This Issue

• Course Outline
• How you can be able to benefit from this workshop
• Changes YOU Can Make
• Methodology
• Who Should Attend?
• Master Trainer

Course Information

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1 day Workshop in Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance

We know what those words are supposed to mean; but do WE have it?

Can WE get it – that Balance?

I need that!!! But how to get it???

So often here in SE Asia we can hear people say they have NO non-work life. They say: Balance? What is that? What goes on the other end of that scale; my scale only has work, and more work?

I didn’t even know there was another end on that scale of mine.

But not everybody lives there in No-Balance-land.

You know - there really are those who have been able to design in some sort of Balance.

How do they do it?

We might want to learn what it is they are using or doing to get more of that Balance in life.

How have some people been able to get more Balance within their work hours; and between their work and non-work hours?

With what do people Balance off the many hours of work? How have they done that?

Most of us can’t just quit the job and go off to play, now can we? Most would not find that satisfying either.

What are the ways and means to get some kind of Balance going, and who has control of that in your world? How much control for making change do YOU have in your own situation? How might you be able to have more influence on your own situation so you can do some personal Balance-designing?

We want to look at what factors might need to be balanced off against which other factors; identifying areas of life that need to be reviewed to affect a better Balance. It would be very useful to find where we need to put in some ballast to stabilize things a bit more, at home, school, work, or between each of them.

Once we identify what and where some changes are needed, the next step is to utilize some creative approaches to determine and define which changes we could actually bring in successfully.

How are such changes initiated? Which changes could we easily make?

Which new ideas could we - initiate - and how best to bring them in, to affect a better Balance? The meat here is the how part of how to do that.

We need to know what works! What will work specifically for us?

Some people wonder: Do I ever have a right to say “NO” to additional responsibilities? If you think you do not, consider you may have an obligation to Self to learn how to say “NO” when you really need to do so.

How have many very successful organizations built in more Work-Life Balance for their employees, and why have they found that a very worthy as well as profitable idea?

What about my own organization? How might some of those innovational strategies be applied right here to build in more Balance for our employees, and what might be the benefits for us?

In this seminar we will be reviewing some of the ways a better Balance can be initiated, maintained, and retained, whether for you, yours, or for your employees.

We will look at the Work-Life Balance issues with an eye to try to devise for ourselves some creative solutions for bringing more of our lives into Balance – at work as well as at home.

Course Outline

What Is a Work-Life Balance?
What do we mean by Balance? What’s a healthy positive balance? For me? For them?
Looking at: What it means to live with a positive/healthy Work-Life Balance.
Discussing: Do I have Balance? Or, do I live in a state of imbalance? (Sometimes, often, never?)
Identifying the characteristics of being out of Balance; relationship to feelings of overwhelm.
Recognizing the signs and symptoms of being out of Balance; of being way out of Balance.

In the workplace
Evaluation of the positives and negatives of a work life that is out of any reasonable Balance.
Looking at some of the causes of imbalances in the work scene.
Evaluating the status of imbalance in my workplace. (Optional evaluation tools)
Evaluating the desirability of overload in my workplace; the pluses and minuses; for whom?
Managing when everyone’s on Overload; how to make positive changes in the face of that status.
Advantages and Disadvantages of life in each state
For the Employee: For the Employer.
Weighing the Advantages versus the Disadvantages.
Making changes we might see as necessary or desirable: Are they possible?
Analysis of what might be involved to change our environments to create more Balance in work flows.
Understanding the role and relationship of Balance to creativity and innovation.
Strategizing changes that can be desirable AND acceptable in the workplace.
Specific attitudes and skills managers need to have/learn to create Balancing opportunities.
Evaluating my own status regarding this state of being called Balance. (Optional evaluation tools)
Considering the possibility of making some changes.
Is it my home versus work balance that has me on overload?
Identifying characteristics of a home/work Balance that is drastically out of kilter.

In the home
Looking at some of the causes of a general imbalance within the home scene.
Evaluation of the positives and negatives of a home life that is out of reasonable Balance.
Looking at how others have addressed these issues in the home.
Looking at which approaches might work best for me to try to rearrange this imbalance.

Summing up
Thinking about the stresses and difficulties of making some changes
Evaluating the importance of making any changes in my personal Balancing act.
To me? To you? To my boss/company. To other involved stakeholders?
Identifying what are my most important takeaways about the Balancing Act I conduct on a daily basis.
For my professional life? My social life? My family and personal life?

