Cited in CFA Institute Magazine – The Inefficient Frontier: Work Life Balance

cfa-logoThe Inefficient Frontier: Work Life Balance. How can busy professional manage the competing priorities of a full life? By Lori Pizzani.

 

work and life balance

I was asked about keys to achieving better Work Life Balance for The CFA Institute Magazine, an institute dedicated to serving all finance professionals seeking education, knowledge, professional development, connection, or inspiration. As busy professionals, we all struggle to balance all of the elements of life in a way that reflects our values and fosters our well-being and happiness.
Lori Pizzani in her article, “The inefficient frontier: Work life balance” collects an impressive assortment of tips from experts spanning business management, professional coaching and psychologists. I contributed tips on harnessing anxiety towards tracking balance, and fueling adaptive action.

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“When we aren’t being true to our values, our aspirations, and our wants/needs, we feel uneasy and conflicted,” says Alicia Clark, a licensed clinical psychologist in Washington, DC. “This can be obvious in thoughts or can be more obscured, evidencing as a sort of malaise or sense of gen- eral frustration. Ignoring areas of your life that are impor- tant to you will cause anxiety.”

Listening to our anxiety is always a first step to putting it into action. If you’re feeling anxiety, chances are it’s trying to tell you something important. So listen up, and pay attention.
THE POWER OF ANXIETY

“Remember, anxiety is a good thing and can be a powerful communicator of our values and priorities,” says psychologist Clark. “Define what your perfect work–life balance feels like and what feeling imbalanced feels like. The byproduct for most people feeling balanced is satisfaction and engage- ment, and imbalance is stress and anxiety. Resist the urge to avoid those feelings.” She suggests probing deeper to identify what area of your life is scaring you or where you feel inadequate or under water and then realizing that this area of your life needs more attention. Ask yourself what you could do differently.

 

To read the full article: http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2469/cfm.v25.n1.7

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Alicia H. Clark, PsyD