Nurse Barbara Day, and son Vince, celebrate the time they get to spend together

Holy Smokes! I knew that Michelle Obama’s two pet projects were military families and work-life balance.  Now she’s added childhood obesity. But talk is just talk. I’ve been looking for action. Check this out:  According to a Whilte House Press Release, the Obama Administration announced plans today to hold a Forum on Workplace Flexibility on March 31st at the White House. The President and First Lady will discuss the importance of creating workplace practices that allow America’s working men and women to meet the demands of their jobs without sacrificing the needs of their families.  Read the full release here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/white-house-announces-forum-workplace-flexibility

Wow! No one has a more stressful job than the president. Of course, he has a lot more resources to solve his problems than most of do, but he still has only the same 24 hours in a day that we have.

I don’t know what to expect of this Forum? Window dressing? Progress? I do know that we DON”T need another government study! What would YOU like to say to the president and Mrs. Obama about work-life issues? Comment away!

A hug sandwich - Michelle Nichols and her two teen kids.

I bet some people assume I have a syrupy-sweet family. Nah. My hubby’s a self-proclaimed curmedgeon and my kids are typical sassy teens.

Exhibit #1:

Me: I’m going to start a blog.

Teen 1: We’re not going to read it. We already hear enough from you.

Me: Guess what I’m calling it?

Husband: Yap, Yap, Yap?

Teen 1: I’m a Freak.com?

Teen2: And Another Thing?

Family – gotta’ love ‘em!

Put family first

And work a close second.

By the end of your life

You’ll have less regrettin’.

Guess who wrote it? Emily Dickenson? Yates? Shakespeare? Nope – me!

What do you think about "presenteeism?"

Jody Thompson, of Culture Rx, says 80 percent of companies’ lost productivity is from “presenteeism” — when someone is physically in the office but mentally somewhere else.

“Presenteeism? ” Is that in reference to Woody Allen’s famous line that 80% of success is just showing up? Seriously, there’s a lot of discussion in the work-life world about “face time.”

What do you think? Is presenteeism a real problem for you or where you work? Do you think if we only went to work when we felt fully engaged, enough work would get done? Comment away!

Then I read in the Herman Trend Alert,  www.hermangroup.com, that according to a recent Harris Poll,  US obesity rates continue to rise, having increased for every five year period since Harris started measuring the trend. The proportion of adults who are obese has not changed significantly since 2006. Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, at least 300 million of them are obese.

I guess the lesson here is to try not to gain weight in the first place. Harder than it sounds after you cross age 50. I can say this because I’m on my treadmill or running outdoors for an hour/day, 5 days a week, and it’s like a part-part time job.  I prefer the treadmill because I get my reading and teleseminars done while my shoes “slap, slap” along.

What about you? Is an hour/day of exercise realistic for you or anyone you know? Weigh in (pardon the pun) below.

Their solution? Help their customers become better at “multi-tasking.” At first, I thought this was the wrong answer, until I read that they meant 2 months of a VA – virtual assistant. OK, I’ll bite, but I still think we’re all trying to do too much, and need to just say No more often.  For more on this story: http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=285524&cat=1

What do you think? Is multi-tasking the right answer to work-life overwhelm?

"Three Marriages," by David Whyte

Author David Whyte had another interesting idea on the last page of his book “Three Marriages.” He wrote, “Instead of asking myself what more I need to do, and killing myself and my creative powers in the process of attempting to carry it out, I ask myself: What is the courageous conversation I am not having?”

Great point, Whyte. It takes courage to admit how strong the pull between work, life and familyreally is, and how difficult it is, even on a daily basis, to put it all together and still get enough sleep and rest.

PS My teen daughter left without kissing me or saying goodbye to me this morning while I was writing this post. What’s up with that?

What courageous conversation with yourself do you need to have? How are you are going to solve the pull between loving your work and loving your family and your life? Comment below. We need your wisdom and truth.

"Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship," by David Whyte - a new take on work-life balance

“We can fall in love with a work as easily or as accidentally as we can with a person,” opens Chapter 3 of the book, “Three Marriages,” by David Whyte. Wow. I’d never really thought of work being that close to my heart, and yet, it is true for many people.

If you’re married to a spouse and married to your work, does that make you a polygamist? Not literally, of course, but it’s an interesting idea. It’s one which those to whom work is just a paycheck could not understand and those who are fully in love with their work understand a little too well. Perhaps that explains the guilt of working too much, or not enough. It touches on feeling unfaithful, but in a way that our culture approves of.

I’m not recommending the book. It had a lot of woo-woo poetry (Whyte’s written 7 books of poems) and stories about Jane Austin, Robert Louis Stevenson and hiking through the Tibetan mountains. It had a few nuggets, however. Read my next post for another nugget.

What do you think? Can people, as Whyte says, “Fall in love with a work…(like) a person?” What does this mean in your life? Please comment.

What do you think? Do you think the competition between your virtual lives and real lives will be a growing problem in the years and decades ahead? Do you know anyone who spends too much time on Facebook or Twitter or YouTube already? Comment away!

Michelle Nichols, left, founder of Work Life Priorities, with fellow speaker Sandy Griffin, in Nashville

Welcome! If you love your work, and you love your family (and the rest of your life,) and you want to be successful at all of that on a regular basis, you’re in the right place.

Hi, I’m Michelle Nichols. I’m on the left in the picture on the left. I was in sales and sales speaking for 25 years, was a columnist for BusinessWeek.com on Sales for 6 years – and left all that to start speaking, writing and consulting on work-life issues, for sales organizations and other high-impact professionals. Along the way, I started Global Hug Your Kids Day, which you can read more about at http://www.hugyourkidstoday.com

Here, I’m going to share what I’m learning and thinking about work-life issues. The one thing I know for sure: “Work-life balance” is stupid. You can’t balance your life and your livelihood. Instead, I recommend you prioritize – that is, put your family first and work a close second. That translates to hug or “love on” each of your family members every day, and then get to work.

Then, when you get to work, identify and do the high-impact work first, so you can leave work at a reasonable time and spend time with your family and the rest of your life’s interests. The next work day, you’ll have the energy to do your best work – again.

What do you think? What is your take on this whole work-life balance conversation? Comment away!