Work-Life Balance

The Potential Project: Mindfulness at Work on Wednesday Evenings Starting April 2nd

CORPORATE BASED MINDFULNESS TRAINING (CBMT) Would you like to have more hours in a day? Or at least make better use of the precious time you have each and every day? Are you looking for opportunities to be more effective, calm, clear, and focused at work and at home? Are you interested in learning techniques to be more responsive and less reactive in everyday living? Mindfulness is a scientifically...

Resiliency in the Workplace

Join Wendy Woods for Resiliency in the Workplace on April 4 and 5, 2014 in the Applied Mindfulness Meditation program at the University of Toronto.  Learn how self-compassion and compassion can contribute to resiliency and impact the workplace.

Want More Hours in a Day?

Or at least make better use of the precious time you have each and every day? Are you looking for opportunities to be more effective, calm, clear, and focused at work and at home? If so, join us for the Mindfulness at Work workshop series starting April 2, 2014. In this enjoyable, interactive course we will explain, demonstrate, and practice, scientifically-validated solutions to every day work and life challenges. To get further details or...

How Work/Life Balance Drives Employee Engagement

I recently attended an HCI webinar “It’s Five O-Clock Somewhere”- Increasing Employee Engagement by Improving Work/Life Balance. Work/life balance is something we all need to maintain; it’s also strongly connected to employee engagement. Employers who do not effectively manage balance fuel burnout and demotivation- the enemies of engagement! Kevin Sheridan, the presenter and Chief Engagement Officer and Chief Consultant of HR Solutions, began the webinar by defining employee engagement. ...

Quotes of the Week

“Stress is the trash of modern life – we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” ~ Danzae Pace, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist “Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose.” ~Maureen Killoran, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist “Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting...

Quotes of the Week

“The choices I make today will determine the rest of my life!” ~Ginny Dye, Founder of The Ultimate Life Company “Life is best enjoyed when time periods are evenly divided between labor, sleep, and recreation… all people should spend one third of their time in recreation which is rebuilding, voluntary activity, never idleness.” ~Brigham Young, Religious Leader “Most people struggle with life balance because they haven’t paid the price to decide what is...

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net “There are few, if any, jobs in which ability alone is sufficient. Needed, also, are loyalty, sincerity, enthusiasm and team play.” –William B. Given, Jr. Author “When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home.” –Betty Bender, Motivational Speaker “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” –Theodore...

Sleepless Nights, Endless Days: Technology and Life Balance

Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net A recent study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation has discovered that almost 95% of people questioned use an electronic device before bed. More surprisingly, around two thirds of those individuals admitted that they do not get enough sleep (Patricia Reaney, Not Getting Enough Sleep? Turn Off the Technology, Reuteurs.com. March 7, 2011). This poses an obvious question. If the connection to...

Quotes of the Week

“The standard of success in life isn’t the things. It isn’t the money or the stuff. It is absolutely the amount of joy that you feel.”~ Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States “You’ll seldom experience regret for anything that you’ve done. It is what you haven’t done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear. Do it! Develop an appreciation for the present moment. Seize every...

Work, Life, and Everything In Between

Maintaining a proper work/life balance is an issue that is gaining more precedence, especially amongst Gen Y’s. Being a Gen Y myself, I can attest to the utmost importance of finding employment that offers the opportunity to maintain a happy medium between work and life. Though employers are becoming more attune to the need for balance, there is still a long way to go. Author of SuperCorp, Rosabeth Moss...

Take out Time for Life’s Beauty

Image courtesy of scottchan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net I recently came across an article, Washington Post – Pearls Before Breakfast, that made me think about work life balance and how while rushing through life we neglect small beautiful things. The article illustrates the findings of an experiment in which one of the world’s greatest violinists,Joshua Bell, with one of the world’s most expensive instruments was placed in a busy location but received no recognition...

Stress Busters- Part 3

Image courtesy of Michal Marcol/FreeDigitalPhotos.net Feeling stressed? Not being able to focus on work properly? Is stress causing a constant rush of adrenaline? Here is the solution! We have quick stress busters for you AGAIN. Our stress busters blogs have been so successful that we thought we’d provide you with more: Take a mental vacation. – Give yourself a 10 minute mental vacation by imaging yourself on a real...

Work. Life. Balance.

I worked part time during the winter semester with a full course load at school. I struggled throughout the entire semester to keep balance between work, school, and my personal life. Towards the end of an unhappy, rough, and sleep-less semester, I realized that I failed miserably at keeping up with my responsibility for keeping some semblance of balance in my life. It was and is, like everyone’s, my...

Bringing more Balance and Joy into My life

In my July 2nd blog, I talked about bringing more joy and balance into my life so I could live more of la bella vita at home. I mentioned that I was planning on taking singing lessons in the fall. Well its here and I am signed up at a local high school. I’m going to get my Glee on. While I am really excited about starting, I’m fascinated...

