Work-Life Balance Archives - Sharon M Weinstein

May 19, 2020 By Sharon Weinstein

Keep your Distance…but stay close!

What a change a pandemic can make! Covid-19 has wreaked havoc in our daily lives, disrupted business and the economy, and taken its toll on human lives. What more can we expect, and how can we keep our distance, yet remain close?

I think about a colleague whose dad is quite ill; she needs to be at his bedside, and she is unable to be there, to have a presence, to provide support. I think about how that makes her feel, and I am saddened by her inability to be physically close. I think about my career as a nurse and how how the opportunity to hold a hand, to wipe a forehead, and to smile beyond a mask brought joy to those for whom I provided care, as well as to me.

I think about today’s students at all levels of their education who are having a transformational experience…whose connection is across networks, and who are learning as much about life as they are about required core curriculum. I think about the Class of 2020: the 3.7 million high school seniors for whom natural trauma has been a constant. Born right after 9/11; they were fifth graders during Sandy Hook, and they were sophomores when a gunman attacked Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, FL. Our country has been at war since they were born, and the current war, the Coronavirus Pandemic, has reinforced life’s lessons that change happens.

I think about those on the frontlines, the healthcare workers, first responders and all of those who are working in “essential industries,” who risk their lives and those of their loved ones each and every day so that we may remain safe.

As controls are lifted, and as some communities venture out into a new type of normal, please consider these best practices for distancing:

Limit your time in public; schedule your outings carefully
Keep your distance
Bring hand sanitizer; continue to wear gloves
Wash your hands
Cover your mouth; wear a mask to protect others

Remain close with phone calls to friends and loved ones, video chats, virtual game night (bring out those board games and decks of cards), virtual movie night, exercise videos and workouts online, mindfulness activities, and video games that connect you locally and globally. Use your devices to connect, to see others, to celebrate birthdays and milestones, and to stay connected. Keep your distance…but stay close!

March 20, 2020 By Sharon Weinstein

Life as a Balancing Act…working/schooling at home

Coronavirus has given us a new appreciation for our “spaces.” While many of us are fortunate to have a designated home office, others are not. While some have a designated play space for kids that can be converted in to a mini-schoolroom, others do not. What can you do to keep the balance while confined during this pandemic?

Tips from B is for Balance, 2^nd edition offers this advice:

Create a Designated Work Area at Home

When you are in your home “office,” that’s the time to work, to respond to calls, complete electronic banking, update social media, and reply to electronic mail. When you are finished, walk away from the office and computer. Set aside specific times for checking messages. Then, reward yourself with personal time.

Master Efficiency

Many of us are teleworking; keep in mind that many professionals find it difficult to adjust to working from home, even those who have done it forever. The freedom of working in casual clothing (or not getting out of your pajamas), of not reporting for work at a specific time, and of not being directly supervised by others creates an environment that may become lax. You must be responsible for your own efficiency, effectiveness, and efforts. Is your work environment efficient and ergonomically correct? Does it lend itself to a high level of productivity in a short time span? Are you a morning person—someone who works best in the early hours of the day? Set a schedule to plan your work at home, and then work according to your plan.

Manage your Time Wisely

You schedule appointments with other people in your personal planner, so why not schedule time with yourself? Make appointments for regular exercise or meditation (even more now than ever before). Regardless of whom we are and what we do, we still have the same 24 hours in each day. Do you delegate, or you the one who must do it all to get it right?

Know What Is Important and Why

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey showed that for many of us, the day is filled with tasks that attract our attention and seem urgent, but they may never need to be done. Weed those out and make time for the important tasks. The important duties that are also urgent require our immediate attention. Learn to prioritize. Know which of the things you must complete today, or this week, are most important and engage in systems that can help you to stick to your schedule. This is a great time to master prioritization; you may be “in” for quite some time.

Identify homeschool space

Perhaps your peers have homeschooled for years; suddenly, you find yourselves in the same situation, and by chance, rather than choice. Identify a dedicated space where your child or children can work on class assignments with good lighting, connectivity, and a sense of ownership. Encourage downtime, and recess; for yourselves and your kids.

And, for those of you out of work, again not by choice, and struggling with what to do to maintain a sense of calm, I offer these tips:

No one knows you better than you; work that to your advantage
Become a master of efficiency
Identify those areas of life most important for your well-being and balance and integrate them within your lifestyle
Know your limits
Treat yourself with kindness

What matters most is, do your best! There is no playlist…hundreds of thousands of moms, dads, and grandparents will be forced to balance homeschooling with their day-to-day work responsibilities. Life is a balancing act─ now more than ever before. All of us need downtime…be sure that you take the time in your day to appreciate life, be grateful, and be kind.

December 14, 2019 By Sharon Weinstein

Is it the end of just the beginning?

