Reassessing your work life balance to rejuvenate your energy

When you feel as though your energy levels are drained in the workplace, it may be a good idea to check in on your work-life balance. While achieving an optimum work-life balance may seem like a wishful dream in wonderland – you are not alone! Here are three steps you can follow that will help you get closer to that seemingly elusive dream-like state of equilibrium in a way that doesn't have to leave your work output in deficit.

Firstly, RECOGNISE the symptoms

If you feel as though you are:

• Experiencing a lack of sleep because you are busy thinking about the tasks you have to complete at work the next day.
• Experiencing a loss of energy in the workplace and an apathy towards your work
• Overwhelmed by your tasks at work when you begin the day or return from your lunch break
• Procrastinating more than you should be (keeping in mind that often any procrastination is too much when it comes to the workplace…)

It may be an indicator that you need to reassess your work-life balance.

Secondly, REASSESS your goals

When you find that your work-life balance is out of line, it is important to ask yourself why this is the case. This will help you re-discover what is important to you and will help you re-gain sight of the bigger picture. Placing your work into perspective can often help if you feel overwhelmed. Additionally, you may re-discover the reason you have been pushing yourself so hard in the first place. This can often serve as a great source of hidden motivation that could push you over the finish line. When re-assessing your goals, it is important to consider where you are now; where you would like to be, and what you need to do to get there. It might feel a bit odd at first, but it can pay off to list these details down in a document or spreadsheet. It is always easy to let some demotivating tasks get neglected - until they become a pattern with no solution. So, keep your eye on the prize of your career and personal goals.

Finally, TAKE ACTION!

• Make necessary changes to your schedule and reprioritise tasks that need to be done in terms of what you need for yourself. Assess what extra tasks are created as a result of mismanaged resources.
• If you suspect that there is a misallocation of resources - begin a discussion with your manager that you believe the misallocation of resources is causing distress and has lowered productivity (just be sure to have a sound solution!)
• Reflect on your personal well-being and think strategically about how this affects your productivity.
• Improve the quality of your “down-time” while you are away from work will help manage your productivity while you are in the workplace. It is important to take time out for yourself … even if that means going for a walk around the block without your phone during your lunch break.
• Always be sure to look back at your original goals, and compare it to how your workplace responsibilities have changed and how that affects your personal life.

If you are still finding it difficult to achieve motivation despite work changes, balance alterations and discussions with management, you could have a career mismatch. Trudging through a field that never suited your personality in the first place will almost always end in low productivity, low satisfaction, burnout and worse. One way to be sure that you’re in the right field or studying the right course is to take a psychologically backed careers test. This weighs your values and attributes to define what career course best suits your abilities and fundamentally, who you are.

3 steps to prevent work procrastination

Procrastination is the bane of human existence. Everyone has done it before and no doubt we have all done it at work, but why do we do it? Procrastination is characterised by high impulsivity and low conscientiousness and ultimately induces stress. Often people confuse procrastination with prioritisation by convincing themselves that the current work they’re doing isn’t their top priority. However, this is a common pitfall and we must learn to recognise whether or not we are actually prioritising or procrastinating.

Here are some handy tips to help prevent you from procrastinating at work: 

• Recognise the signs

One of the first signs that you’re about to let yourself procrastinate is what we like to call “Priority Conditions”.

One of the big red flags of procrastination is the use of this sentence “If I do [e.g. drink a cup of coffee] first, then I can start my work”. However, we all know that several cups of coffee later we still won’t have started. This line of thinking can create a vicious cycle of non-working as we created our own mental hurdle that we constantly make more difficult to justify not working. Does this relieve our anxiety about doing our work? Certainly not.

Suggested Solution: Once you recognise these 'Priority Conditions', you can then try to reverse the conditional order to ensure the right tasks are being prioritised first. Rather than “If I do [e.g. drink a cup of coffee] first, then I can start my work”, instead try “If I do my work for an hour, then I can reward myself with a cup of coffee”. This way we allow ourselves to create obtainable goals with a foreseeable break. This will reduce our stress levels and create a structure where we can start to get ourselves organised.

• Start small

We all know that taking on too much at once is a sure fire way to make it collapse, especially in a multitasking work environment. Set small goals and you’ll find yourself making slow and steady progress until, before you know it, you’re an efficient and effective worker again. Small scale goals, such as “in one hour I will do what I can and then take a break”, will reduce your work stress and increase your work satisfaction. Once this becomes easy, begin increasing the time so that you maximise the productivity of your work day. If it ever gets too much to handle, remember to pull it back one step until you are comfortable again.

• Repeat the changed behaviour as much as you can

The more that you work on doing something, the more likely it is to become wired in your brain. This is not something that will change overnight, however, with repetition and effort you can change your work behaviours over time and maximise your productivity.

So, if you feel yourself prioritising pointless tasks over the work needed to be done, take heed! Think of the stress you can prevent, not to mention the productivity you will gain, from simply recognising these signs and setting small goals for yourself.

