Dr. Robert Myers, a certified psychologist, develops a series of exercises that can help stimulate the brain functions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. These are activities presented as a game that both kids and parents can enjoy together. It promotes kids’ awareness and improves their concentration. Psychologist Jeffrey M. Halperin, Ph.D., and his colleagues say that they have gathered evidence to show that “a program focused on playing nursery games helps young children improve a range of “executive functions,” including working memory and self-control.” Let’s take a look at those fun brain exercises and understand how it helps children with ADHD.

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Talk therapy or psychotherapy is a vital instrument that conceives success, improves work-life balance, and can benefit a person’s mental health. All employees (and business owners too!) will agree that their work life is important. But so is personal time. People who utilize the therapy’s advantages are smart enough to determine that psychotherapy is something that everybody should take into consideration at least once in their lives. In fact, the majority of successful people embrace and respect the entire process of maintaining a healthy work life balance as if their career life depended on it.

Psychotherapy As An Instrument

People think work-life balance is for the weak, but that’s far from reality.

Ellen Hendriksen, Ph.D. explains that “Seeking help from a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other work-life counselors can be a great way to get through a rough patch, get some perspective, or optimize your life. But not everyone feels comfortable taking time to that step.”

Psychotherapy’s Contribution To Work-Life Balance

When it comes down to discussing internal life baggage, a lot of people grew up sweeping those emotions under the rug – that it’s not appropriate to discuss feelings with other people, especially with strangers.

But times are changing and not talking about something that’s continually bothering you is the single worst mistake that you can do in your life. This amazing equilibrium is an equally important aspect of a healthy professional environment. If you feel overwhelmed, maintaining a balance between unhealthy work habits and life helps less stress and helps prevent burnout in the workplace.

Suppressing emotion and not therapeutically working through your physical, mental, and emotional issues, especially abuse or trauma experienced in the past, may culminate in a wide array of debilitating life problems.

Depression and anxiety are significant players in the world of illnesses and are considered the leading causes of global mental disability, making it a great idea to look for tips to manage work anxiety.

Restoring One’s Life

 

Therapists or life counseling professionals who specialize in balancing personal and professional life suggest ensuring equal time between working longer hours, relationships and quality time encourage clients to look at their current situation, identify any stressors, and formulate a plan to prioritize their personal activities, hobbies, and vacation time. There should be alternative ways, a flexible workplace and flexible work hours, to avoid a certain same amount of mental stress levels. Remember, the hours you spend at work won’t come back. You have to split your time between work and life to achieve a healthy work life balance. Maintaining a social life while working from home is a good option to keep that balance.

The term work-life balance means having harmony in the different aspects of your life. To what extent do a job and personal priorities interfere with one another? Many employees say it’s become more difficult to balance a job and family, they cited that their top challenge is increased sense of responsibilities at their job which means working long hours. The good news is that many employers have allowed workers flexible hours and some have even encouraged to obtain eight hours remote work. Many managers do a better job of supporting their employees.

Working long hours and harder doesn’t mean achieving more, especially if you have no personal time spent with your friends and family and the people that matter most. Let’s not forget that as our stress levels spike, our productivity plummets.

What is work-life integration? Work-life integration involves blending both personal and professional responsibilities. Technology advancements have given endless opportunities to collaborate and work digitally, and it provides increased flexibility for employees to coordinate their schedules and responsibilities in a more productive way to achieve their home life and office priorities.

Talk Therapy Is A Wonderfully Structured Type Of Psychotherapy Treatment

Psychotherapy is one of the key stakeholders to improve your work-life balance. It is a wonderfully structured type of psychotherapy that addresses not only the major symptoms of specific mental illnesses (like depression) but also the cause of the problem, whether that’s your work hours or a problem with your work-life balance.

“Many people function well with depression in front of others. It’s when they start their day, end their day, or isolate themselves from others that the symptoms are obvious,” according to a statement by Susan Fletcher, Ph.D.

While medications such as antidepressants are essential to managing most of the symptoms, it does not rip out the underlying source. That said, here are more work-life balance benefits that are gained from engaging in psychotherapy.

