by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Telecommuting seemed like such a good idea and you were all set to pitch your boss on working from home. After all, as we’ve reported before, the majority of CFOs surveyed in the CFO Perspectives on Work Life Flexibility study from BDO Seidman, LLP and Work+Life Fit, Inc., think work life flexibility offers “high to moderate” business benefits. By now most people know the many rewards include improved health and well-being for employees who spend more time with family, increased productivity, more staffing flexibility, higher rates of employee retention, cost savings realized by lower overhead and environmental rewards due to fewer commutes. But is now the right time to approach the boss? With stories of layoffs splashed across every newspaper and website, should you prioritize face time over family time?

Work/life coaches will tell you that, now more than ever, it is important to take care of your personal needs and make sure the scales don’t tip in favor of work. Says one executive coach, “Women executives need to exercise and eat right so that they are in good health and can manage the stress caused by a recession. There is no need to work more than an eight hour day.” This coach also suggests increasing networking activity so that you are well positioned when the economy turns around.

Marsha Egan, an executive coach in Reading, Pennsylvania, says that in a down economy, employees often act out of fear and the fear causes them to assume the boss will say no. She suggests going to the upper management and laying out a fact-based, quantitative case for whatever work-life balance plan you have whether that be telecommuting, flex time or just a more manageable project schedule.

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Contributed by Simi Sanni Nwogugu of HOD Consulting

I started off as a coach for high-performing off-ramping women – women who step off the fast track to care for young babies – because I believed that was what I needed when I left my fast track job to care for my two boys born 16 months apart. I’d read the research about how these women lose their confidence and how the few that successfully returned to the workforce returned to lower pay and slower (mommy) tracks, and I wanted to do something about it.

After a few months of coaching only women out of the workforce (paid for by the employer they left who wanted them to come back), a potential corporate client asked if I would coach women who were still working. Specifically, they wanted me to coach three high-potential women who were pregnant. The Chief Diversity Officer said to me, “We find that these women who have achieved a lot in a short time, rising rapidly through the ranks, are the ones most likely not to return after maternity leave or they return and then quit after a few months.” It didn’t make sense to her that these were the women who left because they were the ones usually on executive track and therefore had more to lose! I accepted the assignment and learned so much from it that approximately 80% of the women I now coach are in the workforce, are not planning to “off-ramp” anytime soon, and are successfully dealing with what I call the tension of the high-achieving new mom.

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by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Even though many of today’s Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) recognize that work life flexibility can positively impact their company, few of them report working in organizations that offer formal programs to take advantage of the benefits.

According to the 2008 CFO Perspectives on Work Life Flexibility, 90 percent of CFOs say work life flexibility is a talent management strategy, and 88 percent say it has a high or moderate impact on improving retention and recruitment, respectively. The CFO Perspectives study was co-sponsored by professional services firm BDO Seidman, LLP, and Work+Life Fit, Inc., a national work life flexibility consulting firm. One hundred CFOs from companies across the country with 5,000 or more employees were surveyed. The survey defined work life flexibility as “having adequate time for what is important to you both personally and professionally, as well as flexibility in how you allocate that time.”

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by Anna T. Collins, Esquire (Portland, Maine)

When it comes to statistics about part-time attorneys, it is impossible to deny two findings: working part-time is an option few take and the majority of those who do are women. According to the latest figures compiled by the National Association for Law Placement, 5.6 percent of U.S. attorneys work part-time, and about 74 percent of them are women. It is also hard to deny that traditionally, women attorneys who work part-time find themselves losing traction when it comes to their salaries and promotion. Yet, these statistics and assumptions tell only part of the story. Over the last decade some law firms have adopted more progressive policies which permit part-time women to not only retain respect for their work, but to make partner. The policies of these firms and the experiences of these part-time partners provide valuable insight into how work/life balance can be achieved despite dedication to profitability.

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Contributed by Sylvia Warren of SimplytheBestCoaching.com

Busy beyond belief before you have had a chance to give your New Year’s resolutions a second look? Perhaps the title to that Paul Simon song – Still Crazy After All These Years – describes your January 2009.

If you are ready for better balance, yet not sure how to get it, you are not alone. A national survey of 500 full-time professionals, conducted in late November 2008, tells us that even amidst layoffs 47% of the respondents desire more life balance in 2009. In addition, 86 percent of survey respondents plan to pursue better balance in 2009.

Gaining better balance takes daily practice. T. Harv Eker of Peak Potentials Training says it best: “Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent.” Wildly successful entrepreneurs, executives and professionals learn to leverage how they are creatures of habit. Their simple daily practices lead them to better balance habits.

With all the uncertainty and challenges of these times, a daily practice of life balance requires greater clarity, focus, and inspired action. Clarity frees you to define which life and work priorities are most important to you now. Knowing this includes understanding the hidden payoffs you received in the past from not having enough balance in your work and the rest of your life. Focus keeps your priorities in clear view so you stay on target. Attention to simple balance practices enables you to be flexible enough to avoid the burden of guilt or self-criticism. Action builds your sense of momentum.

Daily playful practices give you more and more experiences of the life balance you seek.

Better balance also helps you gain remarkable results at work with more ease. Life balance clarifies your focus so you know what actions empower you to create your compelling future in 2009. Your focus is pivotal because it takes you from clarity to action.

So why not practice 3 sure fire ways to harness and direct your focus power with better balance?

1. Focus, focus, focus…on no more than 3 critical priorities at a time.
In his book Brain Rules, scientist John Medina tells us years of research has proven that multi-tasking is a myth. The human brain functions most efficiently when it focuses on one top priority and has no more than two additional priorities waiting for its attention. You leverage our brain power by focusing on priorities in hierarchies of threes.

2. Spend 80% of your time on high-payoff activities.
To do this, schedule time on your calendar when you are not available for in-person, phone or email interruptions. Use this time to focus on and take strategic action that yields a high return on your desired results. This means…Identify who and what you need to get the job done. Determine how best to access the resources required. Set reasonable time frames to complete the work right. If necessary, develop a feasible game plan. Review and update it daily or weekly.

3. Leverage your lessons learned.

Track your progress. Pay attention to what works well and what doesn’t work. Focus on what could work better. Make adjustments that keep or get things back on track.

Then pause to appreciate and celebrate small wins. See how each win moves you closer to your success. Determine and take the next best steps. The success you seek is seeking you.