Work-Life Balance For Dummies

A recent survey conducted by Universum Communication found that work-life balance is No.1 on the list of short-term career goals amongst professionals. But while work-life balance is an increasingly popular term, many of us are still unsure about how to achieve it, or lack the confidence to approach employers to negotiate flexible working hours.

Work-Life Balance for Dummies will offer readers advice and simple strategies to achieve more balance whatever their situation.

Discover how to:

• Work out your priorities
• Put off procrastination and improve your time management
• Move your boss towards work-life balance
• Cast your net wider and change jobs and employers
• Plan a relocation

About the author

Jeni Mumford is the author of Life Coaching For Dummies. She is a personal life coach who works with both individuals and organisations on personal development. She runs holistic coaching events in the UK and Italy and is an accredited NLP practitioner.

Introduction 1

Part I: Stand and Deliver: Your Job or Your Life 7

Chapter 1: Defining Work/Life Balance 9

Chapter 2: Work, Life, and You 21

Part II: Looking After Yourself First 35

Chapter 3: You Can’t Have It All and Nor Would You Want To 37

Chapter 4: Your Body Is Your Temple and Not Your Local Dump 57

Chapter 5: Getting to Know You 75

Part III: Size Isn’t Everything: Small Changes That Work 93

Chapter 6: Finding Lost Time and Space 95

Chapter 7: Being a Legend in Your Own Lunch Time 115

Part IV: Preparing to Work for Work/Life Balance 131

Chapter 8: Moving Your Manager towards Work/Life Balance 133

Chapter 9: Maintaining Your New Working Life 151

Chapter 10: Putting the Life into Your Work/Life Balance 167

Part V: The Bigger Picture: Getting What You Want Long Term 187

Chapter 11: Casting Your Net Wider 189

Chapter 12: Studying for Success 211

Chapter 13: Doing a 180-Degree Turn: Changing Your Career Completely 227

Chapter 14: Simplifying Your Life 243

Chapter 15: Planning Your Moves 259

Part VI: The Part of Tens 273

Chapter 16: Ten Tips from the Experts 275

Chapter 17: Ten Things to Teach Your Kids 289

Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Motivate Your Workmates 299

Index 309

Jeni Mumford is the author of Life Coaching For Dummies. She is a personal life coach who works with both individuals and organisations on personal development. She runs holistic coaching events in the UK and Italy and is an accredited NLP practitioner.

Katherine Lockett is a co-founder of the Centre for Work & Life Research Unit at the University of South Australia. As the pressure and pace of modern life increases, the prospect of achieving any kind of balance between work and life can seem impossible. This friendly guide shows you how to take control over when, where, and how you work so that you can perform at your best and still make time for the fun things in life. Packed with real-life examples and simple tools and techniques to successfully deal with the various demands in your life – including your workload, career ambitions, health, fun, and family – this book will help you to figure out the right balance for your situation and find the happiness and contentment you really deserve.