If we work to live, then we will never have balance. Big statement. As business owners, we have learned this and worked it out and share it with our clients. Life balance is a necessity for satisfaction, happiness, connection, and success.

Balance is variable, it goes up and down, ebbs and flows, supporting and managing. It’s an act of weighing scales take some here add there and back and forth it goes. If we focus on the adage of work first, then we don’t ever get balance.

Focus on LIFE balance as humans that’s why we are here to live our lives.

Our work is a part of a sum of NOT the entirety of our life. Our roles in that life are many, we all wear serval hats some at the same time. So, balance is what we do. Our business is NOT our life, our job is a role, not our life. It’s a choice we choose to do and make money to LIVE.

Image with large red corss through words describing how not to work

Let‘s throw ourselves straight in and seek some balance actions first before we really explore Life balance.

10 Ways to start creating balance

1. Make sure your Mind is Set.

The key to this is the words and their separation mind, is, set. Mindset.

Our mindset has a habit sequence all its own. It is up to us to set it. Whether it is having a particular coffee, listening to a particular song, enjoying a visual image or mind board that motivates us. It is personal.

Today stop and think about your outcomes today - what would make your day valuable, what could you do just a little extra to make today balanced?

2. Have an outcome

Every day millions of people all over the world do one thing, that makes the difference for them, their people and their business. They set a goal, yet this is added life pressure. So have an outcome. Desired or essential. Reality check here too. We are not all brain surgeons saving lives, an email reply being late is not a life threatening issue.

That outcome is thought through, you have taken the time to imagine yourself being at your best and achieving the desired/ essential result. The outcomes become the main thing you strive to achieve and balance today.

3. Apply 1 thing you have learned recently

Have you taken the time to invest in your skills - what are you learning right now? Apply something that will make you more effective.

What one thing creates balance for you every day?

Are you doing it?

4. Learn something new today

Taking time to learn is a life balance hack as it creates new space for you to build self-awareness, connect and assess what is working for you and what isn’t, create questions that you can answer to build life balance.

Are you driving today- listen to a new podcast or an audiobook instead of the radio? Listen to a different radio station and learn something.

Take the time to learn something that will make you more effective - or just order a book. One of our top reads is Black Box Thinking.

Book time in your diary to watch a YouTube video on a random topic.

Book a class- pottery, language, craft, sports anything that you don’t know something about.

Join new apps online Masterclass etc and learn something new.

5. Pay it forward

Do something incredible for someone else (Pay it forward). This is a way of adding balance to your life through reciprocity.

Taking an action to help someone else without the desire or need to be recognised. Doing good creates an internal connection to self, gratitude, and balance.

1. Buy an extra coffee and hand it to the next person

2.Pay for the car behind you in the car toll

3. Buy someone’s groceries in the store and leave

4. Pay someone’s restaurant bill and leave without waiting to find out the reaction.

5. Top up your trolley and fill the food bank

6. Thank someone for the difference they make to you

Do something not very British and give someone a bit of feedback using our Feedback GPS model-

G - Genuine: say something that is genuine, something that you have noticed and value

P – Positive: say it in the positive, get the words right and get the tone right!

S - Specific make sure it is specific and not generalist.... detailed.

Ken Blanchard has said for many years, it takes effort to catch people doing things right.

7. Start seeing the small stuff

Watch this video Piano Theory, make yourself smile. Create more smiles through little things.

1. Notice the wind on your face or raindrops on a window

2. Hear the noise of voices chattering as music and connection

3. Touch and sense what you feel from a handrail to clothing (sanitise of course!)

4. Watch clouds and create shapes

5. Count smiles of people, count frowns!

Recognition of the small stuff makes your brain RAS (reticular activation system) focus on balance. It lets you see these things; it slows you down a little and by default creates balance.

8. Rest and recuperate

Both are a critical part of life balance.

1. Plan your next holiday. Plan the next break, rest, or time for you.

2. Book a day away

3. Declutter your office/home/room

4. Plan a hike, walk near your home

5. Go adventuring your local town

6. Turn off an alarm for waking up, or keep open the curtains so you wake with natural light

7. Rest is active, watch a film, read a book, cook, paint, create, swim, walk. Calming activities create rest and boost energy and balance.

8. Connect with someone balance comes from social interaction (virtual or face to face)

9. Book a restaurant

10. Watch a film alone

11. Book a food prep box to give you a break in the kitchen

9. Do one major task related to your future

Work ON your life or business and deal with or start some work towards a longer strategic outcome that is expected of you in the next 12 months.

10. Listen like your life depends on it

Give your 100% focus to everyone you speak with and notice the difference it will make.

1. Hear words

2. Listen to tone

3. Stop talking

4. Let someone finish a sentence fully before answering

5. Pause and think about your words. Stop, before you speak.

6. Discover your word tic and stop using it

Only life balance exists not work-life balance. We fall into the society constructs of what work is, life is and then we form our boundaries from them.

If I don’t work 9 hours a day, then I am not contributing to xxxx

I should be…..

When I….

Balance comes from being able to assess, do, pause, think. That means we must be able to prioritise (in its simplest form).

