–by Josie Farrell, CHRP, Manager of Employee HR Services
During a recent trip to the UK, I was able to visit Beachy Head, a very dramatic chalk cliff on the south coast. The spot reminded me of the incredible impact that our own personal surroundings can have on our well-being. The chalk cliffs are the highest sea cliffs in Britain, and they are pristine and open with no boundaries or fences. Sitting at the cliff’s edge and looking out at the expansive English Channel really focused my mind. It was like my own personal retreat. (Did I mention I did not have my laptop?)
How easy it is to just accept all the clutter in our lives. Perhaps working in Human Resources make me more attuned to this fuzzy stuff, but let’s face it, most of us spend most of our time trying to survive the chaos in our daily lives –– commuting, traffic, work demands, dealing with vast amounts of e-mail, meetings, paper clutter and files, getting kids to and from school and pets to the vet—and don’t forget that significant other. You know what I mean. Our worlds can be chaos. Even physicists experience this. I know. They’ve told me so. They are human, too!
I work with many who try to juggle work and life issues to achieve some sort of balance while still focusing on their world-class research projects. Somehow, amazingly, they seem to do it. But like anything in life, there has to be moderation, there really must be balance. Each of you reading this has demands on your time.
Whenever our schedules become out of balance, our energy drops. I have read that lowered energy creates the illusion that there isn’t enough time in a day, so a vicious cycle of time limitation occurs. So why not create some simplicity in your life? You may not be able to escape and go sit at Beachy Head like I did, but you could clean some clutter from your work space or at home, or just turn your computer off. Create your own retreat for at least a moment or two in your day.
When asked how we should live our lives, Stephen Hawking replied: “We should seek the greatest value of our action.”
