How to achieve a good work/life balance

Employers can now allow workers to cash in up to a week's leave and achieving a work/life balance has probably never been more important. The Daily Post deputy chief reporter Abigail Hartevelt speaks to a couple of Rotorua locals who have managed to achieve a work/life balance.

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SIX years ago Rotorua's Roger Pedley was suffering a case of burn-out.
"I was frustrated, that sense of not being on top of things and being out of control. I was a bit more snappy than I usually would be. I felt over responsible," he says.
"We go through stages in our lives where situations just build up and build up and then suddenly it's all on top of you."
He says it wasn't until after he left the job he was doing that he realised he could have coped but the business of his life had clouded the fact.
Roger describes himself as being "over responsible" back then, which in turn created stresses and expectations.
He now tries to live more for the moment and not worry about what's ahead.
He believes he has more of a work/life balance. Most years he takes six weeks' leave and last year he and his wife Rosemary took two months off.
"We decided there were more things in life than just working all the time."
A trained counsellor, he now runs his own business as a professional and personal development coach helping others make improvements.
He says many people have a misconception about what work/life balance is - thinking it's about fitting more into life.
Roger says work/life balance is making sure one thing doesn't dominate everything else.
People should look at what aspects of their lives are work related, family related, community related and interest related, he says.
"The key is to find space in our business to reflect on those."
Finding the balance has always been important but even moreso now with more immediacy in everything we do, thanks partly to technology.
"There is no doubt that the levels of stress and anxiety are at the highest levels they have ever been." Roger says a lot of bigger organisations are realising their staff work better when they have a work/life balance.
There are employees in smaller organisations who are more stressed as their jobs are not guaranteed and the cost of living has risen while wages haven't.
"I do see people who are burnt out. They have reached that stage where they couldn't care less."
One of the first pieces of advice he has for people is to start a gratitude diary in which they should write what they are grateful for every day.
"This refocuses them on what things are positive in their life... It sounds simple but it is very powerful."
Another tip is to do two things a week that you enjoy.
"For me it's reading. I set Sunday mornings aside to read. That time makes me grateful for life."
Workaholics need to set a limit on how many hours they work a week. Those working 14 hours a day, for example, should reduce it to 10 hours and tell their significant other or boss so they can keep an eye on those hours. "If nothing else, it gets them to see how much of their life is filled with work."
He says he knows of people who work more than 40 hours a week and still have a good work/life balance but emphasises the 40-hour week is there for a reason - to give us time.
It's hard to say if there are jobs which make it harder to find that balance but Roger sees some people working in very busy environments, such as a hospital emergency departments, who appear to cope well.
He reckons it's because they have the right attitude.
Other strategies that help are having time apart from your cellphone and limiting television time if you're struggling to find enough time to do all you want.
Having a work/life balance, Roger says, is about making changes to how you think, establishing values by which you want to live and realising what is important in your own life.
"If you just carry on hoping things will be different - they won't be."
 
See also: Cathy's good work/life balance
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How to achieve a work/life balance
Take time for yourself to reflect on what you want in life
Start a gratitude diary to daily record what you are thankful for
Make sure you do two things a week that you enjoy
If you are a workaholic, set a limit on how many hours you are going to work a week and tell someone
Make yourself unavailable at times by not carrying your cellphone
Make sure work doesn't dominate everything to the detriment of your family and health
Leave work at work
To switch off from work at home focus on the task you are doing at that moment
Keep a notebook next to your bed to write down things that you need to remember
Don't necessarily base success on material items and status
Look at ways to help others
Master the art of saying no
Be lighthearted at times
Stop gossiping and complaining
Enjoy life