Improved Pleasure to Work-Life Balance

This Simple Trick Boosts Career & Leisure Satisfaction

Strolling the marble paths of an ancient Roman villa. The morning sun is glistening off the surface of the extra long water feature. You gather your thoughts while surrounded by green shrubs, palm trees, and flowering succulents.

The Latin dream... Otium. You've suspended your daily business and activities so you can dive deep into your soul to connect with your artistic and enlightened and noble qualities. The time you spend there creates a strong connection and links to your psyche.

A welcomed break. And much needed after an extended period of work-related stress.

Eventually, this dream mutated.

Now, there is a daily...

...desire to extend leisure time

To enjoy eating, playing, resting with friends and family. But we often feel chased by the corporate monster.

Indeed, their long reaching tentacles tamper with our mind and keep the pressure on us to deliver. At the same time, you can feel torn between your career obligations and your free-time.

without it, you'll feel out of the loop and it's possible you could miss something.

With the fact that we now have blurred lines, it's no wonder you feel that way. I mean, our parents worked set hours and then finished for the day. There was a complete disconnect. If the business needed them and they were not home, the phone would simply ring and ring. Maybe tiny tape answering machine kicked in. And few had a little beeping pager to tell them somebody's trying to get in touch. Fewer still, had mobile phones.

In contrast, we are available 24/7. The telecommunications signal beams across much of the world. There are few places in your world without a signal or connection. And if there is, you're likely to chase the beam of contact because without it, you'll feel out of the loop and it's possible you could miss something.

In all honesty, our compliance with tech has smudged our parents' creation of work and life separation. We blended them together with mobile phones, and the internet, and communication formats like email, messaging, and phone calls.

We can't help but check the pocket-sized gadget of inducement.

Conversely, we seek being plugged in and yet a feeling of intrusion and annoyance bubbles within. It's because we aspire with the beliefs of our parents and grandparents passed from generation to generation.

Though, they have not lived in this world before. So maybe, their rules do not apply... maybe they got it wrong by holding a theory that couldn't be proven wrong.

By the way, it wouldn't be the first time they got it wrong...

...Do what you love and you'll never do a day's work in your life!?

In that case, everyone in employment just to keep the wolf from the door should quit and go do something they're interested in. Unfortunately,  it is a lie business people tell each other to harden the reason why they are on that mission. It may help them succeed.

While there's nothing wrong with aspiration and putting the hours into something you enjoy, this type of mantra could be stopping others from getting a job because they do not like it or it is below their sensed status.

Few people are gifted with this skill and I am not one of them.

Whereas, there shouldn't be a stigma attached to swapping time and ability for cash because it's the elasticated fabric that keeps us together.

In reality, it is a balance. Not work and life because work simply cannot be disengaged from life. Work is part of life just as eating and sleeping and doing the things you enjoy are part of your lifestyle.

Instead, it's a flowing lifestyle you need to balance.

Above all, one that will keep you energised and motivated and healthy. Incidentally, in this increasingly complicated world, most suffer sleep deprivation, a lack of exercise and poor nutrition. If this applies to you, get a grip on it, get some help to restructure your lifestyle.

As a matter of fact, it dawned on me some time ago after years of jumping from one thing to the next and swinging back and forth, responding to rings and tones and bings, that I was getting nowhere fast.

As a result, I was making mistakes. I was getting confused. And I knew deep down that something must change. So I went on my cloud covered roam of the concrete slabbed pavement to connect with my soul.

As a consequence, I accepted something I know to be true... I cannot multitask! Apparently, most people cannot multitask. Few people are gifted with this skill and I am not one of them. To produce my best I need to be focused on one thing.

With this in mind, I understood I needed to be able to focus, which means getting the garlic out, hoisting the cross, having a bottle of holy water to hand, and a wooden stake if needed to eliminate time vampires.

They need to be identified and avoided because there are only 24 hours per day to fit everything I want to do into. So now, I am a Spartan of time. And enjoy a frugal lifestyle.

Try it yourself. Take some time out to reflect and restructure... standing, moving, or walking helps with this process. And portion your time for sleeping, eating, socialising, exercising and working. Also, be prepared for one to unwillingly merge into the next at times to reduce any unwanted emotional reactions.