Page 46 - Australasian Paint & Panel Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

BUSINESS STRATEGIES
ARE YOU HAVING A LIFE YET?
Is work/life balance a fairy-tale that doesn’t exist? Business coach Ben Fewtrell says if you plan property it isn't.
Ben Fewtrell
TYPICALLY, YOU’LL SPEND a third of your time at ‘work’, you may be surprised to learn this is not developed from anything scientific, but rather a legacy from a couple of centuries ago.
During the Industrial Revolution companies were doing whatever they could to maximise the output of their factories, running them 24/7 was key to increasing productivity which
Depending on your role, how many hours you work may be less relevant, and the outcome you achieve more relevant. The problem is that you’re programmed to work 8 hours a day and understanding this is your first step to a better work/ life balance. Also, if you’re trying to do too much, it may be impossible to fit all your tasks into your 8 hours of work, meaning that you’re now working 12 or more hours a day.
After working with hundreds of business owners, I see two common problems that lead to working way too many hours, and, as a result a sacrifice on their work/life balance.
Firstly, if you have a need to be in control of everything this will lead to you doing way too much and working way too many hours. The second problem I see is being disorganised and a lack of discipline. Both of these problems can be easily solved with some simple effective changes.
Below are my tips to help you work less and enjoy life more.
1GET FOCUSED
Studies have shown that once distracted from a task, it can you up to 15 minutes to get refocused. Life is full of distractions and without a ‘system’ to control how you handle
all of these distractions they will dominate your day. For example, if you’re in the middle of a task, are your team members coming to you with questions about how to do something? Do you have notifications on your mobile phone going off every 20 minutes? Are you taking calls when you shouldn’t?
Eliminating these distractions is simple, have set ‘question times’ for your team members to ask you their questions, turn your phone off and let your team know you’re not available until you’ve finished what you’re doing.
No matter what the distractions are, you’ll need to work out how you’re going to deal with these more efficiently.
2
the re-occurring activities you currently do and want to do. Simply block out time in your diary for each activity, and do not allow any distractions during these times.
Including personal activities is important when creating your default diary, if you need an hour at the local driving range or the gym, put it into your default diary so the time is allocated and cannot be moved.
led to employees having to work more, up to 16 hours a day was the norm in some cases.
Employees’ wages were low and to survive they had to work long hours, trading their time for money was all they knew. As you can imagine, employees were reaching burn-out quickly.
Welsh textile manufacturer Robert Owen is famous for what is now the ‘norm’. Robert is best known for his efforts to improve the working conditions of factory workers. In 1810, Robert started campaigning for the 8-hour work day and coined the slogan “Eight hours of labour, Eight hours of recreation, Eight hours of rest”. 100 years later the 8-hour work day was adopted by Ford Motor Company and as they say, the rest is history.
However, a lot has changed since the Industrial Revolution.
CREATE A DEFAULT DIARY
To create a default diary, you’ll need to create a list all of
46 PAINT&PANEL September / October 2018
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