Andy Yiu’s Blog

Work-Life Balance by Dr. Baffes

Companies often promote the phrase work-life balance in the expectation that employees will find a Zen-like balance between their job and personal life. If you ask anyone on the street whether this is achievable, they will tell you that a work-life balance doesn’t exist and can not be achieved. A wise mentor of mine once told me that a company will take whatever you give it and that it is important to look after ourselves. This is true in many circumstances and according to studies performed, more college graduates are now working 60+ hours per week.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a talk by Dr. Paul Baffes Ph.D. who is known to many as Dr. Work-Life. In his one hour discussion he outlines some topics and examples which make will change your perception about your see your job and personal life. Some of the important takeaway messages from the talk are:

• Work does not have to compete with life. They should reinforce each other.
• Changing your perspectives on work-life can actually improve your career
• “As long as you think of work-life balance as a compromise, you will never achieve the quality of life you want”
• By improving your personal life, you can actually be more productive in the office.

Dr. Baffes has published a book which discusses many of the topics which he discussed during his talk.  It is titled “Work Life Balancing:How to Be Wildly Successful in Both…really!” and is available for order at CompleteBook.com.  In addition to his book, Dr. Baffes also has a blog which is a gold mine of information.  His blog is located at http://worklifebalancing.blogspot.com/, however I would like to recommend that everyone take a look at his entry titled “Five Principals of Work-life Balancing“.