A tool to help you decide what you want out of change
Published: 10 August 2012
Ginny Colwell on how to work out your work life balance
Many of us in the health service are currently being affected by change; either by choice, or by enforced change through organisational restructuring. Even if the change is not our choice we can often, with thought, make it change for the better.
The important thing when making career moves is to ensure that we don’t make the move in isolation, but look at it as part of our lives as a whole. Many of us have spent time fitting our lives around our jobs, rather than fitting our jobs into our lives.
Coaches often use a tool called The Wheel of Life to get clients to think about how balanced or unbalanced, their lives are and what actions they might want to take to rebalance things. This tool is also useful to think through, where you are now and how your life or life wheel might look if you make a change
How to use the wheel
Name each section using some of the headings suggested or ones of your own. I have coached people who have put heading such as cats or holidays. The key is that they must add up to all the important areas in your life. Examples include physical environment; fun and recreation; personal and spiritual growth; family; friends; relationships, significant other or romance; pets, work and career; money and pension; and health and fitness.
Regard the centre of the wheel as zero and the outer edge as 10, and without much thought rank your level of satisfaction with each life area by drawing a line to create a new outer edge. This will give you an idea of where there are imbalances in your life and help you prioritise issues that you need to take action on to improve. Often one action can improve several segments. For instance; some one might score a low number on friends and health, but by starting a gym class with a friend could improve both sections.
Use the wheel when thinking of change or as a diagnostic tool when you feel you have lost balance and need to identify what areas you need to take action on.
Ginny Colwell is an Individual and Organisation Coach; a previous Director of Nursing and SHA Lead Nurse who is now Non-Executive Director for Central Surrey Health and Deputy Chair of a hospice.
Contact: ginnycolwell@blueyonder.co.uk