Meditate like the Busy Person You are

I was asked to join a great group of women as they explore spiritual topics.  Since Monday night was only our second meeting, I suggested that we start each meeting with a guided mediation. This would ensure that we leave our stress, worry and busyness behind to be fully present. Luckily everyone agreed.I then lead them through a 7 minute meditation focusing on the breath and relaxing our bodies...

A blackberry free weekend

Last weekend I went on a yoga/meditation retreat. As part of my desire to escape and get a much needed break, I decided to go blackberry free. I actually turned it off for two days. Okay I’ll admit that my thumbs were a little twitchy and I was tempted on more than one occasion to simply check in.  However I remained committed to my goal and resisted.   Instead I...

Quick Stress Busters in 5 Minutes or less from our Stress Busters eBook

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net 1. Take a walk– Go for a walk even if it’s for only 5 minutes. It will get you away from your desk, give you an opportunity to view your stress/stressors from a different perspective and allow you to return to work with a fresh perspective. Besides the exercise will do you good. 2. Grab a cup of tea- Certain herbal teas are known...

La Bella Vita: Life Lessons from Tuscany

At the beginning of June, I spent a week in Tuscany at a charming Agroturismo, with my sister, Dana, and cousin Natasha.  Dana has been going there for years and just loves it.  This summer she is staying a month – her longest stay yet. I was excited to see Il Cellese because the pictures looked gorgeous and Dana had been raving about it.  When I arrived, it actually...

The 5pm – 5pm Job

With so many employees working from home on a permanent or temporary basis, they  are having greater challenges with work/life balance without even stepping out of the house. The issue comes from management’s failure to set clear policies and training on working from home. Research done by the BT Group has found that even though 8 out of 10 companies in the U.K. invest heavily in mobile technology, only...

Thinking of quitting smoking? Here’s another reason why.

In the aftermath of the recession, productivity has become the main focus of recovering companies. In the recovery process, the cost of saving a faltering business is substantial. Businesses that are inefficiently using this money are bound to go downhill. A great amount effort must be put in by the business’ employees and executives for workplace productivity to be maximized to its fullest potential. Smokers can pose significant barriers...

How do you keep employees happy? Ask Google.

We’ve all heard of Google’s impressive benefits and employee perks. But the question remains – do these perks really work? Is employee happiness really so profitable that companies should change their benefit structure? Consider this all too common scenario. It’s Tuesday morning and you are starting your work day. Your cold and stale morning coffee doesn’t seem to have a taste to it anymore as you bought it on...

Seven Ways to Reward Employees without Breaking the Bank (Plus a bonus for when you have funds)

The downturn has left many companies short of funds; leaving employee rewards programs in the dust. Yet, ignoring achievements leaves people upset and feeling unappreciated, reducing productivity and employee engagement. Here are seven ways to reward employees for free, plus a bonus for when a little funding trickles through. Enjoy. Surprise them with an early end to the day: Show your appreciation for all their hard work by giving...

10 Ways to Improve Office Morale

Image courtesy of Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net Thank everyone each time they help you out. Gratitude takes only 30 seconds but lasts for days; a worthwhile investment. Share a laugh with a co-worker. There is nothing like a good laugh to reduce stress and improve relationships in the office.   Some easy ways to do this include: creating a humour board at work or including a funny video or cartoon in a meeting...

Taxes & Death-Certain Stress

In the last few weeks many of us have gone through a stressful time of year; tax season. Nothing is quite like the scramble for documents, the dread of mistakes, and the fear of Revenue Canada. It is fitting that the week following the tax deadline is Mental Health Week. According to studies done; over half of Canadians experience stress as a daily occurrence, and struggle with the results...

Top 10 Reasons to Manage Stress

1. Stress can cause you to ‘numb out’ and become insensitive. This is a natural survival instinct in an emotionally painful environment and could cause you to become an ineffective customer service representative or an insensitive manager. (David Lee, Training Scene) 2. Stress can stifle your creativity and innovation in the workplace due to the high physiological and psychological effects it can have on you. It causes your thought...

The Amazing Benefits of Meditation

In July I wrote about the importance of meditation as a way of managing stress.  Meditation has been proven to have many benefits in addition to stress relief which are listed below. I hope these benefits help convince you to give meditation a try. You don’t need to become a Buddhist monk or move to India to start meditating.  You can start with as little as 5 minutes a...

Calming down our stress response

Two weeks ago, I attended a great presentation by Linda Page, Founder and President of the Adler School of Professional Studies. She talked about information in her upcoming book with David Rock, Coaching with the brain in mind.  Here is a brief summary of her powerful message that really resonated with me. The brain is made up of many complex areas that are responsible for various aspects of our...