Make Your Workplace a Lifeplace.

It is common to hear the term 'work/life balance'. Although it is easy to understand what this means, there is a dark undertone to this saying and I wonder if many of us realise it. Are we actually saying that when we are at work that we are not alive?

Let's acknowledge the basic meaning of work/life balance first. This quite rightly refers to the amount of time that we spend at work in relation to our home and social life. It also refers to bringing work home and chewing into family time. It is clear that we must share our time thoughtfully so we can nurture our relationships at home and our social lives. The darker message is that the time we spend at work is something unreal and unnatural that is disconnected from our experience of living.

Is it really true that some people leave their 'life' at the office door and then pick it up again as they leave? Like some kind of overcoat, we slip in and out of what we really enjoy to be in some limbo world of work for 8 or more hours every day. In many conversations, I have found this to be true for more people than I think is healthy. Even one of our most famous songs says it, "Monday I've got Friday on my mind."

So does it have to be like this? I say, no. Why can't the workplace be somewhere that people are eager to go? To answer that question, we need to look at what makes people feel alive. Although quite a complex question, one simple answer is that people like to have experiences that mean something to them. A big part of having a meaningful experience is feeling as though you are doing something that helps other people and hopefully at the same time helps yourself. We certainly like experiences that are fun, but we can also get a lot out of experiences that are difficult or challenging. It's all about being involved and being a part of something worthwhile.

At the MindScience Institute we've looked into not only our own lives, but also loads of research that has helped us come up with a very simple assessment tool as to whether a workplace is also a lifeplace. Everyone likes to feel they are in some kind of balance, some degree of harmony. We have found that what people need is a healthy balance of feeling Happy, Able, Receptive, Mindful, Open, Nascent and with a sense of Yes. Get these 7 things going properly and you can feel alive no matter where you are!

For members of the Famil Club, Richard Hill will give a complimentary HARMONY Assessment. From this we can tailor a program that deals with any issues and also to support strengths. It's high time we gave life to one of the most exciting venues we have to experience things that teach us more about who we are and about who we can be - the workplace!

Contact Richard Hill at richhill@iinet.net.au and check out the website at www.mindscienceinstitute.com.au