With just two weeks remaining in 2019, the time has never been better than to address your stress-relief goals. You have the chance to finish this year and begin 2020 with a new mindset and new results.

What are your three greatest stress triggers? After a few relaxing days off, are you eager to get back to your job, or anxious because of that job? Think about it! You’ve had a great vacation, or even a great weekend. Now, it’s time to get back to reality—to whatever stressed you in the first place and necessitated that important respite. There is so much to do and no time to get it done. The first few days are hectic until you settle back into your routine. Emails and snail mail remain unanswered. Your voice-mailbox is full. What you thought would be an easy transition has become a life challenge, and you wonder how you will get through each day with your mind intact.

Life can be challenging and stressful. Creating work/life balance is critical to success and survival. Living the dream, and overcoming the pain is something else.

In today’s economy, stress may be attributed as much to having a job as to not having one. Layoffs around the country impact workers in all settings. If you fear the loss of your job—even a job you don’t like—you experience stress. How will you feed your family? How will you pay your bills? Will you have to think twice before making routine purchases? We all have different stress triggers, but work tops the list.

Causes of work-related stress include being unhappy in your job, a heavy workload, long hours, unclear expectations of your work, bullying and toxic work settings. Is that what you want to return to? Vacations and holidays come and go, but stress is ongoing. This is reality!

“Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.”

– Lily Tomlin

How will you cope now and in 2020?

Apply these simple strategies for finding life balance, and begin to deal with the challenges you would otherwise face:

Create realistic goals.
Manage your time wisely.
Eat healthy.
Learn when to say no and when to let go!

Minimize the pain by choosing one to two strategies to tackle; this process will put you on-track—starting now! Enjoy the holiday season and say hello to being stress-free!

October 28, 2019 By Sharon Weinstein

Let’s talk stress numbers…

What are those numbers?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 60-70% of all disease and illness is stress-related.
Approximately 75 to 90% of physician-office visits are stress-related.
According to the American Institute of Stress, a whopping $300 billion dollars per year is spent on job stress, including absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity, and medical/legal/insurance costs.

What about you?

If you are busy with a demanding job and family and friends who seek your time and attention, you are blessed, but only if you can handle it. Consider the stressors in your own life, including the things that deplete your energy and bring you down.

When your devices are on low battery, do you plug them in? When your vehicle needs fuel, do you fill the tank? What about your most vulnerable commodity – your body – what do you do for it?

You may be a workaholic like I was; I thought the day was thirty hours long. I tried to fit a schedule into each of those hours to achieve life to the fullest, and my strategy did not work! As one who has reinvented myself professionally throughout my career, I am aware of the challenges of work/life balance. I worked long hours and I always felt as if something was missing…and that something was family time. Balancing a career or business with your personal life is possible. Are You Ready to Recharge Your Battery? offers actions you can take to build the life and career you want, need, and deserve.

We need to recharge- so get set, get ready, and let’s go. We’ll explore the process of engaging in life and work, prepare for change and a charge, manage time and resources, and reinvent ourselves. The process begins here and now, with content and action steps at the end of each section that empower to act, recover, and restore to a full charge.

Now is the time to enjoy Are You Ready to Recharge Your Battery? and then pay it forward by sharing the message with your peers through an amazing Amazon or Good Reads review. For your electronic copy, contact me now.

March 24, 2019 By Sharon Weinstein

Are you a meeting planner with too much to do?

Achieving More by Doing Less…what meeting planners need to know-

Are you kidding me?
Is this even possible?
How can I make it happen?
When do I start?

Work-life or workday balance…what is it and why does it matter? Whose responsibility is it? As meeting planners and team players, we share the responsibility of implementing strategies to ensure work-life balance.

Annual conferences, regional meetings…they spell long days, long weeks, and the need to be on- all the time with multiple responsibilities pulling you in multiple directions! There is so much to do and so little time! How can you achieve more and do less?

Is all this a cliché or is it reality? In today’s environment, it certainly seems that it is indeed our reality – a reality of the times in which we live and our expansive scope of work. Balancing work and personal life can be a challenging task. Are you prepared for the challenge?

Is your performance impaired because you are out of balance? Are you caught up in the balancing act, unable to do it all and care only for others in your lives without caring for yourself? You are only as good as you are balanced! If you do not take the time for yourself – yes, even with the array of responsibilities pressuring you now – you will not be the best that you can be. That personal best includes you as parent, partner, friend, partner, professional, educator or event manager. That personal best is what will enable you to reach new heights in your career, to achieve your goals and to maintain your health.

It will start with a successful conference or meeting, allowing you to achieve more and do less, minus the stress. To learn about the five steps needed for balance, opt into https://smwgroupllc.com and receive the secret tool that will get you to, and through, that next meeting.

To start the process: