Working Out Work-Life Balance
How often do you hear the phrase “work-life balance” mentioned in one week? I do a lot of reading and learning about the (sometimes elusive) idea of “life balance” – partly because I want that for myself, and partly because I will be educating my future patients in how to attain it. Walking to work, smelling the fresh air, standing up out of your work chair to stretch, practicing yoga on your lunch hour, laughing at a funny movie…it’s some combination of these that we’re supposed to do every day to be “in balance”, right? I mean, doesn’t it sound wonderful?
These are tidbits of suggestions that really do make a difference in your day-to-day, hour-to-hour physical and mental wellbeing – an abundance of research supports these claims. Yes…even adding one or two of these to your daily routine will definitely help you relax, but while these are all wonderful pieces of advice that we should all integrate…let’s be a real for a second
There are times when if feels like you can’t, just CAN’T, stop to smell the roses. You “know” the things you should be doing to reduce the feelings of stress you’re under at work, or in life. In fact, you’re probably hearing those suggestions from your friends or family who sympathize with your exhaustion (and if you’re not, I KNOW you’ve seen those “10 healthy living tips” articles pop up on your Facebook and Twitter feeds!)
Is this ringing any bells for you?
This is how I felt between January and April, in one of the hardest terms of my medical education. With my regular Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm class schedule, plus at least 20 hours of studying outside of class, as far as I was concerned, roses didn’t even exist. Smell them? Not a chance. Ironic for a future Naturopathic Doctor to say, but here’s the kicker: if you’re like me, what tends to happen, is your regular stress-releasing activities are pushed aside, and what then? You feel guilty for it.
We start to think things like “I know I SHOULD take an hour break to relax but…” followed closely by “ugh I know better, I haven’t seen my friends in weeks,” and “I can’t remember the last time I went to the gym…” Then you go to bed late and annoyed at yourself for the lack of ‘balance’ during the day, then wake up irritable only to do it all over again. With this in mind, I’d like to suggest to you an alternative concept of “work life balance” that one of my teachers suggested to my colleagues and I.
First and foremost: really do try to take those little stress-relieving breaks, however those look to you. But before I sound like a hypocrite, let me continue…
Rather than constantly evaluating that idea of balance in the short term from day-to-day, what if you evaluated it over a long term as in month-to-month, or every several months?
For example:
Maybe the next 8 weeks of overtime work during tax season will be rough, but for the weeks following, you’ve planned to resurface and catch up with friends over dinner at least 3 evenings of the week.
Or, for the winter you have to hunker down with studying for board exams, but once it’s over, you’ve registered yourself in to a weekly running group/painting class/yoga challenge/baseball league.
Or, maybe eating take-out every day for a month will be replaced by your usual healthy habits and cooking with your family once again after your massive project is complete.
In the short term, work seems to be the priority and tips the scale; but over the course of the month, you do actually attain some condensed, though valuable, days of enjoyment to balance it all out, albeit over that longer period time. But voila, the scale is brought back into balance.
It was in this manner that I was able to accept the following: yes…I have 7 final exams in one week…BUT I am really going to take care of myself and enjoy my time during my one week off.
I know those roses are there but I’m going to let them be until I can fully commit my time and attention to really, and fully, enjoy them.
It was after realizing this that I accepted that it is my CHOICE to work hard, tipping that work-life scale off balance—and that I will, actually, have the opportunity to balance it all out again over the long term. Suddenly, that nagging feeling of “guilt” disappeared. Indeed, after multiple hikes with my dog, working out, visiting friends, playing beach volleyball (and some sore muscles), I feel refreshed, back in balance, energized, and ready to get back at it for another 12 weeks.
If you can change your own expectations for yourself to encompass a greater period of time, maybe that work-life balance isn’t so elusive after all.
Kathleen Mahannah is a second year student at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster, BC. After completing her Diploma of Exercise Science at Capilano College followed by a Degree in Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto, she is ecstatic to be pursuing her passion in a career in preventative healthcare.
Follow Kathleen @VanCityHealth or www.kathleenmahannah.weebly.com
