Building a Support Network to Create Work-Life Balance

Contributed by Alicia Anderson of AttacheServices.com

The key to work-life balance for female professionals is a holistic, comprehensive, trustworthy, and reliable support system.

As a woman in a key leadership role you must remain alert and sober minded, capable of making good decisions for your organization and clients. People are depending on you. Maybe you are the primary provider of income for your family, or single and therefore the sole provider. You may be juggling a career and the care of small children, teenagers, and aging parents. Your family is depending on you. Your organization is depending on you. Our economy is depending on you. YOU are depending on you. You have no choice but to take charge of your life and construct the type of support system you will need during this critical time.

A strong support is within your reach, whether you are the C-level executive of a Fortune 500 company, a partner in a law firm, or an entry level project manager. It is possible if you are surrounded by family and friends or in an area of the country where you don’t know a soul. It simply requires commitment and a conscious effort to build. An effective support system consists of the following components:

EMOTIONAL/MENTAL SUPPORT – Emotions should never be ignored. They are often indicators of something that needs attention. Friends, family, and certified professionals can provide effective emotional support, allowing you to identify what you are feeling, the cause of it, and what action you need to take as a result. Sometimes a good venting session allows you to clear your mind and get things on the table, so you see clearly and make better decisions. Allow yourself time to cry and laugh. Find an outlet to effectively manage anger, anxiety, and fear. Grant yourself frequent opportunities to experience pleasure by doing things you enjoy. Also, an unbiased financial advisor can serve as a source of mental support to alleviate your financial concerns. These all provide emotional and mental support, which is critical for work-life balance.

PHYSICAL SUPPORT – We all have basic physical needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs reminds us of some of our basic human needs – rest, food, water. Although many of us understand we have these needs, intellectually, we find ourselves depriving ourselves by skipping meals and working long hours. Therefore, we require support to meet these needs. For those who have a spouse, older children or nearby relatives, they can provide help with your physical needs by handling the grocery shopping, lawn care, or home repairs. This support may also come from an outsourced service provider such as a nanny to care for small children, a housekeeper to handle the physical responsibilities of managing a home, a personal chef to provide healthy meals on a regular basis, or a personal assistant to handle numerous personal and business related tasks.

PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT – We hear it all the time – women don’t network enough. The general excuse is we don’t have time. The good news is with the creation of online communities and social networks, women now have many more opportunities to network on our own schedule. Take advantage of sites like theglasshammer.com and other online resources and build a professional network to provide you support. This is critical to strengthening the work side of work-life balance.

A support system isn’t something that comes naturally. It requires dedicated effort to build and maintain. But the benefits are well worth the effort. A strong support system, consisting of friends, family and outsourced resources, can provide what all female professionals long for – work-life balance.