Download or read book Choosing Work-life Banance written by Walter Hoi-wah Chan and published by . This book was released on 2010-02-26 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOOSING WORK-LIFE BALANCE - The Keys To Achieving What Many Think Is Unattainable, by Walter H. Chan, Ph.D.Regrettably, for Many People, a Balanced Life is an Ideal rather than a reality.Whether consciously aware of it or not, there is a common human desire in us to want to live well and feel good. In recent years, much attention has been given to and research done in the area of "work-life balance" and "personal well-being." While it is of fundamental importance to human beings, it is often forgotten or given low priority until something undesirable happens, such as poor health, absenteeism, strained relationships, workers' compensation claims, and violence in the workplace. These unwelcome situations can be further accentuated by economic downturns. Some people have also been awakened by mid-life crisis, triggering them to ask tough questions about who they are, what they are here, and where they are going, etc. Most people accept work as a matter of course as they grow up. Studying, job searching, working, relationship building, and retiring are expected life stages. How many people can honestly say that they find enjoyment in most of their lifetime? Even though unhappy, people often do nothing about it. Partly because they are not aware of what they are going through and partly because they do not know that a different way of living exists. For some people, life seems to be only a series of recurring events and activities. They go through life but miss the full meaning of it. They may accept approaches and situations because that´s how they grew up and that´s what they know. They may blame others for their problems, feel unable to change, or even not realize the need for change. There is an empowering way to approach life. Coming to life's detours and dead ends serves as an opportunity for introspection and questioning. Feeling frustrated and dissatisfied with current situation provides an incentive to look into the "what," the "why" and the "how" of purposeful and satisfying alternative possibilities. The negative energy can be turned into positive actions. By pausing and asking probing questions, you can be in a better position to face life's undesirable situations head on and find solutions for improvement. Should work-life balance be an issue of concern to you? Your honest answer to the following simple questions will shed some light to it.Do you feel exhausted at work even early on in the week?Do you often feel overwhelmed, driven and losing focus?Do you see that you have little time for your family members, even spending a few vacation days together?Do you observe that you have no time to have a leisure meal together with your close friends without feeling guilty?Do you find that, other than work, you have no time for yourself to even read a book quietly in the past many years?If you have answered "yes" to a number of the above questions, this book is for you. Using the Umbrella Model (see Chapter 3), this book takes a holistic approach to examining and understanding work-life balance and the steps you can take to achieve it. If you are at a crossroads, your situation is not hopeless or insurmountable. You have to make changes; however, the good news is you can. This book proposes a framework to help you better understand what you have control of in order to keep your life in balance. You need the knowledge and skills to create the right balance between work and other life obligations. Life issues need to be understood and properly handled. Because many of life's issues are linked, taking time to appreciate their inter-connectedness and responding to them holistically would provide a better chance of success. You need core health, insights into yourself, and also life management tools, supported by positive mindsets and project management techniques, to attain work-life balance. The Umbrella Model