FUNctional tips to Balance Work and Family

Let’s face it!  Harmonizing both work and family demands can be like walking on a high wire, even at Edmonton employment agencies.  Sometimes you’re balanced, sometimes you sway, and sometimes you may even fall.  You may not have control over outside conditions, but you can use the following tips to control your own center as best as you can.  Who knows best about perfecting balance?  Well, tightrope walkers of course…

Use a Balancing Tool

It would be foolish to forget your balancing tool when attempting the high wire.  Experts use a pole to distribute the mass away from their center. This especially helps during high winds or fatigue.  Walking a tightrope unaided carries a greater chance of error.  “Don’t be fooled- rely on a tool!”  It will distribute the burden so you don’t have to rely on your own memory ‘center.’  Your balance tool between your work and home life can be your notebook, your day timer , or any device that works well for you (note: poles and umbrellas are not helpful in this circumstance).

Don’t look down at your Feet!

When you are at work, be at work – when you are with your family, be with your family.  Edmonton recruitment agencies find if you are stuck thinking of one too much when the other one in front of you needs your attention, it may mean that you are looking down at your feet!  EMERGENCY STOP!  Experts say this will cause you to fall.  Focus on looking forward and not on your feet, then calmly take one step at a time while being in the moment where you need to be.

Be Methodical

Philippe Petit took six years of planning the successful “artistic crime of the century” when in 1974 he walked a tightrope between the famous Twin Towers.  He methodically studied everything he could about the buildings including construction, wind sway, and even how to wire the cable unnoticed.  Balancing work and family requires that you indeed plan ahead and this will alleviate anxiety.  Do you know where you need to be and what you need to accomplish tomorrow and next week?  Take some “Petit” time out to plan and prepare and you won’t regret it.

Be Creative but Leave out the Drama

Charles Blondin creatively crossed the Niagara on a tightrope in variance ways -blindfolded, in a sack, on stilts, and once with his manager on his back!  Creativity may be required to solve dilemmas, deal with challenges, and remain functional at work and at home.  But BEWARE!  Please don’t attempt to carry your manager on your back – this would create far too much of a scene at the office!  Be creative like Blondin, but leave out the drama because too much of it on either side could cause you to wobble, topple, and fall!

Remember to Breathe

Tightrope walkers know that breathing is synonymous with performance.  Without it your body starts to rely on its own storage which eventually runs out and causes you to S-L-O-W  down or even faint.  Aisikaier Wubulikasimu, a famous acrobat and high-wire tightrope walker, fell off his tightrope just two years ago!  He said he started to feel faint and dizzy, but luckily he survived his fall of over 600 feet (no net).  Is your breathing out of sync?  Does your work and family balance need to get back to a level that is natural before you feel faint?  Silly as it sounds, sometimes you have to concentrate on breathing and relaxing. Don’t risk a fall like Aisikaier- plan a relaxing weekend or better yet schedule a vacation.

Use a Safety Net

Just earlier this year, a daredevil group who call themselves the Skyliners & Flying Frenchies attempted to walk a tightrope between two hot air balloons.  They all lost their balance and fell!  Cleverly they each wore a parachute and safely reached the ground.  Too much sway at work or at home such as demands, pressure, or conflicts, may cause you to fall.  Your safety net or parachute should be a neutral party like a friend (not from work), a counsellor or psychologist, who can catch you when needed.  But falling doesn’t mean that you have failed (unless you don`t have a safety net of course!).  Keep an eye out for the Skyliner group who have gotten back up again – because they are planning to attempt the feat again soon!