Work-Life Balance - Father's Day Special!
Work-Life Balance – Father’s Day special!
Hello everyone, its HR Recruiter Bev's blog time.
After failing to get this blog out for the 16th June (Father’s Day) even though I started well ahead of schedule I realised it’s OK, as I have a Father’s Day every day!!! "My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me." "I've said it before, but it's absolutely true: My mother gave me my drive, but my father gave me my dreams. Thanks to him, I could see a future." "My dad's my best mate, and he always will be.
Writer's block they call it; I lost my focus and could not string any sentences together… My creative juices just stopped, and I panicked!
I had some unfortunate news whilst in Spain of my uncle passing away who was practically like my Father!
I usually am a big work-life balance advocate and encourage all my team to take holidays quarterly however this year failed at that as well.
Growing up as a child, you either have it, or you don’t. Living in a world of materialism is just one of the attributes of modern society. I always grew up not being around family and was consistently in a phase of transition. I was moving from one city to the next.
Life has given me ample opportunities, and one of them being able to pursue the role of a professional HR Recruiter in London.
When I reminisce the lives of my grandparents, it was more along the lines of my grandfather going to work while my grandmother would take over the principal parental duties over and keep the house under control.
Times have changed and that too over the last 50 years due to dual couples working its more about sharing a lot of responsibilities rather than who brings in the next loaf.
In June I spoke to a business owner to understand his view on work-life balance and how he manages to cope with a child, work, stress, management, and innovation which are in my opinion import attributes to the maintenance of a business.
Here are my observations after completion of our enlightening conversations:
Create your own environment: One of the most intriguing questions I had for this individual was how you stop thinking about work if you have your own business as it seems like a never-ending story in my professional line of work. He said he creates his own environment and tries to stick to the reward of the environment, which means, he would only take business calls in the office, family calls in the lounge, etc. and had structured his environment to create genuine focus.
Focus on the Now and what you have: The most important factor of being a father is to be involved with your child and not let your child be adopted by a laptop, i-Pad, or i-phone. The only way you can do this is by planning ahead of time. Focus on the now means the child only asks for attention when the digital era does not consume him. So, for him being the i-dad is essential, simple things like going to the zoo, bowling eating in a restaurant, watching interactive movies and making a mess yes, it is actually enjoyable, and children can be a massive stress reliever. Focus on the time you have so you don’t regret the moments and time that has lapsed as they do grow up very quickly!
When working from home means from the office, not your living room or bedroom: There is a prominent saying when you go to work, you leave your problems outside the doorstep and vice-versa when you go home, try and leave your problems at work. Once you learn the reward system, which is composed of focus and environment, you lose out on neither. A child’s room is meant for playtime and fun time, and hence it is called your child’s room. Simultaneously your bedroom suggests a room for tranquillity, recollection of thoughts, and time to relax and get your beauty sleep. So next time you are working from home remember the meaning of the room you are sitting in, and this will bring a work-life balance into a much better perspective.
Learn to talk about your stress, but by appointment only: Everyone needs to vent; I mean if you don’t, you will just self-combust so the new rule you should set is SBAO- Stress by appointment only. This is a conversation for the lounge where you can sit with your partner or speak to a friend and let your heart out, but only after your child goes to sleep. When dealing with stress makes sure you call the friends way in advance so that they are aware of the problem as this will have greater preparation time and focal time to understand the problem instead of just randomly calling your friend to discuss an issue while cooking the soup of the century which is overloaded with salt.
I hope today’s blog has inspired you in achieving work-life balance, please feel free to comment on my blog!
Thank you for reading!!
HR Recruiter Bev ???♀?