Hard questions

It’s true that money is tighter, the world is a little more worried and we all feel a little more pressure from the world around us.  We all have basic needs and many of us are lucky enough to have food shelter and clothing and there are, of course many that don’t.

For who have our basic needs met there is always the tendency to want more, to feel like we have to go without and that our lives are not somehow complete if we don’t get that extra holiday, the new car or the extension built.  In times like these it’s a good opportunity to ask some hard questions. 

Many of us feel trapped in jobs we cant stand with mortgages or debts we have to service and ultimately we can feel stressed, anxious or fearful of the future.  The antidote  is rarely immediate and certainly never easy, but by asking ourselves what we really need in life we might start to move towards a life that is less weighed down by the choices of when were younger.  To feel lighter its important to offload thinking that keeps us stuck, such as needing to upgrade or take that extra holiday. Ask yourself, do I need to buy that new car, can I still enjoy a well cared for used car?  do I need to buy more clothes when what I have looks fine and still fits? 

This is not about abstinence, it’s more about making conscious choices based on need rather than impulse.  Inertia can lead you to a life that you don’t want so how about thinking and asking yourself where you want to go before making any choices?  Your life is never going to be easy all the time but you can invest in an easier existence by buying less now to have more freedom in the future.

Work life balance could just be a life in balance

The term work life balance conjures an image of our lives split into 2 parts where work is an unwelcome intruder. Not so long ago it was a term we might have had to explain but now it is almost part of the package on offer when you go for a new job.  The term is an accurate one but the common perception maybe needs to change to allow a little more harmony.

The pace and commitments of modern living have pitched our income stream against the things that we deem really important such as family, interests and friends.  In generations past where work was normally nearer to home and within the community in which you lived, there would be a natural link between your lives and where you made your money. Now of course, commuting is the name of the game and we are increasingly spending more time getting to far flung meetings and conferences than we do at the event itself!

Expectations of our bosses, colleagues friends and neighbours means that we have to keep chasing the next opportunity to increase our income to appear ‘successful’ and of course to service that creeping debt we always thought would be paid off in a few months.  So the choices we are making are often driven by the gain to progress and keep up rather than by what might fit in with who we are, what we enjoy doing and the sort of people we like to be around.

Of course it is not practical to change what we do and throw in that boring stressful job, of course we have bills to pay and a life to maintain, but isn’t it possible to make some changes to move towards welcoming work into your life and achieving a better balance?

It is possible to make small changes in how we do things to start to make work feel a part of your life rather than something that needs to be balanced with it. For example, working from home one day every couple of weeks may not seem significant but perhaps you could go the gym or pick up the kids with the hours you save travelling on that day.

It is not always possible in many jobs to work from home, and in situations such as retail or call centres it maybe a case of exploring ways to work flexible hours or you may be able to find more creative work patterns where business needs allow.

Feeling like work and life are working together reduces the feelings of tension and guilt and allows us to be more present and happy in both.  Small changes to the way we commute, the patterns we work and over time aligning what we do with what we are passionate about can slowly create the sense of balance that we are encouraged to find.