Benefits Of Psychotherapy

Provides Techniques For Dealing With Unexpected Circumstances

Life is full of endless curveballs that may just hit us in the face any minute; therefore, knowing how to be more productive and how to manage these problems, whether big or small, is an essential skill to live healthy lives and achieve balanced personal and professional lives.

Its Effects On Work-Life Balance Linger Even After The Sessions

Long-lasting outcomes are possible because, in this type of psychotherapy, you not only work through your baggage but also learn and develop helpful tools in dealing with unexpected circumstances in the future. The durability of the program is continuous, making the person more tenacious and mature in dealing with one’s personal life crises.

Lets You Acquire Different Perspectives

Not only on yourself and your situation, but the treatment helps other people’s plights and focus as well. Understanding the people or team surrounding you is essential to bringing down negative assumptions about them, doing a reality check, and seeing the person in an entirely different light and energy. Without the disarray of one’s hunches, recognizing, accepting, and appreciating people’s motivations and healthy job-life balance intentions becomes way easier.

Rewires The Brain To Have Work-Life Balance

The treatment can entirely change one’s control over his or her emotions regarding work and a person’s life balance. Medication can improve part of the brain that’s depressed for example; however, research shows that psychotherapy is more potent in this area. According to evidence, psychotherapy can alter mental activity where self-referential imagery, fear, and command occur.

Replaces Self-Medication

Though self care and self-medication is strangely common, it does not hammer away from the real issue and instead, just masks it. Furthermore, mental illness medications have an addictive effect that may exacerbate the balance of work-life problems. Psychotherapy is keen on getting straight to the point and obviating the necessity to self-medicate.

Final Thoughts On Work And Life Balance

With the advent of numerous personal tasks in achieving work-life balance, people are starting to consider the advantages of psychotherapy in dealing with mental health problems and a personal struggle to get a better work-life balance. Healthy work isn’t just a high salary. It’s also a balance between all the other aspects of a person’s life.

Though the stigma is slowly fading, there is still a healthier balance that needs to be done in the aspect of promoting psychotherapy as a crucial tool in facing work-life’s daily encounters. One should note that personal free time management is essential for improved personal relationships, well-being, and succeed professionally. Thus, spending time with elf is a must.

Also, keep other things in mind: “Feel free to ask questions in your search for a therapist. Common expectations and questions tend to be about therapeutic style, therapist experience, the average length of treatment, fees for services, insurance participation, and scheduling details.

Many therapists have websites that address many common questions, but make sure to ask any outstanding and balanced work-life questions if you are unclear,” a reminder from Alicia Clark, PsyD.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Work-Life Balance

What is a good balance between your job and personal life?

What does work-life balance mean?

How many hours of work a day is ideal?

What are the five steps to getting a good balance?

Why work-life balance is important?

How do you create a good balance?

What are the types of work-life balance?

What causes a poor balance between work and your personal life?

What are the benefits of good integration between your job and your personal life?

Is working 8 hours a day too much?

 

There’s always that one person or group of persons who will make your work life a living nightmare. “While we assume that most people follow the golden rule of “treat others the way that you would like to be treated”, there are definitely some individuals who are not guided by this principle and regularly break this rule”, says Dr Damon Ashworth, a Clinical Psychologist. One of the main things that my psychiatrist have taught me when dealing with toxic people at work is that one must first get to know how they’ve turned out to be impossible to get along with.

 

Not only that, there are a couple of things that my psychiatrist has revealed to me that made me change my perception towards my co-workers.

 

Here are the things that I learned which made a lot of sense:

 

1. They Might Not Mean It

 

Sometimes, we are so caught up in all the negative things about our insufferable co-workers that every mistake or comment gets magnified, intensified, and overanalyzed. Individuals are called as such because we are composed of different personalities – what you’re used to might not be the same with your co-worker. People don’t wake up and instantaneously put your name on top of their “Today’s To Piss Off List.”

 

 

One must admit, we are not always bright and sunny and we can be the problematic person for someone inside the office on any given day. You have to face the fact that people experience bad days and weeks and dumping that frustration towards colleagues is an insanely normal thing to do. We just can’t help our outburst, especially those who don’t have proper coping mechanisms for stress and pressure. Psychotherapist Amy Morin, pointed out “that toxic people can take “a serious toll on your mental well-being”.

