Work-Life for the Hourly Workers

Writer for Employee Benefits News, Kathleen Koster recently reached out to me to discuss the challenges faced by hourly workers when it comes to work life balance.  In her article, Nixing 9 to 5 - Flexible work strategies for employers with a nonexempt workforce,  she addresses the issues, “it can be difficult to remember that not every employee has the option to work at home when her child is sick, or flex his hours to go to a mid-day doctor's appointment.”   Read more about the other side of work-life balance – the side where there is even less control than in the corporate world.

Willpower

According to the abstract on a new book by leading social psychologist and scientist Roy F. Baumeister’s latest research, he reveals that the average person spends four hours of their day battling temptation. “While self-control is biologically rooted, we have the capacity to manipulate our nature. Willpower works like a muscle that can be strengthened with practice, and fatigued with overuse.”  Sounds like a book worth reading for those of us with loud little gremlins in our head.

Happiness at Work

Srikumar Rao is known as “happiness guru” of the business world – it might be because he has a book called, Happiness at Work and has taught at the Columbia Business School and the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley on the subject. Or it might because the man has some really interesting ideas about personal accountability, or what he calls “mental models” and finding joy and meaning at work.   In this podcast he talks about how we make the world we live in and how we have the power to change it at any given moment by checking the validity of the mental models we create.  Check out the book or podcast if you’re searching for more happiness at work. 

Gratitude

One way that you can reduce the level of stress in your life is through gratitude.  Many times in workshops I hear people focus on what is not working and what they do not have, the emphasis is on what is lacking.  What would happen in your life if you took one week to and changed your focus to being grateful for all that you do have? What if for one week you could see all things that are working well and what if you wanted what you already have manifested in your life?   What would it be like to feel, even if just for a week, that nothing is missing from your life?  Owner and creator of the I'm Thankful Network, Sue Lundquist, has made it her life mission to help people focus on being thankful for what they already have through her radio network.  If the idea of practicing gratitude for one week is too much, start with an hour of radio and tune into one of Sue’s shows.    

Triangulation and Balance

What is triangulation you ask and how can it lead to better balance at work?  Best to let my friend, colleague and leadership coach Tom Patterson answer in this column he penned for the Microsoft Office Blog.   I will give you a hint: triangulation is NOT good for building balanced relationships!

Stand Up and Live Longer

A past workshop attendee sent me a blurb from Bill Phillips, Editor of Men's Health post on Yahoo Health this week.  I was shocked to read it – in a 13 year study that looked at lifestyles of 17,000 people at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, it was discovered that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.  The study he referred to was published last year in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise which is the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. Apparently this is not the first or only study to reveal similar results.  Bill summed the information up best, “In other words, it doesn’t matter how much you exercise or how well you eat. If you sit most of the day, your risk of leaving this world clutching your chest—whether you’re a man or women—as much as doubles.”    My suggestion to you right now – get up and walk around a bit!! 

Women, Balance & The Economy

I believe that work life balance is a gender neutral issue.  Both men and women face challenges in creating harmony in their life, though it may show up in different ways, and men and women use different words to describe their struggles, the themes are largely the same.  There is one exception, and that is with women who are senior in their roles.  What I see taking shape is an either/or conversation about continuing at a senior level or dedicating time to raising a family.   It is a conversation, which I have yet to whiteness in male workshop participant.   

The Wall Street Journal sees this too and last week convened around 200 leaders in business, academia and government to discuss why there are so few leaders and devise some actions that companies (and government) can take to better support advancement of women in the workplace.   Some key takeaways include:

·        Strong talent management programs

·        Development of more mentorship and sponsorship opportunities

·        Promotion based on potential

·        Development of strong P&L expertise

·        CEO accountability for women development programs

Read the full report for interviews, videos, data and more suggested actions.

Raising Balanced Children: Gottman and Emotional Intelligence

How many of you who are parents actively have conversations about balance and managing stress with your children?  What I find in teaching workshop and writing on the subject is that balance and stress are mostly thought of as adult issues.  I have found that lack of balance and feelings of stress do not discriminate against age.  In fact, many children and even more teenagers are experiencing more intense demands on their time and performance than ever before.  Learning to develop skills in your children that build Emotional Intelligence is one way you can help your child navigate adulthood with a better understanding of their own triggers and emotional expressions.  In this 30 minute video, Dr. John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington, world-renowned researcher (and personal inspiration to me), discusses how to raise an emotionally intelligent child.  A must watch for anyone with children in thier life. 

The Happiness Advantage

In The Happiness Advantage, author Shawn Achor, believes people can reprogram their brains to become more positive which will result in increased professional success. The book is based on his experience as Head Teaching Fellow at Harvard for "Positive Psychology" and one of the largest studies of happiness and potential even done to identify an improve the formula for happiness. He believes that you can increase your productivity by 30 percent by increasing your level of happiness and that happiness is the precursor to success not the result of it. He sees happiness as a work ethic, a notion I totally support. Watch a short video on The Happiness Advantage to learn more about his work. 

