Great Time Management - Work Life Balance

Is Work Life Balance the Holy Grail?

According to a recent CEB global survey of 50,000 workers, Work Life Balance is second only to compensation as the leading motivator for employee attraction and commitment. They also found that employees who felt they had better work life balance were 21% more productive.

If work life balance is so important to us individually and corporately, why are employers and employees alike so dissatisfied with their ability to achieve this Holy Grail. There may be any number of reasons for this disconnect. They could range from a complete misconception of what work life balance really feels like to a poor understanding of actual employee desires.

Most of us have felt strongly that we must put in the extra time at work to be successful at the expense of other important areas of life. For most, this creates stress, anxiety or guilt because our work life balance is out of whack resulting in feelings of neglect for our family, friends and our own personal needs. Many feel achieving a healthy work life balance is unachievable because life is out of control and they don’t have the ability or power to change it.

At Great Time Management we submit that a healthy work life balance can be achieved by using some of our time management techniques.

Six (6) Time Management Keys for Healthy Work Life Balance:

• Key #1: What: Identify your 3–5 Critical to Success (CTS) activities that are absolutely essential in making your life a success. In other words, if you don’t get these things done you won’t be happy. Give them equal weight not necessarily equal time.


• Key #2: How: Create an action plan for each objective. Many people know what is most important but often don’t know how to accomplish it. By creating this plan you will realize how to succeed


• Key #3: When: Develop a sequential schedule that steps you through to the successful completion of your objectives. Be reasonable and make the steps achievable but challenging.


• Key #4: Tracking: Measure your results weekly and adjust your course as the need arises. Keeping score validates your effort, telling you what is working and what is not.


• Key #5: Help: Enlist the help of a trusted associate or coach to hold you accountable to your objectives. This person must be someone you respect who is able to tell it like it is and you will listen.


• Key #6: Reward: Celebrate your successes immediately and often.

Used properly these keys can satisfy your need for healthy work life balance and help restore important relationships you may have neglected in the past.

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Article by John Golden