Trwyn Tal retreat

Recharge, refocus, relax

Recharge, refocus, relax in the Welsh mountains

Work … and Life

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Welcome to Part 1 of our series on Work-Life Balance

Let’s start by taking a look at the “Work-Life” bit of this phrase. “Work-Life Balance” picks out one bit of your life (work) and looks at how that balances with the rest of your life.

For most of us, work occupies a big proportion of the hours in our week, second only to the number of hours we sleep. What’s more (with the exception of the Very Rich), most of us need to earn an income, making work the biggest “Got to do” aspect of life.

But how about this… If you look at life as being made up of “work” and “everything else,” couldn’t that emphasis – that very way of thinking about it – be a part of what creates imbalance?

There are rather a lot of important elements all lumped together in that word “life”! Work gets highlighted all on its own, but the rest of your life – your children, partner, friends, family, health, financial security, home, faith, leisure time and relaxation etc. are all in one amorphous mass. Don’t all these other parts of your life deserve consideration individually?

Work Life Balance – whatever works for you

The source of your work-life balance is likely to involve most if not all of these different parts of your life, in different ways. Here’s just a few of the possible examples:

  • Quality leisure time which recharges your batteries can help you think more clearly and easily when you’re at work, potentially shortening your working day and/or leaving you with more energy.
  • A new uber-supportive relationship in your life can help you finally go for that job you’ve always wanted – and vice versa.
  • Addressing your financial situation could reduce the need to work so many hours.

So it’s really more a case of work-finances-health-leisure-family-home-relationships-etc. balance. OK, it’s not such a snappy title! But it opens up a more potential solutions, which is why our first tip is:

Tip #1 If you’re looking at work-life balance make sure you review all aspects of your life

Next step and our practical tool for today – how do you review all aspects of your life? Here’s a simple reflective exercise that quickly helps you visualise what kind of balance you’ve got right now, and spot ways to improve the balance. It’s a “get you thinking” type of exercise called the Balance Wheel. You should be able to download this Word document by clicking on the link.

How to complete your Balance Wheel

  1. First off, identify the 8 aspects of life which are most important to you. Typical examples are:Career, Money, Health, Fun & Relaxation, Family, Friends, Love & romance, Personal Development, Spirituality, Physical Environment – and you can select others if you prefer.Mark these up on on your Balance Wheel template.
  2. Ask yourself how satisfied you are today with each of these areas, on a scale of 0 (utterly dissatisfied) to 10 (satisfied). Mark these up on the template too.
  3. Take a look at the shape you’ve drawn:
  • What do you notice?
  • How satisfied are you with how it looks at the moment?
  • What do you most want to change?
  • Which segment(s) might help you with that change?
  • Which segment would you start with?
  • What level do you want to get that first segment to?
  • What would that look like?

Your answers are unique to you. Whatever feels like it makes sense to you is worth exploring.

Next: The Nature of Balance

 

Welsh Mountain Retreat Holidays to help you recharge, refocus & relax

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More to… work life balance

Work Life Balance

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“Work-Life Balance” … it’s a very familiar phrase, often talked about, frequently identified as something to “sort out.” But what does it actually mean?

This week we’ll be exploring work-life balance from lots of different angles –  clarifying what it means for you, introducing ways that you can create and maintain a better balance for yourself, and exploring perspectives that increase the choices open to you.

So what is it that draws you to work-life balance?

It often becomes a hot topic when work feels like it’s taking over, occupying more time and/or energy than you’d like. You may also be seeking more flexibility in your working hours to accomodate time with your children, space for professional development or to focus on your health. You may be seeking promotion, considering going self-employed, or wanting to discover how you can earn your living doing something that you love.

Work-life balance will change if you are starting  a family, extending your family or entering retirement. You may seek to adjust the balance if you want to take up a new hobby, meet the partner of your dreams, care for a loved one or are handling an illness. You may want to be able to give more to your community, friends or family. Or you may just have some general internal feeling that “something’s off kilter.”

