Work-Life Balance

https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/07/24/how-to-improve-your-work-life-balance/

I believe a healthy work-life balance is key to long-term effectiveness in this life.

Many years back, when I was involved in a Christian Theater group, I experienced a serious burnout. I started feeling like everything was on me, and I didn't have anyone else helping yet there was a team we were working with. I had given so much without taking time to refill. One day, during our evening meetings, I started saying things to people that surprised some of the team members. One of the friends, senior to me who was part of the team, came to me after and told me I was experiencing burn out and I should take time off. He told me not to go to the meetings for two weeks. I felt it was unfair and that things would not function without me. But out of respect for him, I decided to stay away. These two weeks were beneficial. I came to appreciate later what he offered me. When I came back after two weeks, the things that used to irritate me were non-issues now. I realized that it's not always how it seems and that life can still go on even if the things that I consider important sometimes don't get done. This experience taught me a valuable lesson; work is important, but it will always be there. In order to do it well, I need myself healthy and in a sound mind. That way, I can be effective and productive.

These lessons were presented to me very well with clarity when I joined GiANT Worldwide in one of their Sessions called 5 Gears. I now realize that I can work on attaining a healthy work-life balance. I'll briefly explain here what the 5 Gears are. First, it's the analogy of the manual cars. So if you have driven a manual car, here we go. Gear 5 is the Focus Mode, in the Zone, no interruptions. Here you don't want even to hear somebody coming to you to ask for anything. All you want is your attention focused on something important you are doing. Some of us have a healthy 5th Gear. Can shift in and out of it. The 5 Gears, teaches you how to communicate this to everyone around you. It's important to schedule a 5th Gear time in your life. Learn how to shift in and out.

4th Gear is the task mode. Multitasking. You are handling many things and dealing with a number of issues. Some people live in 4th Gear, and this sometimes makes it hard for them to focus on one thing to the end. 4th Gear is good and easy sometimes. But it can be unhealthy if you realize that you don't get your key projects done. People know you as someone who can't focus and always trying to do everything at the same time. If this is your default Gear, you need to question yourself if it's healthy for you or you are always falling behind things.

3rd Gear is about Social time. This is when people are out to party, celebrate, do everything fun other than work. Some people find this as a waste of time and wonder why they even have it. It's important to have this time. Lunchtime, tea break, etc. is very crucial. Some people are very good at this and kind of make this their life. Everything to them is fun and party. This could be healthy or unhealthy, depending on your personality. Don't have a work-related conversation during this time. Don't be a spoiler.

2nd Gear is the Connect mode; this is when you choose to connect with someone. When you go deeper to build some meaningful relationship or conversation of influence. It could happen with a spouse, fiancée, friend, children, etc. To some people, this is a no go zone for them. They struggle with this and hence avoid it. Their relationships are very transactional. They don't want to go beyond the usual pleasantries, as they say, they don't want people issues. The result is, you don't have meaningful relationships. You operate like touch and go. To some people, they love 2nd Gear too much. They quickly go into it, making those around them very uncomfortable.

Gear 1 is the recharge mode. This is when you focus on yourself. You choose to do that which makes you gain your lost energy. To some, it's a good sleep, a walk in the park, a nice movie or book, etc. Some people have no idea what recharges them. They are always on the move and forget to stop and recharge. Some people live here forever. They are always recharging. You will explode. You need to ask yourself how is your 1st Gear.

The last one is Reverse Gear. This is the responsive Gear. Occasionally we wrong people and we have to go and apologize. Others it's easy to say "I'm sorry," while to others, they would rather not say it. Others do things that make you imagine how sorry they are without uttering the words. At the end of the day, saying it and genuinely apologizing is being Responsive. Are you a Responsive or a Resistant person?

For me, I realized that my Gear order is 4th, 5th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Gear. I can do 3rd Gear, but it easily drains me out, and I quickly retreat to 1st or look for 2nd Gear opportunity. So I have always to remind myself which Gear is needed. This has been significant in helping me develop a Healthy Work-Life balance. Not perfect yet but I'm well aware of my preferred gear and least preferred gear. Where I need to grow and learn how to improve.

What's your Gear order? If you would like to know more about the 5 Gears and how it can help you with your work-life balance, don't hesitate to reach out to me.

If this resonates with you, seek to discover your Gear. Look for a small community of friends who you can learn to do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It's about building a community of friends to share each other's journey of Work-Life balance. You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create support, encouragement, and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be as small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you.