This post is about balancing work life and personal life.
I’ve often gone on vacation only to find myself more stressed than refreshed when I return. Vacation has more to do with a state of mind and how we spend our time than with how much time we take off. How often do we try to use the very skills that make us effective at work—organizing, controlling, directing—to make our vacation a success, only to find that exactly these skills are incompatible with a state of rest and relaxation? Putting ourselves in a relaxed mode is a real trick when we’re generally moving quickly and efficiently through our days.
The key to balancing work and personal time seems to be paying attention to where we are and what we’re doing when we’re doing it. If we’re still thinking about work while we’re talking to our family members, we really are not very effective at communicating with them. If we’re lying in a hammock on the weekend worrying about something at work, are we really able to relax? Conversely, if we’re in a meeting dreaming about our upcoming vacation, we’re obviously not being effective at work.
Try spending at least 30 minutes each day (outside of work!) just relaxing and allowing yourself to “vacate.” Try not to put any demands on yourself. If you can’t leave work, take 5 minutes out of your day to sit in a chair quietly and do nothing. Perhaps you have a cup of tea while you’re doing nothing or just sit staring out the window. It’s remarkable that we don’t take these mini-vacations more often given the benefits that come from them.
I used to have a boss who had a nap room built just off of his office. He had many clients overseas that he had to speak with my phone or video very early in the morning. The consequence of this early schedule was that by 2:00 in the afternoon, he was often tired. Every day at 2, he would retire to his nap room and take a short nap for 30 minutes. This enabled him to get through the rest of his day refreshed.
In the words of Josephine Rathbone, “If we could learn how to balance rest against effort, calmness against strain, quiet against turmoil, we would assure ourselves of joy in living and psychological health for life.”
Kathleen