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Readers who have been reading The Karmic Ally Coaching Experience Blog posts would recall my post on the 3 tips to get one’s life balance back over the weekend. While it is good to receive tips and advice it is more important to feel confident about your work life balance.
If you are sure you have it all worked out, then that is really good!
So, how confident are you? If you hesitated on reading the question, then I invite you to take this short quiz. Find out where you score in the work-life balance challenge.
Work-Life Balance Quiz
This is a really short quiz to give you some insights.
All you need is a piece of paper and a pen and mark each of the statements as it relates to you in terms of True or False.
- I regularly bring work home with me
- I’ve missed many of my family’s important events because of work-related time pressures and responsibilities
- My annual leave entitlement either lapses or I end up encashing it
- I have a hobby but rarely spend time on it nowadays
- I often feel like I’m missing out on the things that mean the most to me
- I think about work in my sleep
- I have clutter in my house and/or in my office
- My career is not what I thought it would be when I was studying for it
- I get angry when people tell me to relax
- I can’t remember when I spent some “me” time
- I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies or visited a museum or attended some other cultural event
- I wake up tired in the morning
- Sometimes I feel as though I’ve lost sight of who I am and why I chose this job/career
- I do what I do because my family depends on me for support
- I cannot remember when I last read a good book
Scoring:
Give yourself 1 point for each true response and 0 for each false response.
0-3 – Your life is in pretty good balance! Just be sure to do what you can to guard that balance working on areas where you marked the statement as being True
4-6 – You are bordering on the negative side of work/life balance spectrum. Now would be a good time to take proactive measures before the areas that you marked as True start to play havoc with your life, work and everything and everyone that is important to you
7+ You already felt your life was out of balance when you took the test. Now you know for sure. It is time to act on a priority basis to make the necessary changes in your work and your life. Take your family into confidence and seek the required support to make changes before it is too late.
What about the statements that you marked “True”?
Each “true” response is a sign that you probably need to make changes in your life — and the higher the number, the more critical it is for you to make changes in your lifestyle.
Remember, no matter what your score, there is always scope for improvement and that is where Ten Steps to a Balanced Life The Karmic Ally Way will come in handy. The document is downloadable at Slideshare.net.
And if you really want to get back balance in your life, check out Finding Harmony: A Guide to Balancing Life for the Busy Professional
How did your quiz go?
Any surprises or areas where you need to focus to get your work life balance back?
Written By: Vatsala Shukla
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I forgot to say I got a (1) Yah!
OMG, Nathalie! What’s that 1 thing you need to change? Congratulations!
Wow! I just glided through this test! I feel so happy and fulfilled with what I do. It’s only been 2 years since I launched my business and it is growing every week! I wish I could teach how I did this. It’s been a great journey. Thank you so much for your great blog posts on The Women of Facebook group. You are surely helping many!
It looks like Campbell’s ‘follow your bliss’ statement applies to you, Nathalie. Perhaps someday you will teach others how to achieve their ideal work life balance? And a big thank you for liking my blog posts back at The Women of Facebook Group. It warms my heart to know I’m of service.
I got a 6 which is a little higher then I thought I was expecting. ;/ guess I have some work to do. Thank you for the little test and the suggestions in your slider. Very helpful.
I’m glad you liked the suggestions on the slider, Summer. Getting a 6 isn’t that bad. With a few tweaks to your activities and habits, the score will fall.
I surprised myself I am more in balance than I give myself credit for- I think taking me time and my morning love activities I wrote about do bring my life into balance- thank you xxx
We’re often doing better than we think we are when it comes to maintaining work life balance, Suzie. The important thing is to let go of habits and activities that pull us down and replace them with those that energize and empower us. Looks like you’ve aced it!
Well, I had six Yeses. I’m not surprised; I’ve been pushing myself. Thanks for the reminders.
You are most welcome, Sue! It seems to be a score based on your present circumstances and the need to exert yourself. I’m sure if you tried the quiz in a few months time the score will have fewer Yeses or maybe even none.
I fall in the 0-3 category, and that has been accomplished with full intention on my part. Life was very different a few years ago when my entire existence was totally out of balance. My car was my second home, I lived on fast food, worked every holiday, on and on. But it wasn’t a-l-l my fault. Prior to leaving my last job in the corporate world, two things happened to wake me up.
First, a fellow manager who had even less of a personal life than I did suddenly died of a heart attack and then when I tried to take two of the three weeks of vacation I was due our district manager said that regardless of how much vacation time I had coming, she didn’t want any manager on her team taking more than one week off at a time. Yep, that was my wake-up call. Thanks for the tips and reminder!
Accomplishing a 0-3 category score depends heavily on intention and taking action, Marquita. We often need the Wake Up call before we realize it’s time to take back control. When I had my first wake up call, I had also learned about the death of a childhood friend who had ignored stomachaches because he was heavily into his advertising career. By the time he went to the doctor, he was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer and died a painful death. It shook me enough to take a decision to quite my job and take a sabbatical to regain my health. Pity it would take another wake up call a decade later for me to finally do what I needed to and follow my passion.
I have to say, my stomach crunched a bit at the title of this! It’s been a nemesis of mine. But I was glad to see I scored a 6. I know, nearing the danger zone, but two years ago I would have scored much higher. So, whew! I’m on the right track and moving forward! Thank you for this–it made me feel better 🙂
It looks like you’ve been proactive in managing your work life balance in the last 2 years, Susan. You’re on the right track – keep moving forward in positive motion!
Although I had mostly false answers, I do have a few areas where I am reassessing where I am at currently and where I want to go. Life is constantly in a state of flux for us all and I think it is wise to step back and look objectively at our lives…personal and work related…to see if we are in the place we want to be, or just going through the motions convincing ourselves we are okay with how things are. Thanks for the ‘food-for-thought’ list, Vatsala!
When it comes to work life balance, there is always scope for improvement, Beverley, especially as you pointed out that life is constantly in a state of flux. That means reassessing what works for us from time to time and letting go of what doesn’t and embrace new habits and actions. Thank you for adding to the conversation!
Oh wow, Vatsala. I thought I would do better than I did. Got to get back on track and implement your balance tip # 5 – reexamining priorities. Thanks for sharing this life check! It was right on time for me.
Happy to be of service, Tanya. Our priorities change over time and it is a good idea to check in with oneself every now and then to see if what was important still holds or have we grown in another direction that requires a reset of our priorities. Thanks for dropping by!