Hello everyone. Welcome to my wellness to success podcast. My name is Dr. Martine Kanaal and I am a self care strategist working in the health and wellness space. I have been a nurse for over 27 years and this content. It's my expert opinion. It is no way, shape or form any medical advice. So if you feel the need to get medical help, please reach out to your medical professional. Today's topic, it's all about managing work life balance, or if you want to say integration, or if you want to say harmony in your forties. So being over 40, you know, bring a lot of challenges. It can be a transformative decade for many, many, many people. And it includes increased responsibilities, both professionally and personally. You might be at the top level of your career, having leadership roles, and as well as having family priorities, you know, you know, you raising teenagers or you caring for. for aging parents. So these can bring a lot of demand on you and you have got to know how to manage both work and life so that you can be successful. You can be productive and you can live your best life. So strategic planning and self awareness. of managing work life, it's very important and you have to have it done harmony. Now I'm going to give you a couple of tips on how to help managing work life balance or integration or harmony. First, you have to re evaluate your priorities. You're over 40 now. So the goals that you may have had in your 20s or 30s will be different. So you have got to take some time and reflect on what is really important to you. What truly matters to you. Do you want to have more family time? Or do you want to, you know, continue and in raising the bar in your career, you want to achieve more milestone in your career. So you have got to know where to land your priorities because then you will be able to allocate time to what you want to do. To where you want to go. And with that, my second tip, will be setting boundaries. It is very important that you communicate. It is very important that, to let people know what you are doing. You have got to enforce boundaries both at work and at home. You have got to designate time for work. Designate time for family. And whenever you are in the specified time, you have got to be present if it, if it's with your family, then you are present with them. So that's not the time that you're checking work emails. And The same way when you're at work, you focus on the, on the tasks that you have to do. You have got to resist scrolling down your emails or your, your TikTok or your family pictures. You have got to set your boundaries and you do what you are set to do during those times. Third tip is to learn to say, No, it is a skill that you have got to be comfortable. It is a skill that you have to be comfortable at executing because. It is hard to say no sometimes, so you have got to assess situations that you're in and decide if it's in your best interest to add more responsibility to you, or if you're going to politely decline, or sometimes you may even delegate, which brings me to the other tip, which is delegation and asking for help. If you need it, seeking help is not a sign of weakness. You don't have to do everything for you by yourself. So when you at work, all the tasks that can be done by other people that you deem that they are capable of doing within their realm of their roles, then you delegate, right? And it's the same thing at home. You can share responsibility with family members. Or if, if you're having a gathering with friends, you can delegate, you can share who's doing what and helping you. And even sometimes you may go as far as hiring help if you can. So delegating and seeking help is very important. Now you have got to be flexible. My next tip is to be flexible. You have to embrace flexibility. Because if you're too rigid with your schedule, it can bring more anxiety and stress on yourself. So if you can have flexible hours at work, look into that option. And sometimes flexibility will make handling personal responsibilities more manageable. Now, staying active, staying physically active. It's very important as we all age, correct? So regular exercises can reduce stress and increase energy level that will help you to manage your work and life demand and is going to increase your quality of life and is going to make you feel better about yourself. As well as investing in self care. Self care is crucial. It's a necessity. Anything to improve self care like reading a book, practicing meditation, going for a nature walk, taking a bubble bath. Anything to put yourself first. And take care of your physical, mental health. It's important that you make that part of your regular routine. Okay. Now another tip is seeking mentorship and support. Sometimes we need outside help to be able to go through challenges that may come our way. Because these people, the support, the mentor can offer insight, you know, or coping strategies. That you may not know, so you don't know what you don't know. And if that will help you to manage your work life harmony, then consider that. Consider seeking mentorship and support. As well as staying connected, you have to... Make and maintain relationships that will help you in either your work life or your home life. So keeping in touch with family and friends and will help you with the support that you need to be able to relax and bring joy into your life. Now being over 40, it's a time that you will see a lot of change around you. For example, your children may be going off to college. Or they may be starting to look to living outside of the home. So you have to prepare mentally, emotionally, and financially for this transition. Maybe your parents will need more help and then they move in with you. So as one generation is moving out, another generation is moving in. And your role is changing. And your role will be a bit more difficult because now you have to take care of your parents. And that can be a difficult Transition where they, the one who have been taking care of you all along and now they in need not only physically but mentally of your help to help them go through their transition because it's not easy for both you and your parents. Another tip for managing work life balance is limiting technology. Now, as technology helps us to stay connected, but we have got to control how much time we spend with technology. So designating technology free time, technology free zones, for example, during meals or before bed, it's very important because it'll help you to stay present with loved ones. Okay, with your either family or your friend or your significant other or whoever. Now as you know, the world is changing. As you know, change is the only constant in life. So we have got to adapt. We have got to be flexible with all the changes that is happening. So quickly in our lives. So continuous learning is a way for us to keep growing and Adapting with change. We have got to be a lifelong learner so that we can keep up with technology, that we can keep up with our careers, that we can keep up with our children, to keep up with dealing with our parents coming in into our lives, into our communities. So, staying updated with skills and knowledge will make you more efficient not only at work, but personally as well. So, with that said, remember that work life balance is in a fixed state. It is continuously evolving. It's a continuous process of adjusting ourself based on our changing needs and the circumstances that we're in, the situation that we're in. So assessing regularly our situation and adjust it as needed is very important. And then you have got to be kind with yourself. You have got to be patient with yourself. Because there's never going to be a perfect work life balance or integration. We're striving for harmony, but we're going to get our share of challenges during the time. So we have got to be physically, mentally fit to be able to deal with those changes. And it's the pursuit of that balance and being mindful of these changes that will help us. To live our best life during our forties. So remember guys, it's all about living a productive, passionate, and joyful life. And when these changes are happening, we have got to step back, reassess, plan, and execute our best strategies so that we can live our best life. So, So, until next time, please practice all these strategies, these tips that I talked about because at the end of the day, it's all about you putting yourself first and living your best life. This is Dr. Martine Canal, and if you want to join our Self Care Empowerment Circle community on Facebook, Please join selfcareempowermentcircle. com where I give more strategies and tips and have support from like minded individuals that are striving to live their best life. So join us and until then, take care of yourself.