“Don’t underestimate yourself. Don’t overestimate yourself either. Take time to consider. Accept, Acknowledge and Act ”

— Debbie Halls-Evans RLC Global

Life balance requires work, self-awareness, purpose or at least working towards one, understanding, creating balance. Failing fast. Learning. Curiosity. Not conforming or at least asking why you do what you do. Focus. Energy and most of all truth on how you choose to make decisions, what you do, how you do it and being ready to accept what if you need to do something different?

This is the powerful combination of:

words + thoughts + actions + being + doing + values + belief= life balance

Most importantly it requires having belief and then believing it. Not just the words I believe, that means nothing unless attached to true intent.

This may seem it’s all about personal balance – it is. The change of thinking from work-life balance is that we are one whether that be work or personal life. A way to think about this is it is personal it’s about you. Life is our whole. We can explore specifics that can create in work life.

Balance in your work life

If you are leading teams, a business or have a role that means you handle other outputs creating balance in your life role models the actions for others to follow. If you reply to emails at 11 pm you can expect that you are demanding that others do the same- may not be your intention (or it may?) yet it pressurises others to behave the same changing their life balance. Your actions give permission to others to do the same so be very conscious and intentional for what you do and say.

6 ways to create better balance when you work

1. Review your diary

One of my best coaching activities creating time back in people diaries, it is transformative. Asl 4 simple questions-

Why am I attending or planning to attend this meeting?

What do I add in value to this meeting?

How can I help, the client, purpose, or outcome?

What if I don’t attend?

You can eliminate at least 50% of your time in meetings doing this- promise it’s revelatory. Meetings are known to be a waste of time.

2. Have an agenda for any meeting

If you have to meetings, then make sure you have an agenda. This makes sure that you manage time, are effective, stop waffling and actions get followed up and done. Most meetings are ineffective as they don’t have an outcome or review. If that is the case stop doing them! Keep the agenda simple max 5 points and send it beforehand. Read content before you get to a meeting.

3. Buffer meeting times

To create better balance in your work life the easiest way is to set your calendar to have buffers.

These pre and post buffer meetings times last 5-7 minutes each.

Pre-meeting 5-7 minutes use to update, review and read anything or update your content.

Post-meeting 5-7 minutes to take the cations, set up actions, diarise and follow up set up.

4. Create blocks of time for Q&A/ responses

Most leaders/managers are overwhelmed with questions, interruptions and menial admin elements that stop them from being effective. The reason this happens is you react to every need and then it’s easier for anyone to ask and not seek any accountability themselves.

This is a superb balance, not only time to create empowered teams and self-sufficiency to do- a skill. Each day or week whichever works for your style or need in the business- allocate and share with everyone in your team or business that you are available to answer any query or question say 11-1. You ONLY answer between these times.

This ensures that you set healthy balance boundaries, people will seek the answer if they need it urgently from peers and experienced team members.

Caveat if it’s a client/customer impact consider the relevance and importance. The reality is most are fixable without asking you!

5. Be honest about your effectiveness and productivity

Reality is and studies show people are only effective 2.5 hours a day in work. This is personal and compared to the role of a surgeon this won’t apply for obvious reasons.

Realistically most roles are not as important as we want to believe they are. And most people don’t work as hard as they could. Being aware of your REAL productivity and effectiveness means you can stop judging and undermining others.

Many companies since covid are working asynchronously meaning not assuming when someone replies- they reply when they can, have an answer or contribution to make. If you can do this, it’s a wonderful way to work balance.

6. Talk

Talk

Might seem obvious yet work has become very type, word-heavy via all the many mediums and talking can be lacking. Talking can remove ambiguity, enhance accountability, support, nurture, and boost skills.

Summary

Balance can have many complications from a personal perspective thinking you should behave and work x number of hours to prove your dedication or demand of others. This is balanced and produces lower production ineffective collaboration, fear, worry, stress, anxiety when it’s not needed

We see this in many founder-led / startup businesses that founders don’t understand why their teams don’t work as hard as them- may seem obvious but they don’t connect to balance of life as an employee as they are vested more as a founder.

Balance overall is a personal choice and there are times we need to effectively work a few more hours than we may like, creating life balance means that you balance that time back to recover, rest, creative and strategic thinking time, review and reflect the time, being present IN your business and balance working ON your business.

Choosing to have a life balance is your decision. You can I any role. You live to your own expectations and if you live to other expectations then the balance is always going to be out of sync.

Life balance is about purpose and meaning.
Life balance is about honesty (most people do not work as hard as they say they do)
Life balance is about being effective
Life balance is about the ebbs and flows of real life
Life balance is about awareness, priorities, and realities.
Life balance s living within your means
Life balance is internal and not about external factors or material things (those are a bonus)

We know that work is not who we are, if you make it about you then reflect on the balance in your life and business. Life balance brings joy, engagement, interaction, positivity, support, results, and success.

Boosters to balance

Another resource is to use apps – technology is not about adding more time. Create awareness first and then act. Here are a few of our favourites right now at RLC.

Nara 72- connecting with nature in a unique way.
Paired- connect to your partner and restore or build balance.
Journify- start an audio log to help you focus and expel internal thoughts.
Wim Hoff (WHM)- learn to breathe properly and build balance and resilience
Remarkable- the ePad is a terrific way to self-organise and manage notes, planning in one place no more lost paper = balance.