Get the Work Life Balance Right - Take Time to Relax and Recharge Your Batteries

The season of good will is upon us, and for many people, this will be the first time that they have taken a complete break from their business or job for a few months. Make the most of this and promise yourself and your family complete down time. Do not start preparing reports or proposals, sorting out your office or anything else that is work related or takes mental effort. Let your mind relax and busy yourself with your friends and family or potter around the house, take a walk or simply just watch television. Do the things you wouldn't normally do in a working week.

Regular relaxation is essential for your wellbeing which will result in a longer and more fulfilled life. Commit now to be good to yourself in the year to come. Here are a few tips for keeping yourself energised and relaxed:-

1. Take time off every week

When you run your own business it is very easy to get caught up in doing something towards it 7 days a week. Every single study I have ever come across in this area confirms that we are far more productive if we take a least 1 complete days rest.

2. Take Mini-breaks

Try to take a 3 day break every 3 months. During that time, as suggested above, do not get tempted to catch up on work. Busy yourself and your mind on other things. If you do anything work related you are keeping your mental gears in motion which means you wont be getting the rest you need.

3. Take at least one holiday a year

Have at least 2 full weeks off per year during which time you do nothing that is work related. If you go away and take any work with you, you will not be giving your mental batteries the chance to re-charge and you will come back just as tired as when you went. You can either work or relax, you can't do both!

4. Take a break today

If you are caught up in a task, discussion or you are finding yourself emotionally drained at work, take a break from what you are doing and do something different for a while. As the saying goes, "a change is as good as a rest." If you are able, take a walk and clear your head. Let your mind wonder and think relaxing thoughts, thoughts that make you smile such as a time on holiday or a loved one. You can not perform at your best when you are feeling emotionally charged. Just taking yourself away from the situation for a while will clear your head and you can come back to the task with renewed vigour.

5. Eat Well

Since your diet has such a big impact on your physical and mental energy, start thinking about what you put into your mouth. Digestion uses a lot of energy, especially if we are eating processed foods with high proportions of fat and sugar. Natural foods are much easier to digest and stops that sluggish feeling.

Actions

Plan your diary to include regular breaks and stick to them. Don't be tempted to put them off. Book holidays months in advance and get them paid for. This way you are committed to taking them and not tempted to put them off and let work get in the way.

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Get More From Life by Understanding the 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule was discovered by Vifredo Pareto in 1895 who observed that 80% of the wealth in Italy was owned by 20% of the population and it followed that 80% of income was received by 20% of the people.

It has since been discovered that this statistic can be observed in any area of your business or life. For example, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers or 80% of your sales is generated by 20% of your marketing or 80% of problems or complaints come from 20% of your customers. The list is endless.

This is a useful statistic to know since if you know what or who the 20% is then you can deal with them accordingly. For example, if you know which 20% of your customers give you 80% of your business then you can nurture these customers.

Other examples include 20% of your employee’s produce 80% of your output or 20% give you 80% of your problems.

This is not a hard and fast rule but if you study the facts you will find that a minority is always creating a majority.

This doesn’t just apply to business. If you look at your daily habits, you will find plenty of areas where this 80/20 rule applies.

• 80% of your money goes on 20% of the things you buy
• 80% of your phone calls are made to 20% of the numbers you have in your phone
• 20% of your activities produce 80% of your results

Once you start to break down your life into 80/20 rules, the trick is to stop wasting time on all the activities that produce little satisfaction or results and focus on the activities that produce the best outcomes. Work on one area at a time. You can do this for literally anything. What would you like to work on first? Here are some more examples:-

•Hard drive - sort through your computer documents, comparing the last modified date for various major folders. Create a separate folder system where you can move these rarely used files. This will eliminate your computer clutter and make it far easier and faster to find the stuff you actually use.
• Home Appliances - Determine which appliances cause the most frustration, stress and break down the most. Once you’ve done this you have three options: learn to use the tool better to understand it and prevent stress, buy a new one or find a substitute that is less damage prone. Save yourself the headache and 80/20 your lawnmower.
• Habits - Figure out which behaviours (or lack thereof) contribute the most to your life. Exercise? Rising Early? Family Dinners? Use this as a basis for making new habits.
• Relationships - Look at your social circle and friends. Do a rough estimate of the amount of time and energy you invest in each relationship. Compare that to the amount of stress or satisfaction. You might find that certain relationships are toxic and others are valuable and should be invested in more.
• Food - Record your eating habits for a week. Calculate up the calories of the different items of food. Some treats contribute a high percentage of your calorie pie for no nutritional value, when other vices consumed in smaller portions take up only a sliver but still offer a tasty treat.
• Daily Time Log - Do a time log on your activities for an entire day. Record the stop and start point for any activity. Then broadly shuffle the different activities into categories. Figure out what parts of your day aren’t contributing to productivity, entertainment or personal happiness and cut them out.
• Work Tasks - Write down all the broad categories of tasks you do at your job. You can make a little table that shows the amount of hours spent at each category (say, 1 hr for E-mail, 1 hr for contacting clients, etc.) and on another column write down a value estimate for what percentage you believe it contributes to your productivity. Eliminate, simplify or delegate low %’s and focus on high %’s.

The most valuable tasks that you do each day are often the hardest and most complex but the reward for completing these tasks can be huge.

Of all the tasks on your to do list, work out which one will give you the biggest and best results. For all your tasks, ask yourself “is this task in the top 20% or of activities or the bottom 80%.

Time management is all about taking control over what you do next and your ability to choose between the important and none important tasks is the key to determine your success and happiness.

Make the decision today that you will spend more time on activities that will make a real difference in your life and less on those that won’t.


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