 

Intentions of people vary and most certainly, their life goal is not to irritate you or be upsetting. Often, these troublesome people are also victims of their storms.

 

2. Calming Ourselves Will Not Enable The Nuisance

 

Heated arguments with toxic people can happen, especially if you’ve just reached your maximum tolerance. There are only two outcomes from this: you’re like adding gasoline to fire or shutting the other person down entirely. However, challenging people, much like bullies, are often prepared for comebacks.

 

Keeping your cool can make a lot of difference. “Maintaining an emotional distance requires awareness” said Travis Bradberry, Ph.D. Though it is easier said than done, miscommunication often intensifies if you act on the aggressor with a raging disposition. So, giving yourself time to breathe and relax before making a reply is a valid rebuttal to a frustrating co-worker. It keeps your emotions at bay and disables any impending work-related problems.

 

3. Understanding People Can Go A Long Way

 

Misunderstandings are one of the leading causes of work-related drama. Though it is challenging to see eye-to-eye, you can turn things around by trying to understand a particular topic from the person’s point-of-view. By doing so, you are developing an emphatic attitude that will not only make you further figure out why the person is acting out a certain way, but will also make you feel better.

 

 

Empathy for a person’s inner struggles can benefit one’s perception and maturity. On the plus side, being empathetic creates more manageable working relationships.

 

Getting Help

 

If you have someone inside the office that’s making your work life miserable, acknowledgment of their behavior does not mean immediate acceptance. Boundaries or limitations must be established; otherwise, consequences must be initiated. Remember that in workplaces, there are specific departments and individuals whose primary responsibility is to handle problematic people. If your capacity to deal or handle toxic people has already been depleted, you can always seek help, especially if the problem is affecting your work and well-being.

 

When people learned that you are working from home, the first thing that comes to their minds is, “Lucky for you.   You can just lie around and still get paid.”   They thought home-based workers have all the luxury of time to play around and just work a little.

Yes, there are many perks to working from home, like taking breaks when you want or need to, just work in your pajamas, no need to travel for hours or get caught in the traffic.  But like any other job, there is also a downside to it.  Working from home is not always a bed of roses.

“Employees often find themselves struggling to balance workplace demands with a desire to maintain strong relationships or ensure quality family time. That struggle can be emotionally draining and – if allowed to fester without intervention – can lead to more serious mental and/or physical concerns,” explains Nels Magelssen, PsyD, PS.

 

Distractions Kill Work-Life Balance

Managing time is the hardest part of being a work-at-home employee because there are more distractions at home than in an office setting.   There is no boss to call your attention to get you back on track.   If other things eat up your time, your productivity and the quality of your work will suffer.  You may end up spending more time in front of your laptop than you are supposed to, sacrificing time for yourself.

Self-Discipline Combined with Time Management Results in Work-Life Balance

If you wanted to be a home-based worker, you should be ready to have discipline and determination.  Working from home is more comfortable as you have flexible working hours, but you need to have strict rules when it comes to time management. Just watch out for issues like stress and anxiety because “working remotely creates a unique pressure to appear busy,” said Jane Scudder, a certified personal development and career transition coach.

It’s important to establish and maintain a work-life balance when you work from home in order to be creative and productive.   If putting balance in your work and life is neglected, you may lose mental agility, and you will get tired of the everyday monotony.   To prevent this from happening, the following techniques are truly worth trying,

1. Be in control of your time.  It’s your first guard against imbalance.  List your tasks for the day and prioritize.  You will then have an idea of what and how much works need to be accomplished. Read more time management tips here: www.mom365.com.

2. Create a system. This will allow you to manage your tasks well and meet your deadlines with less stress.  Finishing on time means you’ll have some spare time to do your stuff.
3. Have an exclusive workspace. It may be the corner of your room, a nook, or a spare room, any space that is comfortable for you to do your work.  Put boundaries, letting your household members know that this is your workplace.  Fewer distractions more output.
4. Leave your office. When you’re done with the day’s work, leave your work area.   Maintaining the division between your work area and the rest of the house is a way to put balance in your work and personal life.   Take a break, go for a walk, have a coffee break.
5. Disconnect and Reconnect. Learn to disconnect from your social network and other things that may distract you when you are in work mode.  Failure to doing so will result in poor quality of work, low productivity, and finishing late.

