Reprise: Respect for People,Importance of Work-Life Balance, and Taking Time Off

Despite our best intentions to live balanced lives, the modern world demands that we are almost always connected and productive, and this can drain us emotionally, spiritually, and physically. With our hectic lifestyle, we often underestimate the power of relaxation. Most of us have a massive to-do list each day, and we feel we can't afford to slow our pace or we'll quickly fall behind. However, we fail to acknowledge the ways that relaxation can increase our stamina, clear our thoughts, and allow us to get much more accomplished with less effort.

Employees need work–life balance.  It is important for employees to take care of themselves. That means paying attention to all needs, physical, mental, psychological and spiritual.

The more balanced people can be in all these areas, the more creativity and fresh perspective they have to bring to their work. If employees are depleted of energy, then they do not perform a peak levels. Vacation time-off is one key to maintaining this balance. Taking time off can be very positive for the employees and everyone they interact with at work.

If you respect your people you will reward them for their time and effort with a good work-life balance. Giving workers plenty of personal time is very important. This can, in turn, lead to increasing the quality of the work the employees perform. The reason for this is because, first of all, it shows the employees that the company respects their time and, in turn, the employee will respect the company's time by doing their best. Another reason for this is that employees do get burned out, and do need to take mental breaks from working too long.

A more satisfied employee with proper work-life balance has more to give on a daily basis. Most people that have a sense of balance in their lives, between the personal and professional, adapt well to change. It seems that those employees that have other interests, beyond the workplace, deal with change much better than those who are “married” to their jobs. Encourage your staff to have other, meaningful life experiences. Support your employees' getting a real life, hobby, pastime or other interests. Convince them that you understand and encourage a strong work-life balance. Your staff will appreciate your concern and position on this subject. Whether or not they verbalize their need for balance (or even consciously understand that it exists), your staff will appreciate your interest in their total—not just workplace—well-being.

I must say I have enjoyed my time off these last few weeks.  I can’t say it has been completely restful since we have been very busy however the change of pace and time with the family has been invigorating. Next week it is back to normal routine again.