Life
What we have above is popularly known as The Wheel of Life. It’s a fantastic tool for throwing insights into our current and desired Work Life Balance.
You will get many different versions of the tool if you search on the internet. This is one such version. It will help you get an idea of the areas that your wheel can have. Now why I say ‘can have’ is because you may want to add, modify or delete areas based on those that you feel are important for you. I would, however, also advise you to have a good think about all those mentioned here. Why? Because sometimes we feel only certain areas are important for us and give us happiness. Others can be pretty much deleted from our lives! When in reality that may not be the complete truth if given a little thought too and approached with more openness.
Need an Example?
Let me give you an example of what I mean in my own life.
So, I am an introvert.
And I always thought that being social was just not my thing. It wasn’t something that came naturally to me. And I felt that I probably wasn’t good at it either. So, conveniently I had knocked that area off my list saying it really wasn’t giving me any joy nor adding to my happiness!
But to my surprise I realized something quite the contrary a few years back when I started training. I actually realized that I can connect beautifully with people and am really good at making them feel comfortable. That’s why so many of them enjoy sharing and interacting with me. And in turn, their comfort with me, actually makes me more comfortable even in the social setting. Which actually means that although I am an introvert, I can still have some pretty amazing conversations with people and enjoy them too!
So, instead of outright knocking off the ‘Social’ area from my Wheel of Life, it may actually do me good to explore this area further. I might just see a very different facet of myself. One that I never thought existed. And one that could make my journey at work and in life more exciting and fulfilling.
Let’s Start the Rating Process
Now once we identify the areas what do we do next? We carefully ponder over each of them and start rating them. You can rate each of them on a scale of 1 to 10 as to how important they are in your life.
For example, for me, Personal Growth is very important. Now what could be classified as Personal Growth? For some people it could be about reading books and articles which aid their Self Development. Others may like to spend time interacting with people who can help them grow personally. Some like to attend training sessions from where they learn new things and improve on themselves. For others, it’s about doing new things or pursuing their hobbies and perfecting them. And then again you have those, like me, who like to spend time reflecting on themselves and experimenting with various tools that can help them become better versions of themselves.
In short, try to think of all the different activities that can come under each area of the wheel for you before giving a rating. It will give you a more holistic and accurate picture. Then give them each a rating based on their importance for you. For me, for instance, Meditation is of prime importance. And I make it a point to spend some time doing it every day. I therefore rate the Personal Growth area for me a 9/10.
Post that, reflect on how much time you are actually spending in these areas. For example, I would rate Finances as a 6/10 for me. How much time do I actually spend in this area? Well, I definitely spend time at work earning money. But it’s also important that I spend time in seeing how best I can utilise the money I have earned through financial planning. And do I do enough of that? Not really. I could definitely pull up my socks in that area!
Do so similarly for all the other areas too.
And now reflect on what the entire exercise has generated. The areas with the maximum difference between the two ratings are the areas that you really need to focus on to bring about a work life balance in your life. And if you work on spending time in these areas it can help create a happier and more fulfilling life.
Planning our Work Life Balance
What next? Creating a plan to up these specific areas. Now whether you want to spend time daily on some of the activities, include it in your weekly plans perhaps on a Friday or do them during the weekend, it’s all up to you. So go ahead, make some changes in the way you are living life. Shift some things around. Check if you can do some together. But always ensure it’s practically possible to do. After all, you don’t want to end up creating a plan that’s not achievable. As it will not add to your happiness and will instead further rob you off it!
So while you push your mind to figure out how best you can do it, remember to be realistic. And if you need some help we’re always there. We can arrange a work life balance training for your team and together help you get back on track to a happier and possibly healthier life!