Fast Company, "Balancing Acts" edited by Anna Muoio, Feb/Mar '99, pages 83 - 90

I noticed that many people in our cohort read and commented on this article. It was noted by other cohort members that although we get tired of reading more advice on balancing our lives, we all need to find our own ways to balance these busy lives we lead. I appreciated the sentiment expressed by several people in the article that balance is all about making choices, and that's not easy. I also liked the comment of one of the featured people, Dawn Gould Lepore, who commented about choices,"either you make them for yourself or they're made for you."

It was noted that technology plays a big part in making our lives more busy. As David Lunsford commented, "more and more, the boundaries between work and life are being blurred by technology - pagers, cell-phones, and e-mail. It's easy to let your work life migrate into your personal life." Somewhere, we have to draw the line for ourselves. Another person featured in the article, Rahm Emanuel drew the line on technology. His way of finding a balance was to refuse to wear a pager and refuse to have a fax machine at home. For other people, I think having these things would be helpful in finding a balance.

Another featured person, Patti Manual, states, "It takes a lot of discipline to achieve balance." She sorts out time, as I do, for work, family, and volunteering. Disciplining oneself to make these choices isn't easy. An alternative is to get to the breaking point, then to decide to simplify and slow down.

As leaders, both Stuart Friedman and Kirby Dyess encourage their employees to find a balance in their lives. As a leader, Dyess asks his employees what's important and lets them get away from work and do it. He realizes that balance in an employee's life benefits their work life.

In conclusion, I think we can find balance in our lives in our way, the key is finding it. Because we live in such a fast-paced society, full of opportunity and challenge, making choices in a disciplined way is hard. It is more desirable, though, to make our own choices than let things happen to us, which can lead us to burnout. We can be better, more productive people, and contribute more to our work when we are well balanced.

I really liked what Liz Dolan said, " You always know in your heart what you need to do. But you do have to ask yourself if you're willing to make choices."

-- Anonymous, April 13, 1999