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Search Results for: space

What If There’s Absolutely No Such Thing As Work-Life Balance?

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Admit it.  The title of this post caught your attention.  Life and work….we are all trying to figure it out on a day by day basis.  No matter what you call it – work-life balance, the struggle to juggle, walking the work-life tightrope, work-life harmony – it is something that no one really has totally mastered.  Sure there are solutions, but clearly there is no one size fits all answer to the work-life issue.

Yesterday, I decided to throw the question out there on Twitter.  I asked peeps this:

Do you think work-life balance is even possible?

In a space of about an hour I received a great many responses and wow were they ever varied. Some people thought that work-life balance was a complete and total myth.  Others told me that the best way to manage the issue was to learn how to say no. A few peeps said the word balance was misleading; that it was impossible to achieve – ever.  One person spoke about looking at life like a wagon wheel, making each spoke a different part.  Another person talked about how technology and social media blurred the lines for everything in their world.  There was even a discussion about how feasible it was to put smart phones away before sitting down at the table for dinner.  Clearly, my question struck a nerve.  Every single person who responded to my tweet had thoughts about the work-life issue and how it applied to them.

@KatrinaNash sent me the link to a recent Fast Company blog post by Craig Chappelow. This part of the post really stood out to me:

Here’s what I tell them: work-life balance is a myth. That myth compels many of us to view an ideal life as a set of perfectly level scales. On the tray on one side is your personal life. On the other side is your work life. With heroic efforts, you can keep both trays exactly level. If one starts to tip too far, you make some kind of nifty move that balances them again.

In reality, that perfect balance almost never occurs, except for those rare, fleeting moments when the trays pass each other on the way up or down–and we’re too frazzled to appreciate that brief moment of self-actualization anyway.

So what are your thoughts?

Are you trying to find work-life balance or harmony or whatever works for you?  Do you think you will ever achieve it?

A time for everything – the importance of acting and dreaming

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And so there is a time for everything.  As we all know…a time for work, a time for play and a time for rest.  A time to dream and a time to act. A time to stop and a time to go.   The list goes on and on.  With the days of our lives going by so quickly, it can be easy to forget what is actually happening within our lives.  Let me assure you though, it is all happening.  Take a moment and think about it.  What is the “everything” that is happening in your life?

This past week I have experienced pretty much all that I could have it seems.  I have had good things happen.  I have also had some truly challenging things happen.  I have worked.  I have played.  I have laughed.  I have cried.  I have spent time with amazing friends in Prince Edward Island helping plan for the launch of this.  I have rested.  I have been there for my kids…for the good, the bad and the completely difficult.  I have held amazing Skype calls with colleagues to strategize, to learn and to be accountable.  I have made time to visit my Mom and to chat with my Dad.  I, like many others – such as Diane Brogan, have contemplated the issues of poverty and worried about the level of homelessness. I have explored a million options related to a possible, sudden housing relocation for my own family. I have reached out to colleagues for advice and I have continued actioning the plans for my latest project.  I have delivered wonderful news that made someone’s week the best it could possibly be.  I have talked about alignment of values with action.  I have reconfirmed the importance of authenticity – not only for myself but for those that I choose to surround myself with.  I have supported colleagues, as they have made hard decisions in the face of incredible change. I even found the time to write a blog post on generosity in social media.   Clearly,  it has been a busy week.  A good week and an exhausting week – all at the same time.

Here is the most important part though, through all of this  I have still  managed to fit some time in for dreaming or “blue skying” as I like to call it.  Honestly, it is  is one of the things that I do the very best in my life; especially when I am in PEI.  I regularly create opportunities for my mind to wander, to explore and to consider what is next.  I work things through and I solve impossible problems by being open to creativity. I let my mind loose to look at everything, leaving nothing in the dark or untouchable.  I know this is one of the reasons that I am so attracted the daily blue skies that @lizstrauss shares with the world.  They remind me, on a daily basis, that the possibilities within the universe are virtually endless.  I was pleased when I discovered that my #SOBCon colleague @MartiKonstant also recently wrote how she makes room for this kind of expansive thinking in her post entitled Making Room for White Space (her own version of blue skying):

It is more likely that an idea came to you when there was more space in your brain to think creatively. On your walk or bicycle ride home from work. Or on your morning run or doing your yoga workout.

Another way of coming up with fresh ideas is to create your own white space. Change your surroundings for time alone to think or time to collaborate with a team is a good start. The new environment can be down the hall or across the street at a local coffee shop.

So…you see as in everything in life, there is a balance.  There truly is a time for everything. Make sure that you are both acting and dreaming. Be true to your heart, your mind and your soul.  Don’t just go through the day to day motions.  Celebrate the good and the challenging. Most importantly, though, keep your mind open to the endless possibilities that are available to you. Dreaming AND acting will enable you to truly get to the very best possible places in YOUR life.

What is the “everything” that is happening in your life?  Are you making room for dreaming?  Do you act on your dreams?