Productivity Tips for Outlook 2010

Research says that people spend half of their day in their inbox answering e-mail.(No wonder people feel like they type all day!) So if you are like most people, you might be in the market to reduce the amount of time you spend plunging through e-mail as a way to create more time in your day. Matthew Woodget, a Senior Product Manager in the Information Work Group at Microsoft shared with me this short practical video with tips on how to get your inbox to zero. You’ll learn some great tips about creating shortcuts and using tasks as well as some other nifty features in Office 2010.

Emotional Intelligence Quiz

For those of you who have heard the term Emotional Intelligence before but are not sure exactly what it means, it’ the ability, capacity, skill; or, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.  In a nutshell Emotional Intelligence is about, perceiving, using, and understanding emotions.    It involves the skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and lastly putting it all together with how you manage relationships.  People who have high Emotional Intelligence have the ability to read other people well, more specifically read others emotions well.   Want to know how well you are able to read emotions?  Take this quiz and find out. 

What is About Happiness That Makes Us Unhappy?

There is an article today in The Wall Street Journal about happiness that is worth the read for those of you on the quest to create more joy.   The article, Is Happiness Overrated, explores some new research that suggest people who “focus on living with a sense of purpose as they age are more likely to remain cognitively intact, have better mental health and even live longer than people who focus on achieving feelings of happiness.”  The research goes on to say that too much focus on trying to be happy, can actually make you less happy, and that it’s more about the type of things one focuses on that can bring about true happiness. 

Don’t Leave Before You Leave

This TEDTalk by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg address some key issues around why there are so few women leaders. Through geared for women, the message is impactful and beneficial for both genders to hear.  In short: don’t leave before you leave.  Many times people, men and women, check out of their jobs long before they actually leave, or even attempt to leave. There is a name for this and it is called presenteeism -  employees who show up for work, but who are not mentally present.   Beyond presenteeism, this video talks passionately about the ability to for women to understand their abilities as well as “own” their successes and the importance of great partnerships at home and at work to support success.   Most impactful for me, was the message for women to always take a seat at the table.  This was the exact advice I got from a powerful mentor of mine at Microsoft. She empowered me to take a seat at the table, literally and in how I was showing up in all elements of my role.  She also taught me that great executives are not given opportunities, they take them. Her presences in my life inspired me to create a seat at the table I wanted to be at it and with gratitude I thank her for showing me it was possible. 

Reminders about Balance

Author and Austrian Nigel Marsh talks about work life balance in this TedTalk – he talks about how important it is not to put your life in the hands of corporations.  It is inspiring for those needing a little nudge with your own balance plans. Enjoy.

Time Perspectives

This video by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in London is a MUST watch those seeking ways to better manage their time and those with children.  RSA works to generate new models for tackling the social challenges of today.  The video explores how different cultures, cities and generations look at time and the impact to society. Very eye opening on many levels. If The Secret Power of Time speaks to you, visit the RSA Webpage for even more videos that explore social issues such as changing the education paradigm and 21st century enlightenment.

Snow and Balance

Interesting article in the New York Times today on work life balance and it’s role in the snow clean up debacle over the Christmas holiday in New Jersey. The article touches on when is it ok to leave work to honor family obligations when a crisis is brewing – should workers stay or go and does the gender of the worker matter in how their choice is viewed by employees or in this case, voters. We have come a long way in how work life balance is perceived in so many ways, and in others, there is still so much progress to be made. A thought provoking article for sure.

How the People You Live With Impact You

To many of you who live with a grumpy or happy person it's not a huge surprise that the people you live with can impact your mood and over all wellbeing. Research has shown that the people you live with have a huge impact to how you feel about your life and yourself. The Gallup Management Journal just released a study, (taken from the book, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements) that finds the people you share a household with have a profound impact on your wellbeing in five areas. The researched showed that, “when it comes to overall wellbeing, a person is more than two times as likely to be thriving when another person in the same household is thriving, compared to living with a person who is not thriving.”

What is your household like and what role do you play? Are you a creator of positive vibes?

Momentum

With each new year comes exuberance and optimism in all of us at the chance to start fresh, begin new ventures, let go of old patterns and establish new behaviors. I’ve never been a fan or making New Year’s resolutions, rather I do some intention setting for what I choose to manifest moving forward in the months to come. Either way, many of us spend so much time thinking about moving forward this time of the year that we forget to examine what has been holding us back in the areas we want to move forward. Why now is the question I pose to you all as you set your resolutions and intentions – why now? What is different about this moment and this year that now the time to change an old behavior or create a new one? What in your life has changed that you are now ready to put action behind your resolution or intention? What are you willing to let go of in order to move forward? Build momentum in your life by claiming your motivation for change as much as aiming for your goal. Either way, the choice is yours for what you want to create in 2011.