I prefer to describe Work-Life Balance (WLB) as Life-Work Balance (LWB) because we work to live; we do not live to work. I suspect the term WLB must have been invented by a workaholic, as it puts work ahead of life. I am not playing with words, but I do see a difference between the two ways of describing the balance between our personal lives and our work priorities.

Having headed four different companies in my first career of 21 years with a global corporation and then as a management consultant in my second career of 22 years, I have seen how work has gradually taken over more importance in people lives. The desire to succeed, to earn more money and to achieve a rewarding career has always been there, but the advance of technology has impacted our lives and has made it difficult to achieve a Life – Work balance.

The 24/7 ability to be connected through our smart phones has changed our social habits and behavior. While there are many pro’s for smart phones, there are many con’s and unless we set specific boundaries and learn to seek LWB we can end up addicted to our smart phone. This is not easy for the younger generation that was born into a world of smart phones. Millennials don’t know how not to be accessible 24/7, how not to have information in real time. The line separating work time from personal time disappears. Many employers even expect their employees to be constantly connected and employees feel obliged to accept being available around the clock.

Employers who help their employees achieve LWB will be rewarded with higher productivity, better employee engagement, innovation and teamwork vs those employers who don’t care about their team’s LWB. But how can we achieve this LWB? Here are 7 ways that can help:

1. Who organize your calendar? Look at your daily, weekly and monthly calendar and “block” in advance times for your personal priorities. Blocking these times ahead forces you to respect them. If you wait to find the time to do personal things, you run the risk of never finding the time.
   
   
2. Inform your work contacts and personal contacts with your preferences. Example: I can be reached Monday to Friday 9 to 5 by clients at my office phone. My cell is for emergency after working hours. My voice mail on my cell says: “You have reached HL cell phone. Unless this is an emergency, please call my office at XXX”. Close family members know they have different rules and specific privileges.
   
   
3. If you are an Executive or a Manager, take a little survey by counting the number of phone calls, texts and emails you make vs. the number of phone calls you receive. A larger INFLOW than an OUTFLOW may indicate that you need to delegate more, empower more and trust more your team members.
   
   
4. Set specific ESCAPE TIME where you set a Time-off. Forget your phone for few hours or for a weekend. Try it. You will love it!
   
   
5. Watch the “multi-tasking” invention of our fast spinning world. I understand that we all need to get on with life chores but try to control “multi-tasking” that can add “stress” to your life and gradually introduce mediocrity. Quality work can be achieved only with focus.
   
   
6. Our lives are not one dimension, but multi-dimensional in the sense that we are husbands, wives, dads, moms, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends, workers, leaders and so on. We should aim to be good on all roles. I want to be a good dad but not on the account of being a forgetful husband; I want to be a great leader but not on the account of an absent dad and so on.
   
   
7. Finally, watch this new word of “quality time” … as going to Disney or taking a Cuba vacation is quality time; “quality time” does not depend on what you do, but on how you do it. Cleaning the house, changing diapers and driving the kids to their soccer practice can be quality time. The quality comes from how you do things not from what you do. Your attitude is the “game changer” and you are the only owner of your attitude.