5 Ways a Life Coach can Help You Achieve the Ultimate Work-life Balance.
It can be tricky to strike the right balance between work and life. You want success in both areas, but if you don’t hit the right balance, it can leave you exhausted, overwhelmed and unable to do things you want to do and feel the way you want to feel.
The good news is that a life coach can help you create a balanced lifestyle aligned with your values. Here are 5 ways a coach can help you find the ultimate work life balance.
#1 – Discover the Real You
If you want to lead a life aligned with your values, it make sense to first be clear on what your values are. Many coaches use various tools, exercises and powerful questioning to help their clients discover what is most important to them. For example, I used a combination of exercises, values elicitation and a DISC personality profiling tool.
Once you’ve discovered your inner workings, behaviours, beliefs and values you can start comparing your current lifestyle to the one that -up to now- you had never dreamed possible.
#2 – A Greater Understanding of Effective Time Management
Who can say their lives are free from procrastination? Especially nowadays, it is hard to escape distractions. Our phones, for example, have become hybrid tools for not only communication but also work, calendars, interests, information and leisure.
When working with a client, I encourage them to explore the transfer of time to money. For example, a Netflix subscription costs around £10.99 per month, but how much does it cost you in hours per week? You might have a salary that you’re happy with, but what if you were to total all the overtime you worked. What would your new hourly payment be? Is that extra time spent enough to be keeping you from working on other areas of your life such as wellness, family, relationships?
I’m not saying to set fire to your TV and always refuse to work past 5pm, but is there a better balance to be struck? I work with my clients to uncover what is taking up their precious time and help them consider when they’d be better off counting time, rather than money.
#3 – Daily Routine, Productive Habits
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a famous model. It depicts the human needs from the most basic (sleep, shelter, nutrition etc.) to the top level of self-actualization and personal growth. The idea is that to achieve the top level, you must first address the levels beneath. At times, (quite often actually), clients need to address the bottom level.
In order to improve your work life balance, we explore your current situation first. This sets the stage for the all-important next steps. You can start off by asking yourself some basic questions.
How many hours do you sleep per night?
Are you happy with your physical fitness and energy levels?
Which areas of your life are you unable to spend enough time?
How many hours do you usually work per day?
How is your diet supporting your desired lifestyle?
Once we have a clear picture, it time to start implementing productive habits around health, wellness, and time.
We analyse the daily routine to root out those pesky time-waters, and energy sucks.
I offer various tools to my clients to help them ditch the unnecessary ‘to do’s’ or delegate to others when appropriate. These actions mean that clients have more time for the things that will bring them joy and keep them working towards the goals that matter most.
#4 – Putting in Boundaries
Did you know that the main thing stopping you from achieving you work-life balance is you? Now, you might not be thrilled to hear this, but actually, there is no better news! What this also means, is that the power is in your hands to make all the necessary changes.
Coaches hold a mirror up to their clients, so that they can see the way they behave, the way they talk and how this affects all areas of their life.
When I start working with a client, one of the first things I do is listen out for their beliefs. The stories they tell build a picture of how they see and experience the world. At first, I often hear clients say things like:
“If I only worked during my contracted hours, my boss would make my life miserable, and my team would feel let down.”
Your beliefs are the obstacles themselves. I use cognitive reframing techniques in order to change a client’s perspective of the situation.
A classic reframe of the above would be:
“I stick to my contracted hours, I organise and prioritise my working day to make the most effective use of time. My boss respects me and my time and the team draw inspiration from my clear boundaries and steady work ethic.”
#5 – Setting Goals for Outside of Work
It is all very well reducing work hours but what good is that if you are not filling your newly found free time with the things that will bring you happiness?
When I first start work with many of my clients, they are feeling burnt out and overwhelmed. They have interests but it has been so long since they were able to set time aside for them that they’ve lost their mojo and forgotten what truly makes them happy.
A coach will work with you to reignite your passions or help you discover new passions that get you feeling – Let’s go! -.
Whether your goal is to run a marathon, or to set more time aside for family and friends, the intention will be set and you can start moving forwards.
Conclusion
A coaching journey to achieve the ultimate work-life balance is an amazing experience, but it also takes commitment and willingness to make changes. As they say, one must do something new, in order to see something new.
If your life could do with more balance, then coaching is a great place to start. Why not book a free 20 minute consultation call