As well as improving your productivity, there are also systems available to enhance your work environment and satisfaction. Psych Press has numerous assessments available that can pinpoint workplace issues and use organisational psychology to track down the best solutions for your human function. View Psych Press' Climate Survey or alternatively talk to one of their psychologists at 03 9670 0590

Good Stress Vs. Bad Stress

Stress is often a dirty word surrounded by the thought of last minute deadlines, juggling a career and family life and even sleepless nights. However, that’s only half the story as stress can also be the drive to complete tasks on time and push you beyond your comfort zone toward new achievements.  In essence, stress occurs when there is a perceived discrepancy between the demands of a tasks and an individual’s perceived ability to cope with the demands of the task. Though when properly managed and understood, stress can actually act as a positive pressure that motivates us to push ourselves and achieve our potential. As long as the gap between perceived ability to cope and demands of the task is not too overwhelming! Here’s how you can identify between good and bad stress, and use good stress to your advantage:

Good Stress

Stress is necessary for survival, hence why your ancestors survived; they saw the big bear and ran! Stress can often be a good thing, it helped your ancestors survive and now it can help you perform in your job. Such stress is called ‘Eustress’ which helps one make those difficult decisions, meet deadlines, get over a rejection letter, and help you prepare and work towards goals. Good Stress is what stimulates us to go out and get things done. Good stress is what adds that fuel to our fire, and keeps your thought process on its toes for those activities that require that little extra effort such as presenting to colleagues or a job interview.  So stress can be ok in safe amounts.

Bad Stress

Distress is when the level of stress begins to be harmful where we perceive that a task is just too much and we go beyond just pushing ourselves a little. This is when stress should be dealt with through positive coping strategies such as talking about it with others who will listen. If negative coping strategies are used (such as too much caffeine during work or alcohol afterwards ) and the distress is not dealt with that when things can get ugly, resulting in higher blood pressure, unforeseen aggression, and loss of sleep.

Negative coping strategies allow stress to build upon itself and there are long term negative psychological and physical consequences of elongated periods of stress.

Optimal stress is a healthy balance between ‘keeping busy’ eustress and avoiding overload distress stress and is what needs to be focused on in the workplace environment, as it allows peak performance and gives you or your employees paramount work levels.

Physical and Mental Exhaustion: Avoiding Burnout

It’s that time of year. For many of us; whether you are in an office, clinic or job hunting; it’s crunch time. The demand to get more done in less time is causing more pressure than we'd like or need

However overworking yourself can lead to both physical and mental exhaustion.  This is known as a “burnout”.  While work demands can vary in their degrees of stress, when placed under immense pressure such experiences leading to a burnout can have longer term impacts on your work productivity and health.

It goes without saying that burnouts should be avoided.  Not only do they impact yourself, but also those around you.  If you or someone you know is heading towards a burnout, here are some ways to help prevent it:

·      Spot the early warning signs:  These may include such signs as constant worrying over work, difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, migraines and backaches, etc.  While it is often difficult for people to notice symptoms themselves, pay attention to other people's concerns or questions about your general tiredness or changes in mood.

·       Reduce the symptoms of stress:  This could mean taking time off work to relax and refresh.  Engage in some physical activities, whether it be the gym or playing a sport you enjoy. Have a think about your immediate environment. Are you comfortable?

·      Talk to your boss:  Discuss your concerns with your boss in a calm and professional manner.  Your boss would rather know sooner than later so appropriate actions can take place, and it is within their best interests to make sure things can get done in a way that isn’t hindering future productivity and job satisfaction.  Another trusted manager or the HR department could also help and advise you on how to best handle the situation.

·      Seek support:  Some organisations have employee assistance and support programmes to provide confidential services to those in need. If you’re concerned, it’s always best to talk to a professional to be sure things are ok than to not speak up and let things get worse.

·      There are always options:  If your employer is unwilling or unable to help you or listen to different ideas of working things out, consider other roles in the organisation which might suit you better.  Otherwise, it may be time to seek a more suitable role elsewhere.

You will soon start to feel better once you take action towards changing your work situation.  All jobs have their ups and downs, but it is better to work in an environment you enjoy rather than one that causes you to stress out to the point of physical and mental exhaustion.  When your physical and mental well being is at stake it’s just not worth it!

Work-life Balance: Achieving Productivity through Simple Changes

Australians in nearly all professions are feeling compelled to work longer hours and take their work home more often. Even if hours become longer, it is important to draw a clear distinction between activities inside and outside of work. Work-life balance is no longer a perk but a necessity, and when you break things down it is achievable!  The benefits are clear; individuals who have a good work-life balance are more likely to:

•  Produce more effective results
•  Have lower levels of stress, burnout and subsequently absenteeism
• Work 21% harder than those without work-life balance
• Maintain performance levels and the ability to do their job

Encouraging employees to implement a schedule that allows them to partake in leisure activities they enjoy outside of work will help them to become better friends, family members and employees. Although this balance is not easy to achieve and in some careers, hard to accommodate for, it is essential in enabling employees to return to work feeling refreshed and ready to do their job. After all, without a work-life balance employees aren’t able to enjoy the life they have worked so hard to create. 

As always, the best way to build a workplace culture that appreciates and understands this is to lead by example, so try out some of the below:

• Go for a weekly jog with your staff or kick the footy outside during lunch
• If you run training or development programs, include an active team building activity
• If people need to work later on certain occasions; make it up to them with a morning tea or take them out to lunch
• Share links to popular events that employees can do with their family

Don’t forget; a positive work-life balance will create an increased sense of well-being and help save time and money lost in sick days, stress leave, and even turnover.