Work-life balance succeeds when you cover the elements that are relevant for you in a way that feels good to you. There is no standard answer, no “bish-bash-bosh” pre-determined balance formula. But there are tools, techniques and questions that make it easier for you to find out what will work for you and your balance. That’s what the More to… Work-life balance week is about.

My hope is that these blogs provide you with some clarity about your current balance, how you can create or re-establish a balance that works for you, and how you can maintain that balance. Sound good? First step coming right up.

Step 1: More to life in Work-Life balance

 

Welsh Mountain Retreat Holidays to help you recharge, refocus & relax

Beef in Coconut

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My aim for this recipe was simple: Create a slow cook beef stew which was quick and easy to assemble, used simple larder ingredients and was a contrast to all those lovely beef in red wine variants. A few attempts later, here it is – a beautifully simple, tasty,  slow cook stew!

Beef in Coconut (Serves 6)

1.5kg diced stewing beef
2 tsp Coriander seed
2 tsp Cumin seed
5 cardamon pods
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt
Vegetable oil
1 tin coconut milk
2 cinnamon sticks
Juice of half a lemon
Fresh coriander

First there’s a couple of minutes of preparing the spices: Peel and chop the garlic, crush the cumin and coriander seeds and lightly crush the cardamom pods just so they split. Put all of these in a casserole with the olive oil and heat for a minute or so.

Now for the rest of the stew: Add the meat and brown. Pour in the coconut milk and lemon juice, add the cinnamon sticks. Preparation done.

Bake in a cool oven (140C or Aga simmering oven) for 3 hours until tender.

Check seasoning before serving with some chopped fresh coriander sprinkled over the top. Goes brilliantly with new potatoes or rice, and some lovely leafy greens like Spring Greens, Kale or Cavalo Nero.

If you like this, you may also like:

Rich Beef Stew
Timi’s Vegetarian Lamb Curry
Coconutty Rice Pudding
Look for the easy way

What can I say? Feeling nourished… this place is food for the soul!

More to…

Mountain Retreat Holidays
in the Brecon Beacons

Look for the easy way

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Do you look for the easy way? Most British Mountains have steep bits, gentler bits and bits that are something in between. Some might be pretty gentle all over, some might do the opposite and have some “seriously don’t-fall-off-here” bits with extreme risk. All mountains have a summit. That is, after all, how they are defined.

Spot the "Seriously don't fall off here" bit

Splendid, so that’s squidged all the magnificence, variety, playfulness and challenge of our British mountains into a few short sentences.

The interesting question is what kind of route you look for:

If you have the skills and want a bit of excitement, you might seek out one of those steeper bits, understand the risks, be well equipped to enjoy handling them and shin straight up.

A safe bit of shinning straight up

If you don’t have those skills or you find that kind of steep terrain somewhat terrifying, you might also be tempted to dismiss the entire mountain as unobtainable. After all, you’ve seen what other people have to do to get up there, and it looks impossible and dangerous.

Come to think of it, even if you could stroll up, you might dismiss the mountain because you think, “it rains lots and walking in the rain means getting wet and that stinks”. In short, getting up the mountain looks sufficiently unpleasant, scary, unsafe and just plain hard that you have no motivation even for a single step.

Bleaaargh.

Now swap the mountain for something you want but are not currently pursuing. Maybe for years you have promised yourself you’d change job, address your stress level, go self employed, get fit, find a soulmate…Have you ever wanted something, looked at what other people go through to get it and reluctantly, or fearfully, dismissed your entire mountain?

Hang around a little longer, lets look at the mountain more carefully. Some people like going up the vertical bits, fine. But there are also gentler ways. If you assume that there might be an easier way for you and you actively go and look for it, you are very likely to find it. If you’re willing to search, if you’re prepared to zig and zag a bit rather than take a direct line and if you patiently persist with taking little steps, you can get to the top in a way that suits you. Your only responsibility is to look out for the way that feels easy for you.

So whether you’re choosing your next mountain walk, or looking at something that feels challenging:

What’s the easiest way that works for you?

Possible side effects: Spare energy, enjoyment

Mountain Retreats, rediscover what makes you smile

P.S Yes, there are also easy ways that you can look for the easy way…!