April, 2024
Spring is here! Changes with longer and warmer days, the need to try to balance work and life to maximize time to manage stress is the focus of this month! How do you manage your time? Your stress? Time to plan for some positive changes!
Focus Topics for April, 2024
April is
Stress Awareness Month
Stress, every one experiences it, at one time or another, and is a normal part of life. Stress an automatic physical, emotional, and mental reaction to a difficult event. This reaction can be the "fight or flight" response your nervous system reacts to during a challenge.
April is National Stress Awareness Month. "Insights" will focus timely topics and resources this month to provide education and tools for learning how to manage stress.
From the Harvard Health, a great resource to begin the Management journey:
Strategies for
Time Management
So often the topic surfaces with the issue of time management problems, not having enough time, being overwhelmed, tasks not completed, being unable to find "self care time", and more. Managing one's time is an essential skill to accomplish daily activities in a manner to complete what is needed during the day, including self-care, rest, prioritized needs both at work and home, to develop a sense of accomplishment.
Resources will be provided this month to give readers ways to limit the sense of being overwhelmed, reduce stress, and have a sense of balance in their daily life.
Time Management Skills: Strategies and Resources
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Work Life Balance
How "balanced" are you?
Work-life balance is a topic often discussed, though all ages and stages, by employees, in particular those with children, teens, seeking "balance". How does one balance life to not experience burn out in the workplace, at home, find balance in all areas of life.
Review of one's priorities is a first place to start, looking at where there are needs to refocus. Frustration is felt when an employee is working too many hours, having too many responsibilities at both home and work, duties that are not shared. Stress builds and health may be negatively impacted.
A brief resource has been included for learning more about ways to balance life and find time for what is most important.
Spring Reads
Many times in my work with coaching and EAP clients, the topic surfaces about "being good enough", lacking self confidence, and having worth. In the discussions with those seeking assistance, their belief is not being able to change personal views to "being good enough" with "worth of belonging" in life. Work begins to learn about areas in their life where these views are held, for example in family relationship, social setting, work place experiences, and/or friendships.
The individual learns to find who they are by reviewing honestly their personal strengths and talents, gain insight regarding who sees their worth and values, and then to discover ways to create and embrace their new views. Learning to be good enough and seeing one's self as having value takes work, yet the results are truly life changing.
A great resource that I've enjoyed reading, and share with my client is "Worthy, How to Believe You Are Enough and Transform Your Life" by Jamie Kern Lima. Her story is one many may have experienced viewing success and yet feeling an emptiness due to lack of self worth.
Reading this special resource can bring new views and insight for the reader and strongly suggest taking time to explore your own personal views.
A couple of questions for the reader: "What do your see as your strengths and values?" "Who embraces those concept and sees you as valuable and recognizes your strengths?" and "Who is in your arena of support and encouragement to embrace with you those areas of talent, strength and shared values?" Periodic self review is often necessary to gain rebalance and refocus in life. Maybe time to check in on yourself!
Worth by Jamie Kern Lumi (released February, 2024)
A great video conversation by Oprah and the author
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