When you’re done, disconnect from your work mode and reconnect to the real world.  Have a chat with family.   Go out with friends.  This is the time to enjoy a social life.

 

 

Source: marquetteeducator.wordpress.com 

Work-Life Balance is Happiness

Happiness, satisfaction, and effectivity of working at home will depend on how well you manage your time.  Developing the habits of proper time and task management, putting boundaries on your workspace and the rest of your home, and learning how to disconnect and reconnect will make you most effective even without your boss peeping behind your shoulder now and then.  Having a healthy work-life balance will allow you to enjoy the full benefits of working from home.

“Now, I block time off on my work schedule for family time, self-care and also try to be realistic and generous with regard to how much time I will spend traveling or preparing for meeting, sessions or consultations. Building in an extra 10 or 15 minutes to catch up or ensure I have time to eat lunch without rushing also goes a long way. I’ve made changes in my schedule to work from home several days a week to spend mornings and afternoons with my kids because they grow up so fast,” a reminder from Stephanie O’Leary, Psy.D. who also works from home a few days a week.

 

 

Sometimes we do things unconsciously, and this often leaves us with not so good results.  It’s like eating chocolates unconsciously, telling yourself, “just this once.”  Every time, that’s what we say to ourselves,  not noticing the calories, sugar, and fat building up in your body. Finally, one day you wake up and look in the mirror, and alas – you’re now a chubbo.

The same goes for work.  Sometimes, unconsciously we do things that we don’t realize disrupts our productivity.  “People check their phones every 15 minutes or less, even if they don’t have any alerts or notifications,” according to psychologist Larry Rosen. We become so occupied and enjoy those outside forces too much that it eventually becomes a habit – a habit that pulls our productivity trajectory down.

 

Eating Habits

Skipping breakfast is not a good idea, but that’s what most of us are doing. Breakfast fuels our body to perform its work correctly.  Omitting it will mean getting tired quickly and might even make us dizzy, making us less productive.

Eating meals right at your desk makes you less creative and may leave your work area a mess.  Use lunch breaks as an opportunity to socialize and network.  It’s more rejuvenating than eating alone.

 

Saying Yes to More Tasks

Being pressured with so much to do keeps you out of balance, both at work and your private life.  Taking on more than you can handle hinders your happiness, creativity, and productivity.

 

Not Listening

It’s easy to look like you’re listening, but how much of it do you actually understand and how much is retained?   Listening is a skill one must develop, especially listening during a meeting.  Time is wasted and so is your productivity compromised when you miss some critical instructions.  The tendency is to go back again and re-do things over again.

 

Not Asking For Help

Don’t try to be a know-it-all person.    Ask when you’re not sure.  Collaborate with your co-workers.   And sometimes, it’s okay to ask for help when it’s impossible to meet a deadline.  Always bear in mind that two heads are better than one.

 

Social Media

Turn off your social media when not necessary.   Sometimes just a peek gets you hooked, not noticing it already snatched your time away.

 

Notifications and Emails

Browse notifications and emails during breaks.  Check which ones need an immediate reply and which ones can wait for later.   Being stuck on those emails and notifications will really hurt your productivity and will delay your work which is stressing.

 

Phone Calls

Phone calls are best at distracting you at your most creative moment, and after a call, it’s difficult to refocus.  Put your phone in silent mode when working or better put it away when you’re not expecting important calls.   For emergency calls, you can instruct your family to use the landline so the secretary can inform you that you got an emergency call.

 

Multitasking

According to Kendra Cherry MS, a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, “In the past, many people believed that multitasking was a good way to increase productivity.” Not all are effective when they multi-task. In fact, most become less productive and more stressed.  Avoiding multitasking is hard to do, but it can be done and swiping through your phone or browsing the net while doing your work or while on a meeting if not necessary so you can focus.  Practice focusing on one task at a time until it becomes a habit you develop.

