Balancing Acts

by Barbara A. Glanz

Working adults desperately searching for ways to "do it all" will discover how to let go of guilt and start blending personal priorities into their workday. Managers and executives will find dozens of suggestions for fulfilling their employees' needs for personal time and space, from family-friendly policies to everyday acts of kindness. Instead of feeling guilty about spending the bulk of their time and energy on their careers, readers will recognize and accept where they are in their lives today, and start blending their personal life with their worklife. Featuring dozens of simple, creative, low-cost strategies, Balancing Acts gives busy, stressed-out professionals permission to work hard and to every day find opportunities to honor family and friends, nourish spiritual growth, give back to their communities, and enhance their health. Managers and executives will discover how to create the kind of supportive environment that promotes employee well-being and leads to long-term company loyalty.

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2003

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is that "balance" is impossible, so instead we should try to "blend" work and the other areas of our lives. I've read the family and friends chapters, and so far, it just makes me want to hurl. I can't tell if this is because the suggestions are so ludicrous and nauseating, or if it's because I'm making excuses to leave everything in its present unsatisfactory state. (Sample suggestions: "blend" your work and family by having your kids help you with your PowerPoints and collating tasks, bringing them in to see your office with all its pictures of them, putting pictures of them on your corporate propaganda, and leaving them hidden notes all over the house every time you leave for a business trip.) This book is one step away from the land of returning-unfinished.

***

This book was ok once I realized the author wasn't intending me to do everything in the book, just offering tons of suggestions for possibilities. However, it was still discouraging in that at lot of the suggestions were for things companies could do to make their workers happier, more well-rounded people, when I know my employer would not do them and is in fact opposed to the concept of your job not being your whole life.