The document discusses the concept of work-life balance, emphasizing its importance for fulfillment, health, productivity, and relationships. It outlines strategies for achieving a healthy balance, including managing time effectively, setting priorities, and fostering communication about personal and professional life. The text also highlights the evolving nature of work-life interactions and the significance of integrating various life roles for overall well-being.

1. WORK LIFE BALANCE

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To introduce key concepts related to work life
balance
• To examine roles and life priority areas that are part
of work life interactions
• To consider specific time strategies that may be
helpful in encouraging healthy work life interactions

3. WORK LIFE BALANCE
“Make sure that you work enough to support your family,
but be sure that you still have a life!”
Lea Peterson, Age 14
Involves a balance between the demands (and enjoyments)
of the job and the healthy management (and enjoyment) of
life outside work.
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 employees to feel they are
paying attention to all the important aspects of their lives
(CCSHOS, 2008).

4. CITED BENEFITS OF WORK LIFE
BALANCE
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 stress
and risks associated with physical and mental health
conditions.
Greater productivity: Being refreshed and well rested
increases productivity and work performance.
Stronger relationships: Personal and professional
relationships are strengthened and conflicts are
avoided when there is work life balance.

5. WORK LIFE BALANCE
INTERACTION
Work life balance is now becoming known as healthy work-life
interaction
Healthy work life interaction varies from one individual to another
It may also vary over time during different phases of life and there
is no perfect, one-size fits all solution (Alsup, 2013)
Work Life Balance is experiencing a sense of enjoyment and
accomplishment in the interaction of the multiple roles and
priorities within one’s life activities.

6. WORK LIFE BALANCE
INTERACTION
Healthy work life balance or interaction
contributes to having a sense or experience of
Enjoyment and Achievement.
Enjoyment includes satisfaction, happiness, a
sense of wellbeing, and joy in living.
Achievement includes accomplishment,
confidence, a sense of success, and
completion.

7. WORK LIFE ROLES
• Roles are functions of life that reflect
what we expect of ourselves.
• Many are central to our lives and are
easy to identify: Parent, spouse,
partner, manager, employee, mentor,
colleague, student, son or daughter,
friend, coach, community worker, etc.

8. EXPLORING WORK LIFE
ROLES
Create your list of roles by reflecting on the following questions:
1.What are my current responsibilities?
2.What am I accountable for in my life?
3.What do I do during the day and on weekends?
4.What would I call the roles I am playing as I am doing each of
these activities?

9. UNDERSTANDING WORK
LIFE ROLES
• Provides a framework for defining the actions that are
important to us.
• Helps us focus on what priorities need more time and
attention
• Motivates us to increase our time and attention to things that
matter (Alsup, 2013)

10. CONNECT WITH WORK LIFE
PRIORITIES
A priority is something that is important to you and that needs
your attention in the present.
•What are the essential components to a quality life?
•What are you truly passionate about in life?
•What do you value most?

11. THINK ABOUT
Work Life Priority Areas
•Are there any life priority areas you would add
to this grouping that contribute to life purpose
and vision?
•Using the Activity II description sheet, identify
your top three priority areas at this point in time.
•How do you feel about each priority area in
terms of your Work Life Interactions?
Social and
Friends
Family and
Significant
Others
Work/
Volunteering
Physical
Health
Recreational
Hobbies/Vaca
tions
Financial/
Cash Flow
Spiritual and
Personal
Growth

12. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
INVESTING IN WORK
LIFE PRIORITIES
Time is finite. The process of using time effectively
becomes possible when it is viewed as a
commodity that we can choose to spend or
invest.Making the decision to invest time
according to our priorities not only supports the
effective use of each moment, but also
contributes to a life journey that is more
enjoyable and successful (Fulcher, 2008).

13. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE AWARE
Keep a time journal to collect data on how time is
being spent in a typical week. Could also include
keeping track of your moods, conflicts and
contexts. This will allow you to spot patterns and
situations that trigger your stress (Tartakovsky,
2013).Know what is essential and, if necessary, set
clear time boundaries between work and life
routines.

14. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE ORGANIZED
• Some people use a technology-enabled
approach with personal digital assistants (PDAs),
shared online calendars, or project management
software, in order to be organized. Others prefer
to put pen to paper and use hard-copy lists and
organizers. Find out what organizational
methods work for you and your team (Packroo 2014).
Adopt organizational methods that work!

15. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE PLANNED
Break projects into manageable
segments.Create “To Do” lists and assign
deadlines.Do high priority work when you
work best.Schedule hard work during your
“up” time. Know how to recharge your
energy! (Reddy, 2001)Set times that are focused
on work and life priorities.
Make plans that work

16. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE FOCUSED
Drop activities that take too much 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.Learn to say
“no”: Sometimes work life balance means saying “no” and clearly
communicating our limits and boundaries.
When there are interruptions, it takes on average
20 minutes to return to our previous tasks.
(Fitzpatrick, 2014; WEbMD, 2014)

17. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE REFRESHED
Take healthy breaks: Take time to refresh yourself. Try stretching,
walking or meditating throughout the day. Spend time in places that
are quiet and uplifting: Be beside water, listen to the sounds of nature
around you, or clear your mind of the speed and complexity of life to
experience small blessings.Take time to redeem energy: Use vacation
days. Working to the point of burnout and not performing well has
few benefits over the long-term.Spend time without electronic
communications: Allot private time without the use of technology or
the need to immediately check communications as messages arrive.

18. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE CONNECTED
Check in to see how those who are closest to you are doing. Make
time to send a note or text, or call to say have been thinking about
others.In your calendar, initiate a regular activity or plan to do
something together with your spouse, family or close
friends.Schedule and attend important events and activities that
involve those closest to you.Commit time to giving to others. This
may involve volunteering in activities to help those who you do not
know, or carrying out an act of kindness for those on your street or
in your neighborhood.

19. EFFECTIVE USE OF
TIME:
BE WELL
Make time in your schedule for wellness: Begin walking or adopt a
physical activity routineBegin opting for healthier food choices, one
choice at a timeAim to get enough sleep each dayAttend to regular
physical health checkupsJoin with others in making small steps
towards wellness

20. THINK ABOUT
Priorities and Time Strategies
•What roles or life areas did you think about in
terms of work life balance or interaction?
•What time strategies might be helpful in
encouraging increased healthy work life
interactions ?

21. MODEL WORK-LIFE
BALANCE
Managers who pursue work-life balance in their own
lives model appropriate behaviour 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).

22. FULLY INTEGRATED PROFESSIONALS
“There is a new norm emerging. There is a subtle shift occurring, evoking
compassion and balance in the workplace. This one is so warmly and
wonderfully subtle we could easily overlook its importance. More and more
people are talking about their families openly at work, gatherings and
associations, but now it’s different. We are starting to see more fully integrated
professionals.
This piece about communicating and sharing more about one’s life is a major
shift. It goes far beyond “Billy hit a homerun” or “Mary is in honors classes”.
Instead, professional men and women in leadership positions are talking about
their families...
Now they are weaving their stories and insights from this part of their lives;
sharing how it has influenced them professionally in how they lead and the
choices they make. We are starting to see more fully integrated professionals”.
(FORBES 2013)

23. WORK LIFE NAVIGATION
“Another term I sometimes use is work/life navigation. In sailing there’s a
term called “sounding” – it’s when you put the pole down into the water
to determine how deep it is. That’s what work-life navigation is: you’re
constantly “checking in” with the people in your life. It is fluid and you
have to navigate through it. You are constantly reorienting and
reconfiguring the logistics in your life to make it all work. There’s a
constant shifting due to changes in one’s life.”
(Plexico & Miller, 2011)

24. TALK ABOUT IT
With someone close to you, share the definition of work life balance as
given in the presentation.
In the broadest sense, work life balance is experiencing a sense of
enjoyment and accomplishment in the interaction of the multiple roles
and priorities within one’s life activities.
Ask others about their approaches to work life integration.
Share lessons learned about how to navigate work life roles and priorities
to ensure balance, wellness, and enjoyment of life.