Juggling a job around home life can be extremely
difficult for poultry workers. Lucy Knowles offers tips on finding
perfect work/life balance.
Working in poultry farming is not a nine-to-five job and can
frequently mean long hours. An extended working day can eventually
lead to stress often having a knock on effect on family life.
Longer hours
It can be all too easy to let our jobs take over home life.
Poultry producers and those in related jobs are often faced with
the prospect of anti-social hours with many workers operating on
shifts or having to be on-call throughout the night and
weekends.
A recent work-life balance report from the
Trade Union Congress (TUC),
revealed that in the past year alone, having seen a 10-year decline
in long working hours, the figure is starting to rise again.
And according to the TUC, there are 175,000 more people working
over 48 hours a week compared to figures in 2006.
Pressures from work
Long working hours inevitably means less time at home and can
leave us feeling too tired to enjoy time off with the family.
The Chartered
Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), says that stress is
one of the most important reasons behind sickness from work and
stress related absence is on the increase.
Finding a balance
It can be tricky to find the right balance between work and home
life but there are some simple techniques that can help.
One effective method to help find a work/life balance is "The
Wheel of Life". As life coach John Berry of
Future You explains,
it's a simple tool to help measure your level of satisfaction in
different areas of your life.
It gives you an opportunity to see a visual representation of
the different areas in your life, he says.
With coaching, the client can change segments to suit their life
pattern, says Mr Berry.
Think about what is important
If your body and mind get suitable nourishment and rest, then
you are much more likely to achieve balance in your life, says life
coach and small business coach
David
Bonham-Carter.
He advises eating a balanced healthy diet with regular meal
times. Try to follow a regular sleep pattern getting up at a
similar time each day and going to bed at a similar time each
night. Do a reasonable amount of moderate exercise and don't drink
alcohol to excess.
Pay attention to your priorities such as reflecting on what is
important to you and try to focus your life around ensuring that
you don't forget about those things, says Mr Bonham-Carter.
"For tasks that are less important evaluate what the
consequences would be if you did less of them. If the penalites are
not too bad then make a decision as to whether you are going to cut
down and if so by how much," he says.
Mr Bonham-Carter specialises in providing telephone life
coaching for stress, self esteem, anxiety or related issues and
business coaching for small business owners.
Don't let work take over your life
To avoid work taking over your life the website
Totaljobs.com suggests
writing a list of all the elements that make up your life such as
work, family and physical activity.
The site suggests grading how much time you devote to each
activity to identify areas of your life that you are compromising
in favour of others.
Once you know where the balance needs to be restored, you can
start to think of solutions, says total jobs.
Top tips on order to achieve a work life balance
Make a "to do" list
A list of all your daily tasks both at work and at home and go
through them according to importance.
Time management
Learn to manage your time more efficiently by setting realistic
deadlines, your performance at work will improve as a result.
Ask for help
If you are unable to cope with your work load speak to your
employer and ask for help, it doesn't mean defeat. And if you are
in a managerial position learn to delegate some of your
responsibility to your workers, they are there to help you.
Relaxation
Set aside time for relaxation, sport or a hobby that you and all
the family can do together. Exercise is not only good for your
health it's also a great stress buster.
For more information:
Wheel of Life
To print your own wheel of life go to the
Future You website and
click on "Wheel of Life" on the left side bar and shade in the
amount of your satisfaction from 0-10 in the various areas of your
life on the printed wheel.