Find it hard to put down your smartphone, constantly on your laptop or checking for new email? Consider this - A healthy work-life balance can actually make you and your team more productive in business.

Cisco recently did a study to find that increasing their work-life balance features for employees earned them an extra $277 million this last year.

Here are five ways you can get a handle on your personal work-life balance:

1. Plan, plan and plan again.
A) The first plan is monthly. Near the end of every month, list three personal and three professional goals you want to accomplish for the next month.
B) The second plan is weekly. Take 10 minutes on the weekend to plan your next week's meetings, appointments, family commitments, etc. (and don't forget to PLAN in some family and recreation time).
C) The last plan is daily. Spend 20 minutes at the end of the day listing your personal and professional goals for the next day. Planning will keep you focus upon your priorities.

2. Don't skip lunch. Take a 30 min. break in the middle of your day to spin down and get ready to finish the day strong. Skipping lunch or working through it will zap energy from you.

3. Delegate! You don't have to do it all. In fact, the people you work with may enjoy some extra work and responsibility. Show me a manager that has poor work-life balance and I will show you a support staff that is bored and underworked.

4. Share your schedule with those important to you and ask them for help to keep you on track.

5. Make living a complete life your goal. A life that is without balance is a life on the edge of failure. You are not the kind of person who likes to fail or you would not be out of balance in the first place. You just need to put balance on your "to-do" list.

"Spend more time with people over seventy and under seven". - John Maxwell


Enjoy the Holidays!
Fritz Black
Cowboy Leaders
http://www.cowboyleaders.com





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The holiday season is upon us. Time to enjoy family and friends and the joy of the season. But you may have noticed your team is slacking on work. That's not good for your bottom line.

According to OSHA, the highest percentage of accidents for any one month occurs in the month of December - every year! It's easy to understand why. So much shopping to do, events and parties to attend, and then there is the problem of paying for all of this in today's economic situation. Here are four things you can do to keep your organization running smooth:

1. Be flexible with hours. If someone needs to leave early, come in late, or leave for two hours at lunch. Do all that you can to accommodate them.

2. Turn on your radar. Watch for signs of stress and tension in your people. Pull them aside and listen to them.

3. Start every day with a quick three minute meeting to ask people to
focus on safety and quality. This may also be a good time and venue to share the holiday cards your company gets with the people who really drive your company.

4. Focus! You set the tone for the people around you. If you talk about the importance of the work instead of your next party, the people around you will see where your priorities are and respond.

Have a safe and productive holiday season,
Fritz Black
Cowboy Leaders
http://www.cowboyleaders.com

Keep up productivity in our management retreat and training courses






Leadership, leadership training, train leaders, leadership management training, leader, leader consultation, become a better leader, work problems, overcome difficult problems, difficult manager, difficult boss, great boss, difficult employee, great employee, management training, management retention, train employees, develop people skills, develop leadership skills