 

 

Things you do unconsciously can develop a habit that can become a thief that will snatch your productivity.   It may seem pleasurable at present but will it will definitely hurt your efficiency and leave you stressed in the long run.    Have the courage to break these habits now and work on a well-balanced and prosperous life.

“Goal-setting in psychology is an essential tool for self-motivation and self-drivenness – both at personal and professional levels,” a parting note from Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury, BA, certified psychiatric counsellor.

 

 

 

You’ve planned things well for your career and your family life.   Now, it’s time to check the reality of what’s happening in your workplace and your private life.  As what Shawn M. Burn Ph.D. said, “Work-life balance is important because it affects the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.” Think which part of your plan is doable and which part of it needs change.    How hard is it really to achieve work-life balance in your situation now, from your workplace to your house roles?

Time To Check The Happening Inside Your House

Life as a parent, single or not, demands many things.  Children often will not understand why you have to always be at work.  They may accept that you don’t have enough time for them because they have no choice, but deep inside them, they struggle.  There are many questions in their mind, like why you don’t have time for them.

Time To Check On Your Life On A Loop

Are you living like a robot – working hard for years where everything has been the same.  Waking up each morning doing the same routines, prepare the children, prepare to go to work, work, come home, prepare the kids for bed, still do some chores while kids are asleep before you can rest yourself.   Then same thing again tomorrow.  Is this really what you’re meant to do?

Time To Check Your Workplace

Walking in and out of that office door several days in a week, and sitting on that same chair, browsing tons of paper works. You can hardly take the afternoon off or leave the job early for your child’s school activity, and now you’re taking on more responsibility.  Is this your career goal? Organizational psychologist Jeffry Pfeffer of Stanford University argues “many organizations and corporations are so focused on profits and other efficiency indicators that they ignore workplace stress and provide insufficient vacation and sick days.”

Time To Check On Yourself

As a mother and a wife, you are obliged to take care of your partners and your children, but how about yourself? Can you still take more? Have you achieved what you have been aiming for? Is this what you really want for your life?  Or is it time to make changes? “Non-procrastinators focus on the task that needs to be done,” explained Joseph Ferrari Ph.D.

Changes Will Happen One Step At A Time

Check, analyze, and see what changes are needed to be done to improve and put balance in your career and family life.  Making changes is hard because routines and mindset should be broken.  It means making sacrifices. It will never be easy, but if you will think of it as making compromises and prioritizing, it is doable.

Time To Instill Values in Your Kids

Home is where your heart always is.  But the heart is not enough. The mind should also be present.  Training your kids, giving each one responsibility, and keeping them involved will make them understand.  Make house chores a time to bond.  This will make house works easier for you and will give you more time to be with them and enjoy time together.

Time To Speak – Your Voice Matters

Having a voice in your workplace would be great.  We are in the modern world now where though equality is still a big issue; you have the freedom to voice out your right and the freedom to choose how you want to be treated.   All of us have responsibilities to take on, but taking on more than you can handle and not saying a word about it is sometimes the problem.  Nothing will change in your present situation if you will not do anything about it.

Time To Leave Your Comfort Zone One Step At A Time

The reality is, making changes is never easy. It will mean coming out of your comfort zone.  But if you will not take action, how will things change? How will your situation change?  Reality check is not just checking on what’s wrong, but realizing that it’s about time to do something.   You need to change some things for the benefit of your household, for the benefit of your workplace, and for your own.

As mentioned also in Family Very Well, balance in life is hard to achieve, but it’s the balance that will bring happiness and satisfaction.  The happier you are with your life, the more comfortable your family will be.  The happier you are in your workplace, the more productive, creative, and accomplished you will.

Do you find it difficult to find the perfect balance between work and your personal life? As what Shawn M. Burn Ph.D. said, “Work-life balance is important because it affects the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.” Is it a complete struggle to advance in your career without sacrificing your health or happiness? If yes, check out the list below for the top five things to do to achieve the right amount of work-life balance.

