Balance

Yesterday, I listened to the new The Music Therapy Show with Janice Harris podcast, which was about balance between work and life. This morning, I saw a quick news report about Millennials in the workplace. A stat they posted during the story was that 34% of young people entering the job force stated that work-life balance is the top priority in choosing a new job. This seems to be a sign that I should follow suit and cover this topic myself.

First off, I feel I should define the word "Millennials." Millennials are the new generation that is just starting to enter the workforce. Millennials come after Generation X (starting around 1986 or so). As a Millennial myself, I feel I can give some insight into this age range. The following statement are generalities and may not be true for everyone, but seem to be a trend. For our whole lives, we've been told we're the best at everything. We have been termed the "Trophy Children" because every little achievement is celebrated. Because of this, we may have been coddled too much and may feel a sense of entitlement when we enter the work place (Heaven knows, I've been guilty of this). We are hard workers, though, and when given the right environment, we can thrive and be quite productive. If you want to read a little more on this new generation, find a copy of The M-Factor: How Millennials are Rocking the Workplace by Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman.

This idea of work-life balance seems to be a trend not being adapted only by Millennials, but by others. Self-care can be so important, especially in care giving roles, such as music therapists, nurses, social workers, etc. We seem to want to be a bottomless well of support and assistance, but eventually, we need to take care of ourselves. I've heard of several studies that show a correlation between burnout and poor self-care/coping strategies. If we want to keep doing our job effectively (and enjoy what we do), we need to refill our wells.

I realized pretty early on that I needed to refill, so here are some things I do to take care of myself. The first (and probably biggest thing I did), was change my schedule. I now work 4 10-hour days. I can see more people in one area, which helps me feel more effective, and cuts a day of travel out of the week. This also gives me one floating "mental health"/"domestic duties" day, where I can relax a little bit (right now, I'm sitting in my favorite local coffee shop) and take care of the things around the house that I feel to tired to do after a day of work. Usually, I feel this way regardless of whether I work 8 or 10 hours. Needless to say, my wife appreciates the work I can do at home on my day off. Usually, I take off Fridays, but I like to change it up.

As I discussed in my 4 P's of Coping with Windshield Time post, I do a lot of self-care in the car. It's important for me to process, especially. When I'm aware of my emotions and how they affect the clients I see, I can deal with them effectively. It's like treating the illness instead of the symptoms. I can deal with what causes my emotions instead of simply ignoring my emotions and pretending that other people can't see them.

The last thing I'll write about is taking time to do things you enjoy. I try to go for a run at least 3 times a week (not always fun while I'm doing it, but I feel better afterward). When I get a little spare time on a Saturday morning, I like to play my old Nintendo 64 (and laugh at how poor the picture quality is versus modern systems). Reading books, especially my Bible, are also something I try to make time for.

What are some things you do to balance your work and life?