1. Planning
   
   “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

   Establishing a healthy work-life balance usually won’t just happen on its own. (How many things in life do, really?) Sometimes, you have to invest time in order to save time. For example, if your calendar isn’t kept up to date, you can lose time running around fixing mistakes and sending apologetic emails. Keeping track of how much time your daily tasks take, and then assigning a reasonable amount of time can be helpful. See if you can figure out where you are wasting time (e.g.: YouTube videos of professional chefs and their masterful cake decorating skills?). Is this time that you want to spend on other things? Exercising? Seeing Friends? Reading? Schedule in these important tasks and honour the commitment to yourself.

2. Asking for Help
   
   “I get by with a little help from my friends.” – John Lennon

   The second tip can be a little humbling. Are you willing to ask for help? You could spend hours trying to solve a computer task that someone else could show you in a minute. There is nothing wrong with asking for help when it’s done in a manner that respects the time of others and isn’t just a lazy habit. Here’s a little secret: people often like being asked for help. It makes them feel useful and needed. It’s also an opportunity for connecting. The second part of asking for help is learning how to advocate for yourself. This might mean talking to your manager about the demands of your job. He or she may not even realize how much you have taken on. If you just keep running around, pretending everything is fine, that is likely what everyone will think (until you break down entirely!).

Establishing work-life balance can take some effort, but some forethought and planning, and some shifts in attitude can make a world of difference.

A two-hour workshop on creating work-life balance will be available FREE of charge from 2:00-4:00 pm on January 29th, at 400 Queen St. W.   Please call 519-743-6333 to sign up!