The term "work-life balance" as used by Sharon does not just refer to alternatives to the conventional "9-to-5" work day. She says that, “Some of the most powerful ways to build work-life balance into your next or your current job exists entirely in the realm of self-management. She admonishes, “They are largely up to you.”
Eliminating Energy Drains
Sharon advises in her article, “The strategy that creates the greatest impact is to eliminate energy drains. These are the challenges and issues that nag at you, drive you crazy, worry you, or in some other way steal your attention and distract you from being in the present with whatever or whoever is in front of you. Many people have a lot of them. The more you have, the less in control of your life you feel.”
I think her message in this article would strike a cord with many different kinds of people, no matter if they are a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, or a stay-at-home mom/dad. That is why I wanted to highlight the concepts it contained, so you can see what sense it make for you in your life.
Unfortunately learning to identify and then to eliminate energy drains is a process, not an instant event, according to Sharon. “It takes time to develop the habit of recognizing when your energy is draining out of you and then to identify what is causing it to do so. It also takes time to develop skill in addressing the source of the energy drain so that it is eliminated, whenever possible, and when it's not possible, some other adjustment is made.”
In Sharon’s coaching work she has found that one of most identified energy drains is clutter in the home (they would really stress if they saw my desktop). She says, “The solution is EITHER to implement one of the many known clutter solutions OR to make your peace with there being some clutter in your home. Period. Either get it handled or stop stressing about it.”
My solution is to stack up everything on my desktop, and then put that stack in an enclosed shelf or cabinet… stress gone. At your leisure you can then take out the material you have collected and layer by layer toss or file it as appropriate. It’s amazing how the “have to keep” importance of a hard copy desktop document diminishes after it has been on the shelf for a week.
Other energy drains mentioned in Sharon’s article are rush hour traffic and long commutes, for which she had detailed recommendations. She says, “People worry about all kinds of things: what does my manager think of me, how will I ever save up enough money to send my children to college, does my frequent headache mean I have a brain tumor, what about global warming, does my child have a learning disability, how will we figure out what to do with Mother?
Sharon believes the solution for worry is straightforward. She recommends that you, “Ask yourself if there is some action you need to take. If so, do it, as quickly as possible.”
The bottom line, Sharon believes, is your work-life balance depends on how effectively you allocate your energy and attention. Eliminating leaks she says, “… are likely to make a big difference for you.” According to her strategy you start by noticing when and where your energy gets drained. It is important to notice what's causing the loss, and address the underlying cause.
I think we can agree that learning to reduce the energy leaks in your life will take some investment of time, like learning any new complex skill. What you will need to do is manage your own expectations so that how well or how poorly you're doing with it doesn't become just another energy drain!
If what’s really bothering you is all of the commuter traffic and the long distances you have to travel to work, I think your best solution is to take a Riverside County job in the desert, where everything is close. Or, if your concern is actually on a larger scale like global warming, guess what, you get same advice. Think of a job here as taking one more polluting vehicle out of sitting in a metropolitan area rush hour traffic jam.
On the other hand, if your concern is a little closer to home such as what to do with Mother, the answer to that situation is simple… bring her along too! Come to think of it, the best work-life balance you are probably going to achieve is right here in the Desert. No miracles are promised, but you may just find those frequent headaches are gone also.