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eNEWSLETTER
October 2003

Our Mission Statement:
"Providing a range of innovative professional services, empowering our clients to positively address issues affecting their lives."

Welcome to Clayfield Counselling Services October eNewsletter!

Balancing Work and Home Life

This month we look at the difficulty families face trying to juggle work and home life. Many of us spend each day completing our daily routines - going to work, caring for children, maintaining our life styles etc. But are we happy? Or are we trapped in an unsatisfying cycle of work-home-work that stops us from enjoying ourselves, our family, our friends, our life? Imbalance in our work and home life can lead to disruption in both our personal and professional relationships resulting in tension, anxiety and stress. Feelings that we've all experienced from time to time. So, how do we know if our life is out of balance? And if it is, what can we do to fix it?

What is Work Life Balance?

Work-life balance is a term that refers to an individual's work and life patterns and the combination of both in order to balance their responsibilities and aspirations. Ian Hutchinson is the founder of Life by Design, one of Australia's leading work life balance groups. He believes, "True work life balance is achieved when employees have a greater clarity around what is important to them and they are organisationally empowered to make decisions about work and life to fulfill these desires." Put simply, finding out what is important to us is the key to finding our own work life balance. And whilst we might list our family, partner and children as high priorities, we also need to include making time for ourselves, not only for our own well being, but for those around us as well.

Why is there such an imbalance between work and home?

Longer working hours, inflexible work schedules and advanced technology within the home are contributors to work-home imbalance. The World Wide Web, email, intranets, modems, cheaper fax machines and voicemail all make it easy to bring work home. Unfortunately this is usually at the expense of time, that in the past, was spent with family or for ourselves. Graeme Russell from the Psychology Department of Macquarie University is author of a paper titled, "Working through Life: Living through Work". He is quoted on the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers (APESMA), website as saying, "... the information age is replacing the industrial age, and bringing with it longer hours of work involving harder and more challenging tasks, and the need to be multi-skilled."

Why do we put such pressure on ourselves?

Many people would argue that in today's society the accent is too much on material gain. Do we really need to work all those extra hours for the money? Part of Ian Hutchinson's philosophy is that once an individual has identified what is important to them they can use this knowledge as a foundation to building a sound financial plan. The clarity of this approach allows the individual to focus on an achievable lifestyle. But working long hours isn't always about money. For some people job security may be the issue, however in these high-tech changing times, does true job security really exist? Gone are the days when you entered the workforce after leaving school and had a job or trade for life. The Australian Bureau Statistics advises that since 1993 the a verage for job tenure has stayed stable at around 5.8 years. Then there are the working parents that are trying to give their children a better start in life, but at what cost? They have the additional stress of scheduling around childcare, school holidays, making provisions for a sick child etc.

The absence of role models for the family

Whilst parents may be working longer hours, more overtime and working at home etc, to contribute to the families financial situation there is also the down side of disruption to family life and the absence of parental role models in a child's life. The traditional perception of father earning the money and mother maintaining the household and caring for children is not really relevant today. To counter this, working parents need to ensure that there is opportunity for each to spend time with their children. Children that do not receive adequate time from their parents are in danger of feeling unloved, abandoned and resentful towards parents. A study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found that children are more likely to be effected by how parents feel about their work rather then having them both in the work force. Therefore, finding the right job and enjoying your work are also major contributors to finding work-family balance.

Being able to identify what is important to us and balancing our work and home commitments accordingly goes a long way towards achieving a fulfilling and enjoyable life style. Employers have found that employees with a balanced life style are likely to be more productive and loyal to the organisation. Individuals have improved health and self-esteem and are less likely to be stressed and anxious about work or home life. Finding balance means finding harmony and peace within ourselves and allows us to enjoy our many roles in life.

Interesting Websites

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Until next time then...
"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life." - Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994

The editorial team at Clayfield Counselling Services

 

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