 

 

1. Learn how to say no. “Non-procrastinators focus on the task that needs to be done,” explained Joseph Ferrari Ph.D. Do not make yourself available 24/7 to your boss or team leader. Take note that you can remain a productive and efficient employee without doing overtime every night. Make sure to complete all tasks or errands within the working hours. When the clock strikes at five, it is a clear indication that the work for the day is over. Hence, when the boss asks you to do something after the 5 PM, learn how to say no politely. There is no need to feel sorry for it or to justify your actions.

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Being busy the whole day doesn’t mean you’ve become productive at all.  Many times, we hear people complaining about how very little time there is when there are so many things that need to be accomplished.  But do you believe you can accomplish many things with your time and still have spare time to do other fun stuff? It’s called time management. Melanie Greenberg Ph.D. says that “The key is to take control of your time, rather than letting time control you. One study found that people who were under time pressure and felt they had control over their time reported greater life satisfaction, felt less overloaded, and had less tension than those who were equally busy, but felt they had little or no control over their time.”

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Have you seen sponsored advertisements on Facebook about life gurus, mentors, and influencers who are selling their services to be your life coach? It might seem like a simple concept, but it may be vague to some. A life coach is a person who aims to help people meet their set goals whether it is their personal or business lives through guidance much similar to a sports coach although the methods utilized by life coaches will vary greatly.

The concept of a life coach might not be a popular choice for them in the past. Naturally, people turn to family, friends, mentors, and teachers for help and guidance. Life coaching is similar, but it is just a professional extension of that kind of support. Life coaching is also a form of counseling which involves a series of individual sessions which are done through the telephone, email or face to face to help people solve their problems and achieve their ambitions. The coach draws influence from different disciplines such as sociology, psychology and various counseling and therapies.

The primary goal of life coaching is to help individuals break their negative belief patterns, disruptive behaviors and specific goal setting in reaching for what they want from life. Most coaches are trained as a generalist, but many also specialize in particular areas like finances, creativity, personal growth, work-life balance, stress, careers, business and many others.

Nowadays, people are more receptive to the idea of getting a coach which a sign that it is in fact useful. Anybody can hire a coach to better themselves, but there are telltale signs that having a coach is the right option for you.

“The biggest difference between coaching and therapy, in my view, is that the theory that guides my work as a therapist can explain how coaching does or does not work, while theories that guide coaches can’t do the same about therapy. This difference, while true, seems inconsequential to me. What matters is that people get help in their efforts to grow, master their problems and become more effective in their lives,” says clinical psychologist Michael Bader.

You don’t have a clear vision, or your view is overwhelming.

 

 

People might want a lot of things in life that it can get complicated and chaotic in process. Others have a general view of how they want their lives but don’t have a clue on the specifics in attaining those goals. “You can see the problem without feeling overwhelmed with anxiety or sadness even though the problem is still there. In that way, therapy can help you re-contextualize the problem you’re dealing with in order to make a strategy to help you move forward,” according to Dr. David Spiegel, one of the nation’s most respected experts in the clinical uses of hypnosis. His statement refers to coaching.

Your patterns are not in conjunction with your goals.

You now have the vision, and the ways to achieve those goals are already in place. Another hurdle to conquer is self-sabotage or commit adverse decision associated with your bad habits. It shows lack of sincere commitment to making your dreams into a reality. A good coach will help you clear these roadblocks and reach levels of personal responsibility and growth you have never accessed before.

You’re easily irritable.

Are you impulsive and gets angry quickly about small things? Are you usually in the state of reaction? Do you sometimes wonder why you fight so hard? These personal issues are best explored together with a coach to resolve deep-seated conflicts within yourself or your past.

 

You are currently undergoing a massive transition.

 

 

You are planning to make a massive career shift or facing a life transition, and you wouldn’t want to continually burden your family and friends for advice, recommendations, and suggestions on various options. A life coach helps you deal with the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty of transition.

 

You are craving for a purpose.

You have gained success in your chosen field but still feel unfilled. Maybe, a life coach is the one to help sort things out. Certified life and executive coach Stefanie Ziev explains about coaching – “This really works for people who are seeking more meaning in their lives, personally and professionally. It clarifies your purpose… particularly when you’re feeling depleted in life.”