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Making the most of every day

Work-Life-Play Goals

worklifebalance At this time of year, many of us will be considering our personal and work related goals, assessing whether or not they will make a lasting impression for the rest of the year. However, with so many negative messages in the media of job cuts, a deepening financial crisis and an uncertain economic future, it can be easy to put your own personal goals aside and focus on work.

Some of you, business owners, managers and employees alike are, quite literally, losing sleep over the recession. Spending more time away from your family and loved ones to try and help keep your business afloat. It can all be very draining on your health, and if you don’t take a step back and reclaim a healthy work-life balance then you could be at risk of damaging your health, making errors at work and even creating a rift in personal relationships.

Making time to reflect on work, life and play habits and choosing to make a positive change is empowering and can make a difference to the individual and those around them. This is particularly important for personal resilience in a time of uncertainty, such as this.

So… we say that it’s not too late to set some realistic short term goals, based on the concept of work-life-play.

Table 1: Examples of short-term choices
Work	Life	Play
Learn to embrace change	Nurture your relationship	Read one of your favourite books from childhood
Make some good friends at work	Learn another language	Learn how to play a musical instrument
Show people you're listening	Declutter your house	Take up DIY

Tip - At your next management meeting - maybe brief managers/supervisors about work-life-play goal setting - they will then be required to set the task to their teams/employees. This will nudge employees to start seriously thinking about achieving a work-life balance.

work-life-play Ceridian’s EAP, LifeWorks has introduced a new compact and engaging booklet to help employees make positive changes every day – at work, at home and in their personal life. Work, Life, Play is just one of the many free resources available to employees through Ceridian’s EAP, LifeWorks. Employees can order a copy of the booklet by calling the service centre or they can order or download a copy through LifeWorks Online.