{"id":1502,"date":"2023-07-25T14:38:51","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T19:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/?p=1502"},"modified":"2024-07-30T22:59:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T03:59:23","slug":"the-illusive-work-life-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Illusive Work-Life Balance<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we pass the mid-year point, hours of daylight are long, outdoor activities and vacations are abundant, yet the demands at the office do not wane. \u00a0The subject of providing an environment for work-life balance often resurfaces during the summer, but the topic is one that should be addressed on an ongoing basis within an organization.<\/p>\n

Numerous management consulting companies have performed exhaustive research in this area and have found that over 40% of employees claim they do not have suitable work \/ life balance, and more than one in four dissatisfied employees plan to leave their employer within the next two years.<\/p>\n

The Definition of Balance<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are many articles and books written about finding balance in life, but while many talk about the need to find balance, most do not define exactly what this means or how each of us can find the right combination. \u00a0In order to figure out our perfect balance, we must start with the definition of what areas make up the various facets of life. Possible domains include:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0 Family
\n2)\u00a0 Friends
\n3)\u00a0 Spirituality
\n4)\u00a0 Self-Development
\n5)\u00a0 Self-Indulgence
\n6)\u00a0 Physical
\n7)\u00a0 Work
\n8)\u00a0 Charity<\/p>\n

Having a balanced life means ensuring that life itself is multi-faceted and those facets are defined. \u00a0We need to then apportion the correct amount of attention to each area. \u00a0Prioritization is then determined by attention allocation rather than intention of attention allocation. \u00a0In each area there are activities with varying degrees of urgency and importance; if urgency always rules decisions, one will easily feel out of balance. \u00a0Important activities, while not immediately urgent, are frequently better uses of time than urgent ones. \u00a0These eight areas compete for the one commodity we can offer, which is time.<\/p>\n

Analyzing the Allocation of Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are 168 hours in a week. Removing the amount of time an average person sleeps leaves roughly 120 hours per week to allocate attention and focus. \u00a0Think about your last week and ask yourself, \u00a0\u201cWhere did the time go?\u201d \u00a0Did it go there because you planned it that way, or was it simply the result of going through the motions? \u00a0If we can learn to plan the allocation of our most precious resource (our time), then we may value it more. \u00a0Therefore, we must learn to become focused and productive while in one dimension, and still allow for enough time in other dimensions.<\/p>\n

The following is an eight-step formula for implementing this process:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Determine if and why you care about each of the eight domains. \u00a0What does it mean to you and how important is it? \u00a0What are the consequences of the lack of quality time, and what are the benefits of proper attention allocation?<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Determine and quantify the gap between desire and achievement.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Create a specific action plan to close the gap.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Determine the amount of time needed in each area to achieve YOUR desired balance.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Create an \u201cattention plan\u201d that details this time.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Identify potential hijackers and distractions of the plan and create solutions to minimize them.<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Track and review periodically (once per week, perhaps).<\/p>\n

8)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Periodically re-assess, re-prioritize, and repeat.<\/p>\n

Time and attention allocation is not the sole determinant, though, of balance. \u00a0Focus in that time is equally important. \u00a0Multi-tasking is the curse of focus; we are most productive and fulfilled when we give our undivided attention to the domain we are in.<\/p>\n

With 120 hours each week, plenty of time exists for quality in each domain. \u00a0Life may go through periods where a short-term imbalance serves a long-term balance, but this is called sacrifice! \u00a0Some individuals consciously choose to dedicate all their life to one or two domains, while others do not want to be the world\u2019s best sprinter or hurdler but want to be a decathlete. Start first with what you want, which is based on your \u201cwhy\u201d. \u00a0When you know your \u201cwhy\u201d, you can begin building bridges to close the gaps between desire and achievement.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Illusive Work-Life Balance As we pass the mid-year point, hours of daylight are long, outdoor activities and vacations are abundant, yet the demands at the office do not wane. \u00a0The subject of providing an environment for work-life balance often resurfaces during the summer, but the topic is one that should be addressed on an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Illusive Work-Life Balance - AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Illusive Work-Life Balance - AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Illusive Work-Life Balance As we pass the mid-year point, hours of daylight are long, outdoor activities and vacations are abundant, yet the demands at the office do not wane. \u00a0The subject of providing an environment for work-life balance often resurfaces during the summer, but the topic is one that should be addressed on an [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Rich-Connell-AGRI-SEARCH-199588973714357\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-25T19:38:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-31T03:59:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jodi AGRI\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AGRI_SEARCH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AGRI_SEARCH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jodi AGRI\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jodi AGRI\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ad31ea171abd9c06dd89b79bb1c3c4f8\"},\"headline\":\"The Illusive Work-Life Balance\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-25T19:38:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-31T03:59:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":648,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Illusive Work-Life Balance - AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-25T19:38:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-31T03:59:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":665},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Illusive Work-Life Balance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters\",\"description\":\"Ag Industry Leaders in Agriculture Talent\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"AGRI-SEARCH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/Agri-Search_Logo_c.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/Agri-Search_Logo_c.svg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":251,\"caption\":\"AGRI-SEARCH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Rich-Connell-AGRI-SEARCH-199588973714357\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/AGRI_SEARCH\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/rich-connell-agri-search-inc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ad31ea171abd9c06dd89b79bb1c3c4f8\",\"name\":\"Jodi AGRI\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/839354791d4d5180b7936b0d0224606795a03abbdf426334f78332f74929614f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/839354791d4d5180b7936b0d0224606795a03abbdf426334f78332f74929614f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/839354791d4d5180b7936b0d0224606795a03abbdf426334f78332f74929614f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jodi AGRI\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agri-search.com\\\/author\\\/jodi\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance - AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance - AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters","og_description":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance As we pass the mid-year point, hours of daylight are long, outdoor activities and vacations are abundant, yet the demands at the office do not wane. \u00a0The subject of providing an environment for work-life balance often resurfaces during the summer, but the topic is one that should be addressed on an [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/","og_site_name":"AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Rich-Connell-AGRI-SEARCH-199588973714357\/","article_published_time":"2023-07-25T19:38:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-31T03:59:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":665,"url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jodi AGRI","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AGRI_SEARCH","twitter_site":"@AGRI_SEARCH","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jodi AGRI","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/"},"author":{"name":"Jodi AGRI","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad31ea171abd9c06dd89b79bb1c3c4f8"},"headline":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance","datePublished":"2023-07-25T19:38:51+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-31T03:59:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/"},"wordCount":648,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/","url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/","name":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance - AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg","datePublished":"2023-07-25T19:38:51+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-31T03:59:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/shutterstock_2312725437.jpg","width":1000,"height":665},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/the-illusive-work-life-balance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Illusive Work-Life Balance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/","name":"AGRI-SEARCH Agricultural Recruiters","description":"Ag Industry Leaders in Agriculture Talent","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#organization","name":"AGRI-SEARCH","url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Agri-Search_Logo_c.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Agri-Search_Logo_c.svg","width":1000,"height":251,"caption":"AGRI-SEARCH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Rich-Connell-AGRI-SEARCH-199588973714357\/","https:\/\/x.com\/AGRI_SEARCH","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/rich-connell-agri-search-inc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad31ea171abd9c06dd89b79bb1c3c4f8","name":"Jodi AGRI","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/839354791d4d5180b7936b0d0224606795a03abbdf426334f78332f74929614f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/839354791d4d5180b7936b0d0224606795a03abbdf426334f78332f74929614f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/839354791d4d5180b7936b0d0224606795a03abbdf426334f78332f74929614f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jodi AGRI"},"url":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/author\/jodi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agri-search.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}