“Leadership can achieve work-life balance to increase productivity, reduce stress and increase well being! One of the big problems is that the average working american works way too much and it’s killing productivity, employee engagement and well-being.
It’s up to leadership to first implement balance and then make it a priority for their organization.
The funny thing is the answer is right under our nose. I’ve been implementing this over the last year and a half and I have to tell you it feels really good to do so.
In the United Sates we definitely need a transformation in the area of work-life balance because it’s a big reason why our productivity has been steadily declining.
Research on the relationship between hours worked and productivity indicates that your output falls sharply after a 50 hours of work in a week, and it drops drastically after 55 hours—so much so that if you put in 70 hours most often you produce nothing more with those extra 15 hours!
A Gallup poll indicates 40% of Americans work more than 50 hours every week, and 20% work more than 60 hours!
What can be done about this?
I believe the solution to our problems of lagging productivity and low employee engagement are happiness and well being. Happiness and well being are what make life worth living and achieving them are really what life is about. So, they need to be a top priority in the workplace and it’s up to leadership to make this a priority.
I see a way that this can turn around. I mentioned that the solution is right under our nose. What I meant by this is that the generation commonly referred to as the “millennials” want a work-life blend. I’ve been doing a lot of research on what this generation wants and I have to say they have some other desires that will be very helpful as well! For now let’s focus on the blending of work and the rest of our lives.
We live at an extraordinary time! Many of us can work from anywhere but we need to be careful that this doesn’t become working all the time. I’ve had a virtual company for over 20 years now and I’ve done the work too much thing. I’ve also experimented with productivity as well.
What I’ve found is that my productivity drops dramatically if I work more than 8 hours a day. By experimenting I’ve found that my most productive times for work are 5 am to 10 am and 3 pm to 5:30 pm. So that’s when I try to work.
From 10 am to 3 pm I’m still available to answer questions but I use this time to bring the things I enjoy into my life like exercise, meditation, hiking and skiing. What this does is bring well being and happiness into my workday. It’s the work-life blend this important generation is talking about!
What activities can you bring into your workday to increase well being? It will positively impact productivity and creativity!
Until next time… Lead with a Commanding Presence
John”
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