Balancing The Books To Achieve Synergy Between Life And Work Is Possible

April 12, 2010 - PRLog -- Creating a well-balanced lifestyle does not happen overnight. It takes hard work to organise and follow direction. It is important to identify the different components of your life and to prioritise and compromise to achieve the most suitable fit. Balance certainly has a different meaning for different people at different stages of life.

Many years ago I came across the ‘F list’. I may have customised it over the years and explored a number of alternatives. Be that as it may, all credit to whom-ever introduced the concept originally.

Whenever I assess the status of my life and the way forward, I tend to consider the following words starting with the letter ‘F’. These words, whilst self explanatory and used as part of our daily language, can have an enormous impact on our lives. The first of these words is ‘Family’, followed by ‘Faith’, ‘Finance’, ‘Fitness’, ‘Fun’, ‘Friends’ and ‘Fame’.  

As a working mom it is just impossible to pay full attention to all these aspects constantly. Without an understanding husband or another support system, it would be impossible to manage the challenges associated with a balanced life.

Another focus is to combine activities in order to contribute to a number of areas simultaneously.  As an example we as family enjoy sailing together.  We decided as family to do the deck hand training as part of our holiday and the following year we completed the skipper training.  We also have dear friends that enjoy sailing as well.

The benefit is genuine family time, fun with friends and some fitness and exercise. It is much needed rest and relaxation, some valuable time away from work stress, PCs and homework that tends to interrupt home life.

Balancing finances, family time, family financial expectations and working hours do require some tough decisions and compromise.  In my situation the consensus reached by the family was that I should work half day and I’ll still recommend it as an ideal solution.  

Practically I still do not think it is possible to work eight hours a day, spend between two and four hours travelling and manage a family.  I strongly recommend that mothers consider flexible working hours, ensure that work and schools are as close as possible to the home.  It is usually a bold decision, but as family you just have to make the call and implement the changes in lifestyle to enable the family unit to make it through on a lower salary.  We often postpone this decision in the hope of an improvement in circumstances, but my experience is that it will never be easier to cut on the financial income.  

Fortunately, aside from a carefully worked out budget and fiscal discipline, the increase in access to technology and lower cost of investment in applications means that anyone can acquire the benefits of mobile connectivity.

Following a flexible working schedule does not mean that you cannot be on-top of your profession.  You need to ensure excellent work (having to deliver the same results as full time employees in almost half the time), you need to develop skills that are scarce and you need to build a trust relationship with the clients/employees.  You need to identify the skill and invest in your own development.  On two occasions I attended courses in Germany to benefit from training in an area that no other resources have done in South Africa.  I have negotiated as a consultant with the two clients that I’ll pay the air ticket and accommodation if they will cover the costs of the course.  Even ten years later my expertise in that area is still acknowledged in the market place.

Your fame (including future growth) remains your responsibility and it is important to set goals for yourself.  It is not always achieved in the short term.  For example I completed my Masters Degree about twenty years after initial enrolment, but still it is completed.  I’m also at the early stages of doctoral studies, but I need some answers from a business perspective and the window of opportunity is now, so it should not take another twenty years.

It is also important not to be self-centred, but to contribute to social development.  Faith is an important priority in my life and I had to incorporate it into the balanced lifestyle.  While the children were still at school we were involved in youth activities, both on cultural and religious level, again combining the family, faith and wonderful spiritual friends.   The last few years the social development work is also integrated with the social investment programme that is run by triVector.

Due to the fact that I was unwilling to work eight hours a day, I began working for myself. Later, as part of a joint initiative with a few colleagues, I started a small business.  The company is growing and one of the objectives is to provide a stable, healthy organisation that is also willing to support and endorse a balanced lifestyle.

Yes you may not get the maximum financial remuneration and it’s true you may have to combine the growth programme with your hobby. You may encourage fun that is acceptable to all members of the family and identify friends that share your interest – but, and this is hugely significant, it is all worthwhile to securing a balanced lifestyle, rather than to continue in survival mode.

Despite all of these challenges, the fact remains that a balanced, interesting and inspirational career life is still achievable.