This document provides information on encouraging work-life balance. It discusses how most Canadians feel overloaded trying to balance their various roles and how technology can make separating work and personal life more difficult. It defines work-life balance as having equilibrium among priorities like work, family, health and community. The document outlines strategies for achieving balance, like setting boundaries between work and personal time, evaluating social interactions, being planned, allowing downtime, and modeling balance.

1. Mental Fitness in Action:
Encouraging Others

2. Learning Objectives
• To understand the
• To understand

3. You feel like you’ve lost control of your life
You often feel guilty about neglecting your
different roles
You frequently find it difficult to concentrate on
the task at hand
You’re always tired
58% of Canadians report “overload” associated with their many roles
– work, home and family, friends, physical health, volunteer and
community service.

4. Session Overview
• Work Life Balance Defined
• Encouragement Defined
• Preferred Forms of Encouragement
• Your Style of Encouraging
• Application Activity

5. More than ever before, Canadians play many different roles in their lives.
They are workers, parents, spouses, friends, caregivers of elderly
relatives and volunteers in their communities. They must also make room
in their lives for taking care of their own physical and mental well-being.
Not surprisingly, achieving balance among all these competing priorities
can be difficult. This overload can be heightened by new technologies
that were actually intended to make our work lives easier – through
email, cell phones and other electronic devices, many workers are
expected to be available 24/7, making the achievement of a balance
between work and the rest of our lives even more difficult.
Achieving work/life balance means having equilibrium among all the
priorities in your life – this state of balance is different for every person.
But, as difficult as work/life balance is to define, most of us know when
we’re out of balance. To find out more about your own personal balance:

6. I feel like I have little or no control over my work life
2. I regularly enjoy hobbies or interests outside of work
3. I often feel guilty because I can’t make time for everything I want to
4. I frequently feel anxious or upset because of what is happening at work
5. I usually have enough time to spend with my loved ones
6. When I’m at home, I feel relaxed and comfortable
7. I have time to do something just for me every week
8. On most days, I feel overwhelmed and over-committed
9. I rarely lose my temper at work
10. I never use all my allotted vacation days
11. I often feel exhausted – even early in the week
12. Usually, I work through my lunch break
13. I rarely miss out on important family events because of work
14. I frequently think about work when I’m not working
15. My family is frequently upset with me about how much time I spend working

7. Work Life Balance
involves A balance between the demands (and
enjoyments) of the job and the healthy management (and
enjoyment) of life outside work (CCSHOS, 2008).
Work-life balance is a daily effort to make time for family,
friends, community participation, spirituality, personal growth,
and self care.,
Healthy work life balance enables people employees to
feel they are paying attention to all the important aspects of
their lives.

8. Why It’s Important
A healthy balance between work and home should be a priority for everyone. Implementing proper work-life
balance offers many important benefits. There are, however, many hazards linked with an unbalanced work
and home life.
Risks
Poor health: Working long hours without taking time to relax will take its
toll on health.
Unresolved conflict: A lack of balance can create conflicts at work and at home.
Poor performance: Taking on too much responsibility will lead to exhaustion and cause performance to suffer.
Financial loss: The impact on health and productivity takes a financial toll on both individual employees and
organizations.
Benefits
Fulfillment: People who successfully implement work life balance improve their sense of
fulfillment at work and at home.
Health: A healthy work life balance decreases the risk of heart disease and other health
problems.
Greater productivity: Being relaxed and well rested increases productivity and improves
work performance.
Stronger relationships: Personal and professional relationships are strengthened and
conflicts are avoided when there is work life balance.

9. Work-life balance is the ability to experience a sense of control and
to stay productive and competitive at work while maintaining a
happy, healthy home life with sufficient leisure. It’s attaining focus
and awareness, despite seemingly endless tasks and activities
competing for your time and attention (Davidson, 213)
Being Productive at Work
Maintaining Healthy and Quality Personal life
Attaining Focus and Awareness of What's important

10. Choosing to Be
A world that consists of human “doings” – not human beings –
scurrying about to get things done, with no sense of breathing space,
is not a place where you or I would likely want to live. I don’t want
to be part of a culture of overwhelmed individuals who can’t manage
their own spaces or the spaces common to everyone. I don’t want to
live in a society, or a world, of time-pressed people who have
nothing left to leave for future generations. My guess is that you
don’t either.
I choose – I hope – to live in a society composed of people leading
balanced lives, with rewarding careers, happy home lives, and
enough breathing space to enjoy themselves. I’m convinced that for
much of the world, the pace of life will speed up even more. So the
future will belong to those people who steadfastly choose to
maintain control of their lives, effectively draw upon their
resourcefulness and imagination, and help others to do the same.

11. A work/life balance survey conducted by TrueCareers
found that 70% of more than 1,500 respondents said
they don’t have a healthy balance between their
personal and work lives (Lockwood,2003)

12. Reflecting
What proprieties come to mind when you hear the expression: Work-
Life balance:
• Relaxation
• Family
• Fun
• Service
When there is work life balance, what words come to mind?
• Fulfillment –
• Well-being, and personal well-being/wellbeing.
• Simply being happy.
• harmony with life.
• Contentment

13. Experiencing
Accomplishment

14. Building and
maintinainRelations
hips

15. Making a difference

16. Learning new things

17. Adopting Healthy
routines

18. Define work-life boundaries: Set times that are focused on work and
life priorities
Make a distinction between work and the rest of your life. Protect
your private time by turning off electronic communications. Don’t be
available 24/7

19. Evaluate the nature social
exchanges and their impact
When there are interruptions, it takes on average 20
minutes to return to our previous tasks
Drop activities that take time or energy: Do all of our
activities add value to our lives and those of others? For
example, spending time listening to gossip takes energy
and impacts our attitudes.
Manage online exchanges: Sometimes we become caught
up in continuously checking and responding to online
social exchanges both during our work and personal times.
(WEbMD, 2014)

20. Be Planned and
Organized
Find an organizational method that works: ‘
• Some people use a technology-enabled approach
with personal digital assistants (PDAs), shared online
calendars (like Google’s), or project management
software
• Others prefer to put pen to paper and use hard-copy
lists and organizers.
• Find out what organizational methods work for your
colleagues and teams (Packroo 2014)

21. Allow for Down
Time
Take healthy breaks: Take time to refresh yourself. Try
stretching, walking, or meditating/praying throughout
the day.
Spend time in places that are quiet and uplifting:
Being beside water, listening to the sounds of nature
around you, or clearing your mind of the speed and
complexity of life to experience small blessings
Take time off: Use vacation days. Working to the point
of burnout and not performing well has few benefits
over the long-term.

22. Model Work-Life Balance
• Managers who pursue work-life balance in their own
lives model appropriate behavior and support
employees in their pursuit of work-life balance.
• They create a work environment in which work-life
balance is expected, enabled, and supported.
• Holding discussions within workplace teams provides
an opportunity for identifying challenges and
strategies for encouraging healthy work-life balance.
(Heathfield, 2014)

23. Application Activity
Work Life Balance: