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Do any of the following statements resonate with you?

• 'I'd like to pursue my interests more but work takes up too much of my time. I feel guilty if I don't get work done and I always seem to have much to do.'

• 'I seem to spend my life rushing round and doing things for other people and rarely have time for my self'

• 'If only I could organise my time more efficiently I would feel so much better and it would give me the chance to do the things I want to do'

• 'Whenever I'm about to do something someone calls or I'm asked to do something and I find it hard to refuse'.
  

Work life balance or life balance in general is one of the key areas where people frequently seek telephone coaching in order to help them gain more of a sense of purpose and fulfilment in their life and the telephone life coaching service that I offer contains a particular emphasis on improving your quality of life, teaching simple effective techniques to help you gain control of your life and priorities.

Work Life Balance - The Basic Principles

Healthy Routines

Basic principles for living a healthy lifestyle apply. If your body and mind get suitable nourishment and rest, then you are much more likely to achieve balance in your life. Therefore:

• Eat a balanced healthy diet with regular meal times
• If possible try to follow a regular sleep pattern getting up at a similar time each day and going to bed at a similar time each night
• Do a reasonable amount of moderate exercise (you don't have to run a marathon, half an hour's walking, five days per week would be sufficient!)
• Don't drink alcohol to excess!

Pay Attention to Your Priorities

• Reflect on what is important to you and try to focus your life around ensuring that you don't forget about those things
• With regard to tasks that are less important which you do perhaps by habit, evaluate what the consequences would be if you did less of them - if the consequences are not too bad then make a decision as to whether you are going to cut down and if so by how much.

Goal Setting and Monitoring

• Set yourself daily or weekly goals that are achievable and realistic
• Write down your commitment to achieving them
• Keep a record of how well you do in respect of the goals you set
• Reward yourself if you achieve your goals.
• If you fall short on a goal, don't punish yourself. Reevaluate whether the goal needs to be modified or changed and if there are ways you can increase your chances of achieving it (for example, by a diary entry or by telling someone of it), then try to achieve the new or modified goal.

Give Yourself Permission to Relax

If you spend 24 hours a day working, the chances are that you are not working as productively as you could and you are putting strain on your mind and body, which at some point may show in the form of ill health, moodiness or in other ways, so:

• If possible bulid in short breaks into your day to keep yourself refreshed
• Arrange some times in the week when you are going to do something you want to do provided it is not harmful to yourself or others

Dealing with Anxious or Guilty Thoughts

If you find yourself thinking that you should be doing certain things that you are not doing or that you should be doing them better, try to be kinder to yourself and try to put the self criticism into perspective:

• Remember nobody is perfect
• Acknowledge your weaknesses and try to do something about them if you can in a practical way, but before you go on too extensive a self improvement programme, ask yourself just how serious those weaknesses are - do they significantly harm or hamper you or others or are they just minor blemishes. If the latter, then remind yourself of that - give yourself a break
• Identify your strengths and be proud of them. See if there is a way that you can turn them to use in a creative way to help manage the issues that are worrying you.

Coaching Sessions for Life Balance

Telephone coaching sessions can be used to help you plan your use of time in a sensible, practical and healthy way and to provide support and feedback as you set goals and pursue them. As one of my clients commented on reviewing the benefits of her coaching sessions:

"The introduction of an action programme to help balance the work has given me a better lifestyle which is much healthier all round. Through the project plan I have been able to include leisure and health activities with decreasing feelings of guilt" - Sylvia, Kent, UK