Podcast: Work-Life Balance for the Summer Months

A big thank you to all listeners and readers who joined me last night on this month's Work-Life Balance complimentary call. If you missed our monthly Monday evening call, you can listen to the podcast here:



Please mark down the dates for our upcoming free monthly Work-Life Balance calls. They will be held:
Monday July 23rd (8-9pm ET): Creating a Powerful Personal Vision
Monday August 27th (8-9pm ET): Powerful Time Management Tools for Balance

Bridgeline information can be obtained by emailing me at info{at}potentialsrealized[dot]com with Balance Call in the header. I will also post the bridgeline information a few days before the call on this blog.

I look forward to having you join me on future calls. Enjoy this month's podcast! Feel free to comment with your thoughts on the call below.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960

Balance for the Summer Months - Free Monthly Call Monday June 25

Just a quick reminder that I will be holding a free call on Monday evening (June 25th) from 8:30 to 9:30 pm (EST) on Balance for the Summer Months. I will share with you five strategies to leverage your summer for better balance and harmony. There will be time during the call to answer your questions about work-life balance.

I hope that you can join me. Your only cost will be your long-distance charges to access the telephone bridgeline.

The bridgeline for the call is (218) 486-1300, access code 957103. The call will start promptly at 8:30 pm and space is limited, so please dial in on time.

I look forward to connecting with you Monday evening!

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
90 Day Your Balanced Life Program starts July 17th
Your Balanced Life! Virtual Retreat - Saturday July 14th (10 -4 pm EST)

Vacation Deprivation - 2007

Many of you may recall that last year at this time I reported on the survey results of the Expedia Vacation Deprivation study. In fact, I was also interviewed here in Toronto regarding the results for Canada by Metro News (Toronto) and the impact on Canadian workers.

The 2007 Expedia Vacation Deprivation Survey, released a short while ago looked at the US, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. Canada was unfortunately not included in this year’s survey.

Once again, there were some very interesting findings, including the continued trend of workers in the US not taking their requisite holiday. Overall, some of the major findings included:

* 35% of US adults do not takethe vacation days they are entitled to. This continues the downward trend of not taking vacation, which was found as 33% in 2006, and 31% in 2005
Why? Reasons cited included:
The need to schedule vacation time in advance(13%)
Getting money back for unused vacation days (12%)
Work if life and it’s too hard to get away (10%)

* The average American worker gives back 3 vacation days a year, translating to 438.9 milliion vacation days annually across the US, worth $60.46 Billion dollars (Note in 2006 US workers on average gave back 4 vacation days, and in 2005 gave back 3 vacation days)

* 23% of employed adults checked voice mail or email while on vacation (up from 16% in 2005)

* 40% of American workers surveyed said that they would take a “power week” (at least one full week of vacation and using the remaining time here and there) with only 14% indicating that they would take a full 2 week vacation

Internationally:
* German employees fared the best with 79% of employed adults taking all their vacation entitlements
* French employees received the most vacation days in all survey countries (36 days) and also took the most vacation (on average 34 days)
* Great Britain: Employees received the least amount of vacation days in Europe (24 days on average), however this amount is significantly higher than US workers entitlements (14 days on average)

You can download a copy of the survey results for the 2007 Expedia Vacation Deprivation study here.

So what are the implications for this? As I stated in my interview with Metro News last year,

"Not only is vacation time good for the employee, but it is good for the company. A lot of it comes down to the difference between working and working productively. Are they(the employees) working at optimal productivity? Work-life balance impacts company productivity and profitability. It makes (good) business sense.".

What are your thoughts? Are you vacation deprived? What is the impact of this? On your work? Your productivity? Your balance? What's pushing you, or stopping you, with vacations?

As always, I would welcome your thoughts – please feel free to comment below.

Have a balanced week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960

Balance and Finances

This week's balance tip is all about balance and finances, an area that we often do not spend too much time talking about. However, it is an area that can have a huge impact on how we are viewing "balance" in our life. I am always amazed at how financial imbalance can trickle over to imbalance in other areas of our life.

When was the last time you sat down to really look at your financial situation? Do you know this month exactly what's coming in and what's going out? (This can be especially tricky for business owners). When bills have to be paid and for how much?

If you had to rank your satisfaction regarding this area of your life on a scale of 0-10 (with 10 being perfectly satisfied and 0 being "eeek!!!") where would you put yourself?

What are your strengths in the area of finances? What other areas need to be addressed?

What is one step you can take this month to put your financial house more in order?

There was a great article posted earlier this week by Christina Laun: 17 Important Financial Tips for Women, over at Ask the Advisor. Click on over and check it out!

Have a balanced week,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton

Potentials Realized

The 90 Day Your Balanced Life program starts by phone on July 17th (Tuesdays 7-8pm ET). Reserve your spot today!

Next free monthly balance call:

Monday June 26th (8:30-9:30 pm ET): Creating Balance for the Summer Months (Note the new time!)

To attend and get the bridgeline information, email me at info[at]potentialsrealized[dot]com with June 26th Balance in the subject line. Looking forward to having you on the call! Your only cost is the long-distance charges to connect with the bridgeline.

Work Life Balance Tip: Check it Off

Work Life Balance Tip : Check it Off!

I've blogged before regarding how taking a bit of time at the end or start of the day to do some planning work (5-10 minutes) can pay off exponentially. It can provide us with focus and frees up space in our brain to focus on other important issues, not just our daily list or shopping needs.

There are a wonderful number of time management tools and systems out there. Personally I still subscribe to Stephen Covey's Time Management Model, with his four quadrant system of Urgent/Not Urgent, Important/Not Important. To find out more about this model, take a look at "First Things First" which you can order online through Amazon at the link on the right.

By prioritizing the importance and urgency of the tasks in the day, I can quickly prioritize what really needs to get done, both big and small. Over the years I have found a system that works well for me, which is also linked to the energy and focus I have throughout the day. I am a morning person, so I try to get the urgent and important things done then when I have the energy and focus.

Make sure after you have completed an item that you check it off, and move on! For tasks that are larger, you may want to consider breaking them down into bite size pieces and schedule these individually. Often getting started is the hardest step, and taking a number of small steps forward can be more managable.

If you are interested in time management issues I hope that you will join me for my August monthly call on Time Management. The call will be held on Monday August 27th from 8-9 pm. To get added to the mailing list with the bridgeline information, please feel free to email me.

Have a balanced week,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton

Potentials Realized

The next 90 Day Your Balanced Life Group Coaching Program starts July 17th

Toll Free 1-866-217-1960

Email: jennifer{at}potentialsrealized{dot}com