How you can be able to benefit from this workshop:

• Learn more about the states of Balance and Imbalance.
• Learn the difference between states of Balance and Imbalance.
• Evaluate the significance of the major difference between these two states.
• Learn the characteristics of these two states; how to know when you have them.
• Learn to identify the personal characteristics and traits of those who live in these two states.
• Learn to recognize when you are in a state of Overload. Learn to see those signs in others.
• Learn how managers could identify and approach re-balancing needs most effectively.
• Tip: Don’t wait until “someone blows their cork”.
• Understand how corporate/company/societal/family pressures may keep us living and working in constant Overload.
• Learn why it is in the organization’s best interest to address these workplace conditions if they do exist.
• Learn the characteristics of the state of Overload.
• Learn to effectively recognize the ranges and many stages of Overload.
• Learn workplace strategies for identifying this state in the workforce and/or your work colleagues.
• Learn why employees may find being overloaded as the best situation for them – the benefits of it to employees.
• Understand more of why employers may find overload the best situation for them – the benefits of it to employers.
• Learn the downside of Overload for all involved, for all stakeholders.
• Learn some strategies for changing the situation if you discover there is overmuch Overload in your workplace or it seems fostered there, AND you want to see some changes in that situation.
• Learn how living in Overload can block all innovation and creativity in employees and companies.
• Learn about some prevention and treatment strategies for this workplace imbalance.
• Learn some strategies for changing the situation if you have either discovered it in your workplace or it seems fostered there.
• Learn why employees may find Balance the very best situation for themselves – the benefits of it to employees.
• Learn why/when employers may find Balance to be the most beneficial for them – the benefits of it to employers.
• Learn what maintaining Balance can do for innovation and creativity in employees and companies.

Changes YOU Can Make

• Evaluate the current state of Balance between your own work and non-work life.
• Evaluate the benefits of making any needed changes in your own Balance state.
• Learn what many organizations are doing to bring more Balance into employees’ lives.
• Learn the whys and hows of building in some play time.
• Learn about several new strategies some organizations have designed to bring more Balance into employees’ lives to enhance overall work satisfaction.
• Evaluate the benefits of making any needed changes in the Work-Life Balance state in your own organization.
• Learn workplace strategies for managing, fostering, and supporting Balance in what, when, where, and how you or your employees spend most of your time at work.
• Learn some strategies for managing, fostering, and supporting Balance in what, when, where, and how you spend the time you have away from your work.
• Be more positive, productive, and effective in professional relationships by developing an easier sense and feel about how you present yourself.
• Learn how to express yourself in enthusiastic constructive ways that will ring true.
• Build more exciting as well as healthy personal and workplace relationships by being more than a one-tune genius: Learn the benefits of having more to talk about than just work.
• Learn to program your thoughts and behavior in ways that are conducive to creating a more in-Balance view of life.
• Learn the right questions to ask for persuading others to tell you of their non-work lives.
• Learn how to help those around you at home or work to develop/improve their own state of Balance.
• Learn to use various scientifically tested techniques and strategies to create ideal work and personal life environments that develop, promote, foster, and support a healthier Balance in work and home life.
• Understand your own part in having made a life filled with too much work and not enough play.
• Learn the positive values and the skills of learning to gracefully say “No” to added commitments.
• Are you one of those people who never learned to play? Learn how and why you need to be able to play sometimes.
• Equip yourself well to feel more comfortable in interactions and communication when others are talking about their non-work lives.
• Learn to use various techniques, tools, and strategies for more lively, creative, and innovative work and personal life Balance.

Methodology:

• Highly interactive, creative, and fun group participation - helping to facilitate active understanding; learning by doing to promote lasting change.
• Discussion of hypothetical or real life situations to learn alternative productive ways to balance out your life without losing out on your solid space in your workplace.
• Guided group exercises to learn the utility and application of various approaches and techniques.
• Take the How's My Work-Life Balance Evaluation to see how serious a case of imbalance you or your workplace might have.
• Optional use of various assessment tools and questionnaires.
• Optional Self help handouts and Self Help articles.
• Activity-focused learning makes these workshops stimulating, opening-up new ways of thinking, believing, and experiencing.
• Many activities are interactive, creative, and just plain fun. We find this helps facilitate active understanding, learning, and promoting lasting change.
• Interactive discussions and problem-solving projects of hypothetical or real life situations encourage learning alternative proactive, productive ways of dealing with similar events or situations.
• Group exercise practice can reinforce the understandings and learnings involved in a proactive approach to achieving more balance in life.

Who Should Attend?

