Renewal – The Key to Work Life Balance – Remaining Engaged, Productive and Energized

Many people try to tackle work-life balance through changes in their firm’s policies, scheduling techniques, curtailing their activities and the like.  But the real key to work-life balance is to cultivate adequate renewal so that you can remain engaged and productive while at work, and still have the energy and space for the people and things you love. The most powerful renewal can be harnessed through your body and its ability to engage the parasympathetic nervous system, which reduces stress and fatigue.

There are many ways that you can cultivate renewal and conserve your energy reserves.  Here are a few ideas to help you:

1. Remember to take regular breaks to switch gears and renew yourself. Renewal is the key to high performance.  Coaches working with world-class athletes found that the key to gaining the winning edge in high-level sports usually has more to do with adequate rest and renewal than differences in skill.  Muscle fibers and the brain grow best when they are challenged slightly beyond their limits and then given a period of rest and recovery.

Therefore, just as a marathon runner needs a break after a marathon, so does the corporate workforce.  The body has a natural 90-120 minute cycle, called the ultradian rhythm, in which the body craves a period of recovery.  You can quickly and effectively renew yourself in conjunction with the ultradian rhythms by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system and thus the relaxation response, which combats stress.  Release the chronic tension in your body by  switching gears for a few minutes to take a few deep breaths, listen to a song on your iPod or walk around the block.  But you also remember to give yourself longer breaks after periods of intense mental focus such as going to trial or closing a big deal.

2. Develop a “calm readiness” that allows you to respond appropriately and remain resilient in the face of stress. Anxiety is stored and expressed through your body, breathing and posture. When your nervous system and body are calm the mind, emotions and thoughts have can be calm and clear. Help yourself stay calm and clear headed when you are stressed by taking long deep out breaths, and looking for areas of tension that you can release to reverse the anxiety response in the body.  Unclench your jaw, soften your chest, soften your gaze and work on regulating your breathing.

3. Focus on being present for each unique situation. Don’t bring the previous meeting into an unrelated meeting. Focus on the people in front of you-whether it be a team of associates or your loved ones.  At the start of each new meeting or phone call, take a few moments to become present and make a conscious effort to leave the previous meeting or concern behind you.  Focus on your breathing for 10 seconds. Make eye contact with the person in front of you.

4. Learn to recognize your emotional state and take actions to defuse negative emotions. Many people are unaware of their emotional states.  They operate at a high level of irritation without recognizing it.  They end up blowing up at others without recognizing the warning signs leading up to the explosion.  When you become aware of your emotions, including irritation and annoyance, you can take steps to defuse the emotion before it gets out of control.  By remaining conscious of your mental states, you can leverage your emotions instead of being drained by them.

5. Don’t suck your own energy or the energy of others with your bad moods. Notice the ways you take out your bad mood on others and infect others with your negativity.  Do people have to walk on eggshells around you?  Or do you bring other people down with your bad attitude and irritation?  When you notice yourself being irritable, stop and do something to refresh yourself and snap out of the bad mood. Take a quick walk around the building, sit with your eyes closed and take a few deep breaths, connect with someone or something you love to resource yourself.

6. Find ways to make your job an expression of your deepest held values and take actions aligned with you values. For example, if you value respect, take actions that demonstrate respect for other people’s time and effort.  Give timely and constructive feedback.  Show up on time for meetings.  Avoid assigning work over the weekend if possible.

7. Stay actively connected to your passions and hobbies by scheduling time for them. Don’t lose connection to the activities that feed you.  Make sure you regularly carve out time for your hobbies and passions.  If you are a musician, schedule a lesson or time to play weekly or monthly.  Join a singing class or drawing class.  Don’t let this time get eaten away by the never-ending list of things to do.  The list will always be there, but if you lose your connection to the things you love, you won’t be able to resource yourself to be fully engaged when you are working.

8. Focus on what is important to you instead of what is frustrating or dissatisfying. At work it is easy to focus on what is not going well, who is not performing up to par, the systems that are broken and need fixing.  But underneath each thing we’d like to fix or change, there is an often unstated, commitment to something else.  For example, if you’re upset that Susie is always late for work and never reprimanded, you probably have a commitment to fairness or respect.  If you are irritated because Jenny never gives timely reviews or feedback, you may be trying to express your commitment to mentoring and open communication.  When you find yourself getting upset over the actions of others, try to re-frame your annoyance into the underlying commitment that you have.  Focus then on taking actions in line with those commitments instead of festering on the annoyance.

9. Exercise regularly to keep the mind alert. Exercise has been proven to have immense benefits in increasing brain cognition and producing a substance that could be likened to “Miracle Grow” for the brain.  Getting regular exercise also helps diffuse the build up of stress chemicals in the body.  Be careful not to exercise when you are already depleted, as exercise, although beneficial in many ways, is also perceived as stress on the body.