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| Get a grip on your life |
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Is life in Singapore stressful? For many of us, work takes up most of
our time. As a result, we have little time and energy left for our family,
friends and ourselves. In our struggle to attain work-life balance, we
often feel tired, guilty and frustrated. We resent being victims of our
circumstances.
Mr David Lock, a personal
work-life effectiveness (PWLE) consultant from The Clarion
Institute attributes this situation to a faulty perspective
on work-life harmony.
He said: “Trying to balance work and personal life will only add more
stress to a person due to the conflicting demands of work and family.”
Instead, Mr Lock proposes a new paradigm called “work-life integration”.
This new approach is about viewing important life activities as one
whole, and not separating work and personal life by time. It means
that instead of trying to allocate equal amounts of time for our work
and personal life, we seek to maintain equilibrium in our changing
circumstances. Instead of arranging activities based on the clock, we
prioritise them according to necessity, practicality and efficiency.
Explained Mr Lock: “You have to be a lot more strategic about how you
manage your life. For example, you take a long time to finally settle
down to write an important proposal. As luck would have it, you can’t
get started till the last minute. At 3.30 pm on Friday, the ideas start to
flow and you get into the groove — that is equilibrium. The question
is: Do you knock off at 6 pm or do you stay to finish the proposal? To
maintain equilibrium, you make adjustments and stay to finish the
proposal because if you go home, you have to struggle to find the
groove again.
“People who constantly strive to position themselves in a state of
equilibrium experience calm, serenity and optimal effectiveness. They
make some adjustments to capitalise on opportunities to maximise
their output.”
To help people realise work-life integration, Mr Lock
developed a programme called “Arrows with Soul™“,
which enables individuals to identify their priorities,
and align their actions to their priorities for greater
work-life harmony.
In June 2006, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth
and Sports launched a series of work-life seminars based
on the Arrows with Soul™ framework, which has reached
out to some 3,000 individuals, including
public officers.
One of the participants who found the framework helpful
is Mr Yong Wei Hiong, Leader, Finance Services — Receipts
at CSS-Vital.org, Ministry of Finance.
He used to find it a struggle coping with work and part-time
studies, and finding time for family and exercise. After
he learnt about work-life integration, he took steps to
change his life. He took fewer night classes and started
spending more time with his family. Now he reads and exercises
regularly.
“My family members have commented that I now spend more time
with them and my colleagues noticed that I am more lively in the
office,” he said.
His colleague, Ms Cherie Gwee, also put what she learnt into practice
and now enjoys better relationships with her family, colleagues and
friends. Plus she feels more positive about her work.
“No longer do I want to belong to the pool of disenchanted workers. I
strive to be an engaged employee, i.e. productive and loyal,” she said.
Pointing out how work-life integration can benefit public
agencies, Mr Lock added: “Public agencies now face greater
accountability and public visibility. Increasingly, civil
servants need to provide higher levels of customer service.
If they begin to practise the work-life integration concepts,
their engagement at work will positively impact important
aspects of their lives.
Monday: To Know is
good, to Understand is better, to Act
is power.
Tuesday: Work is part of Life, there is no such thing as balance.
Until we realise our lives are bigger,
stress will be the constant.
Wednesday: Encourage
the heart, it’s the best energy source
for the extra mile.
Thursday: Be still
and learn the Art of Being. It’s your
present, treasure it.
Friday: We are constantly making plans and living in the future.
Our real-time existence is almost irrelevant.
Saturday: Quality time
is an excuse, just spend the time.
Sunday: Work to rest, this is the day we look back and celebrate the week. |
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By Challenge Editorial Team
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| Agencies
that are keen to bring a free
Arrows with Soul™ talk to
their staff, or individuals keen
to attend a public workshop in
January can call 6532 7532 or
visit www.arrowswith
soul.com. |
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