I’ve been pondering this idea of work life balance. Quite a bit lately, as a matter of fact, in another effort to understand what the link might be to getting and keeping more women in leadership roles. And the more I think about it, the more it makes me think... Read More
$100 off The Body & Mind Corporate wellbeing workshop – find out if your work is making you sick and strategies to build your resilience
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
On 16th March 2011 Macquarie University’s Faculty of Business and Economics and iConneXX Pty Ltd are bringing together a blend of business, law, risk management, psychology and health experts at the inaugural The Body & Mind Corporate, a strategic workshop to explore the serious psychological and physical health conditions that executive women are experiencing. Read More
Why choice doesn’t always bring us what we want: thoughts from a Professor at Columbia Business School
Friday, October 29, 2010
This video recommends people differentiate between decisions that are “uplifting and meaningful” and the every day decisions, or decisions that distract us from choosing our better lives. I know I can get caught up in choosing to do what has to be done, rather then doing what is best for me as a whole person. And I know from conversations with so many of you that I’m not alone in this at all! Not only that but there are statistics to back us up. Read More
Sexual harassment – why people who witness it don’t report it, and why we really need to
Monday, October 18, 2010
Hot off the back of a settlement in the DJs sexual harassment case, incidences of sexual harassment are still alarmingly common across all industries. Whether you go by the stories you’ve been unofficially told or from the stats, the rate of women being made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace is way too high. With only 16% of harassments being reported, the time has come to report a colleague if you see them harassing another co-worker. Read More
Introducing the sphinxx directory of recommended services – our network is about to become yours!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
If you’ve ever been responsible for establishing employee development programs, conferences or leadership offsites, you’ll know just difficult it can be to find fantastic, out of this world, leading-edge service providers. In a sea of social media and spin, my vast network send me calls for help every day – by email, LinkedIn, twitter and the sphinxx website - all looking for advice about who they should hire for their own professional development needs, or to supplement their in-house women's programs. Read More
Planning on working overtime? Or demanding that your staff do? Not good idea if you want them to stay alive. New research links overtime to heart damage
Friday, September 17, 2010
Did you know that 1 in 3 women will suffer a cardiac event in their lifetime, compared to 1 in 25 women who will get breast cancer, according to Professor Linda Worrell-Carter at our August Ascend development day in Melbourne. New research at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health at University College, London the higher stress levels and less time to look after your health that come from working overtime make working long hours a considerable risk for heart disease. Read More
Free article shared on LinkedIn on how to overcome shyness and increase your confidence
Monday, August 30, 2010
I’m a member of Executives Women’s Business group on LinkedIn, and wanted to share with you all an article one of the other members shared about how to beat shyness, and become more confident. Read More
Ever wondered what other busy business women were reading and loving? “The Absolute Best Books…”
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Reading is one of the many things I would like to do more of. Not just getting into the books that are bumping around my office for professional development, but also fiction books too. Read More
Honing your perspective to achieve better results, and a better life
Monday, July 19, 2010
Perspective is a valuable but fickle asset. Getting it wrong can be catastrophic, and getting it right can take a lot of effort. From business innovation to writers block at work, to the 7 year marriage itch to compassion fatigue in life, maintaining a fresh, accurate and enthusiastic perspective can be challenging. Read More
Boost your brain and get ahead. With real scientific research and insights from Dr. Helena Popovic, one of our speakers at the upcoming Ascend days
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Last week we had a preview of what is headed our way with the August Ascend Development days, with a free article from Ken Wright, a people management whiz and a prize winning author. Registrations are rolling in every week for Ascend so if you haven’t booked yet, do it now or risk missing out. Read More
Comments
I have often think I could work more - more hours, higher paid position with mroe responsibility - but I know that when I have worked the 60 hour week in the past, my children have suffered. and my health has suffered and no one ends up happy, even if we have extra money. And in the end, I burn out. I'm much more conscious now that I have to come first - without me being healthy and happy, my children can't have a healthy happy mum to care for them. My partner can't have a healthy, happy girlfriend. My boss can't have a healthy, happy employee. And not only do they all deserve to have that, but I deserve to be healthy and happy in and for it's own sake.
So I juggle. And occasionally, I drop a ball. But it's a lot easier to pick up a ball than it is to pick up your whole self when your balance fails and you fall down.
that offers flexibility in hours so that when something comes up with little or no notice, i can handle it without needing to apologize 12 times for being late or leaving early, and without feeling like my future is limited at the company because it is not
conducive to my work life balance to have a fixed start and end time every day. As a single with no relatives, i find that these sorts of things occur once or twice a month, which is once or twice too often in a workplace that gives loud lip service to work/life
balance for non-traditional workers with non-traditional requirements. Another element of work/life balance is that if i am on a super productive streak, I prefer to keep my focus and go for a 12 hour stretch one day, and have a shorter day later in the week
without having to beg, usually unsuccessfully, for comp time. I know that fixed start/end time schedules are prized by some, but it just drives me nuts to have to choose between unpaid overtime or less productivity... Or to work when i know i am not at my
productive best, just because of an hour on the clock, when i am in a professional salaried role that really has no business requirement other than "it makes he boss happy" for me to work a fixed schedule.