Own your Time, Own your Life

I recently spent a few days with my parents at home in the West. I worked long days on our farm, feeding the animals, caring for the newly arrived lambs and repairing our storm damaged sheds. At the end of the day, I felt a sense of accomplishment, deep satisfaction and contentment. Possibly this was exhaustion, as a far cry from my healthcare day job!

Why I wondered, had I completely lost this sense of equilibrium and satisfaction in my own life and work in recent months?

Every journey a client takes with their coach in identifying what a satisfying equilibrium or work-life balance (don’t we all hate that term!)  looks like for them takes a different path. We all have a different set of values which shape our expectations as to what this needs to look like and this is where the work should start. It can be helpful to start with a positive shift asking yourself “What do I want more of?” and take if from there.

For me “the why” was easy to identify the “what next” took some time and reflection and my dipping into my coaching toolkit to go back to basics. As I jotted my thoughts and reflections down, when I pulled them together and tried to form a simple path to kick start change, I was left with this:

A - Acceptance

B - Boundaries

C - Consistency

Acceptance of where you are currently at and that achievement of where you wish to be or to feel will not be linear. It is important to enter the process of change with a lense of kindness and self-compassion.

Understand and accept that the basics are important – good sleep, good food being two great places to start.

Boundaries

There is no shying away from this, setting boundaries around your personal and professional life is crucial. The nature of the lives we live at present means constant access and information overload. Doing the hard work on understanding what your boundaries need to be and sticking to them will be key to finding that equilibrium you seek. Coaching can help you identify what these need to be but also how you can effectively communicate these to your colleagues, friends and family in way this sits well with you.

Consistency

A coach can be invaluable as an accountability buddy to help you stay on track with holding those hard-won boundaries. If you are finding barriers or blocks to sticking to certain boundaries, your coach will work through this with you to tease out the underlying behaviours or triggers than might be working against you unconsciously.

A final thought – balance isn’t about having it all or doing more – it is about being clear as to what matters to you. Your coach will meet you where you are at and support you to put shape on what this needs to look like for you and the steps you want to take to make it a reality.