• Who are in overwhelm regarding all their responsibilities.
• Who are too frequently hearing their inner voice saying “I can’t take it anymore.”
• Who are recognizing the signs and symptoms of “I can’t cope!” coming up more frequently these days.
• Who are hearing this same message from colleagues, family, and/or friends.
• Who are holding selves back because of apprehension about addressing a desire for change.
• Who are holding selves back because of apprehension about addressing a desire for change.
• Who want to learn to be less passive about being ‘overwhelmed’ at work but are not clear about how/when/where it is advisable to try to do something to make change.
• Who have trouble knowing how assertive to be about addressing this overworked issue with their supervisors.
• Who recognize a lack of personal know-how/skills to make clearly needed changes.
• Who see this in their employees or in a whole department, recognize a need to make some changes but need some new ideas about how to successfully achieve changes.
• Who are interested in understanding and exploring some ways other organizations have creatively dealt with this situation to raise company spirits/stock values, and also employee morale.
• Who might want to know some of the ‘bennies’ of getting some creative fun going in the workplace – thus balancing out the long but necessary working hours.
• Who are comfortable now, maybe even too comfortable with overwork, insensitive to the dangers inherent in living in constant overwhelm.
• Who want to discover the excitement of putting more Balance into life; Need some great ideas for how to do so.
• Who want to learn to be less passive about addressing their “I’m in overload” condition within the family.
• Who have trouble knowing how assertive to be about addressing this issue in their home life.
• Who need to learn new approaches and techniques for creating more balance at home.
• Who need some new ideas about the ways many couples have addressed this in family life.

Master Trainer

Dr. Marilyn H. Murphy

Dr. Marilyn H. Murphy is a California-licensed psychologist having practiced for many years in Southern California in diverse clinical, corporate/business, state government, and educational settings. Her I/O work has spanned the US and a few other countries as well. She has traveled in nearly 50 countries, and lived and worked in 4 countries other than the US.

In addition to her private clinical practice where she has worked with individuals, and specialized in couple, family, and group work, Dr. Marilyn has conducted many workshops and seminars over the years.

For some time she has been teaching several online psychology courses for two U.S. universities, including courses on Positive Psychology, Clinical Hypnotherapy, and courses on Cross-Cultural/Diversity Issues, among others. Over the years she has taught at several American universities, including UC, Santa Barbara and the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP/Founding Faculty member).

For many years she has been listed with the US National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. This is THE national organization that US insurance companies check to verify if a service provider is registered, thus legitimate, as a provider that they can/will accept to pay for their insureds’ mental health/psychology treatments.

Her I/O work has included consultancy to subsidiaries of Boeing, Volkswagen, and Pratt-Whitney, among others; this work was primarily in the areas of employee relations, employee communications, management coaching, supervisory training, and strategic management. Her achievements and pleasures in this work provided the impetus for her to go back to UCLA to complete her MBA.

In the course of this I/O work she has found there is a need for organizations to develop awareness and sensitivity to personal states of “I’m in overwhelm!” and “I can’t take it anymore!” as these situations may often call for immediate attention.

Dr. Marilyn’s clinical experiences have included working with people from many cultures, including those with work-related issues, personal, family, and/or relationship issues such as anxiety, depression, parenting issues, anger and conflict management, assertiveness/empowerment, social skills training, and gender-related issues, etc.

Child/youth treatment has included those with diverse behavioral, emotional, and psychological problems (ranging from behavioral management, special needs and/or school related issues, anxiety, anger management, phobias, healing emotional trauma, training preteens against peer pressure, etc).

Dr. Marilyn graduated from UCLA twice – her doctorate and her MBA are both from UCLA; in fact, all 4 of her degrees are from highly respected and very well-known on-ground California universities.

She has travelled extensively and has lived and worked in various parts of the USA, in Europe, and now in SE Asia. Her diverse background, travels, and working experiences help her to understand many diverse cultures, their traditions/rituals, cultural signals, expectations, values, and belief sets.

Though Dr. Marilyn speaks only English and Spanish fluently, she has some knowledge of French, Arabic, and Mandarin – having attempted at various times to learn those languages.

Dr. Marilyn has often been invited to give talks, seminars, and workshops on various psychological topics to the general public, parents, businesses, and to professional groups in different parts of the world. She loves to write articles for the lay public and for professional publications.

Her current passion is about how many ways hypnosis (and clinical hypnotherapy) concepts of influence, persuasion, and personal control can be applied to our personal and professional lives, ways that most people have hardly even imagined!

Dr. Marilyn firmly believes that learning more effective ways to achieve a positive Work-Life Balance in professional, community, personal, and family settings can make a huge difference in helping people become able to feel more satisfied with their own lives, and learn to become more successful and productive in their work or professional lives as well.

• Certified Master Trainer in Psychotherapy
• Certified ATA Master Trainer
• Certified Psychometric Profiling Trainer
• Certified Trainer in Applied Counselling
• Certified Stress Management Trainer
• Certified NLP Master Practitioner
• Certified Master Life Coach
• Certified Behavior Management Specialist.

Praga is the only Singaporean to be certified as a Master Trainer with the Institute Therapist Management of London researching on Human Behavior. Praga travels extensively while working with many supporting partners globally. His expertise in training management are vast and some to name were in developing organizational framework, managing training initiatives, product/course development and customization, training facilitation and conducting needs analysis.