Tag: balance

Make it a Movement

John Corrigan

In an earlier post of mine I mentioned that we need to take back our weekends. I am trying to do this and friends and family are too, however work is demanding and it does not always seem possible but, it is. We can have a healthy work life balance if we make the effort to do so.

Photo by Jennifer Murray on Pexels.com

So let’s all work together and make this happen.

  • Turn off the phone When you leave work today (I am typing this up on a Friday) turn off or put your work phone away. Stay as late as you need to get your work done for the week but, when your work for the week is done do not start on next weeks work, that will be there on Monday.
  • Understand the scope of your role When your work for the week is done… What is your work for the hour day week month year? We have entered into the age of generalists at work and as such the scope of many workers has grown so much so that employees are really not sure when their work is done or what exactly they are responsible for. Learning your place and scope at work will help you disconnect when you are done for the day week and month. If yoiu work for a good employer scope of work will be clear, most do not and scope of work is often muddy at best. A tactic that can and should be taken is a “Signing off” procedure everyday. You can sign off when you leave for the day or week through an email letting your manager know your accomplishments or through a verbal check out letting them know the accomplishments and giving them the chance to let you know if there is something you missed.
  • Set it and forget it You’ve signed off and turned off the phone and now it is time to set work off. Change your focus to what really matters you, family and friends. Its the weekend make plans and do something with loved ones, it can be as simple as a matinee or as elaborate as a short vacation. Stay in a hotel for one night and be a tourist in a neighboring city, take a train, plane or bus ride and explore an attraction you’ve seen on Tik Tok, go to the park and play some pickleball. Do something that is not work, you earned the weekend.

Once we have taken back the weekend we will work on taking back our evenings and eventually our lives. The pandemic and technology have blurred the lines between work and leisure time, let’s start a movement to make the lines clear and present.

…with all this taking back the weekend talk i had to post a music video of him for us to rock to…… You are welcome

Sola dosis facit venenum

John Corrigan

I was rushed off the cattle car with the rest of the soldiers at Fort Sill Oklahoma, the drill sergeants had us line up on the concrete pad and do what felt like a million pushups and sit ups. After the exercises the drill sergeants had us drink all the water in our canteens (two of them), we refilled the canteens and were made to finish off two of them again. Some of the soldiers could not finish the canteens others vomited up the water that they drank. We were dangerously close to hyperhydration or water toxemia. Clean water can become poisonous when too much is drank within a short period of time.

Symptoms of water intoxication tend to start appearing after you consume more than 3 to 4 L of water in a few hours.

“The dose makes the poison” or in Latin, “Sola dosis facit venenum”. In the Christian Bible there is a verse in the book of 1 Corinthians And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

There is another idiom I think of as well from Aseop which is; “Too much of a good thing “It is possible to have too much of a good thing.”

Photo by Nandhu Kumar on Pexels.com

Balance is so important in our lives. I have seen people get their dream jobs and experience burn out in less than a year. Some retirees suffer from depression and anxiety from withdrawing from work to rapidly and not keeping themselves busy.

What is the secret to balance then? The secret is to understand that balance is accomplished day by day and looks different for everyone. Listen to yourself and if you need to seek professional help. Often what drives some people is unresolved issues that are not worked out in healthy ways. It is unhealthy to work more than you see your family and we are all doing this right now with the promise of more time from society but that time may never come so when you have that time you want to enjoy it. Finally take time for yourself and family.