Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Maintaining A Balance Between Career And Home

To effectively juggle a job and personal life requires a lot planning in order to ensure that there is as little stress as possible. There is no one solution; people are different and circumstances vary. Guilt drives some people to unreasonable limits until they burn out. This needs to be dealt with before plunging into a lifestyle that includes a job as well as home responsibilities.

Not everyone is designed for this lifestyle, so you need to think about it and weigh the possibilities before making a decision that could change your life.

Family Support

Family support is important in developing a work-and-life arrangement that will prevent one from overcoming the other. Supportive colleagues can also help by making adjustments to accommodate the demands being made on you. However, taking time out to become involved in social activities or other enjoyable activities is useful.

Relaxing from time to time makes stresses more bearable. Keeping priorities and goals at the forefront of your thinking also helps. Career achievements and success always come with a price. Keeping them in perspective is important; otherwise, you may look back and regret later.

When you are striving to live up to expectations, whether at work or at home, you may experience a great deal more stress. This is when it pays to be flexible – know that the world won’t come to an end if you have to make some adjustments on either side.

Make Time for Relaxation

Living with the constant pressure of managing more than one role might take its toll eventually if you don’t pay attention. Just as it is important to work to your full potential, you have to take time out for yourself. Relaxing and ensuring some private time for you is extremely important to maintaining a healthy state of mind. If you have children, then keeping them on a predictable routine can help to a certain extent, and having time set aside to spend with them can boost your energy levels.

Many employers offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to their employees. These programs can be of great help when you feel your work is suffering due to the stress factor or if your personal life is falling apart. EAP programs usually provide access to both work and life counselors and therapists so that employees can head off their problems before they become too large to manage.

Finding and making time for work, life, and sleep can be made simpler if you have the right attitude and make the right choices in life.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for six sigma professionals including, lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.