Book Review : Your Work, Your Life, Your Way

Title : Your Work, Your Life, Your Way - 7 Keys to Work-Life Balance
Author : Julie Cohen
Publisher : Julie Cohen Coaching LLC
ISBN : 978-0-9842474-0-0

Review written for BookPleasures

A great handbook for those who find themselves often struggling to strike a balance between work commitments and needs of personal life away from work. This book empowers the readers to take control in reaching the state where no one side gets ignored while no one side hogs all the attention and time.

The author Julie Cohen enlists and elaborates upon seven keys to reach the blissful state of having both work and life well taken care of and well balanced. These keys thus become absolutely important for all those who want to relish that supreme state. And the activities that she entreats all to try are brought forward in an extremely readable, understandable and methodical manner making the path very clear.

Julie Cohen first encourages the readers to look inwards rather than focusing on the external environment. It is so very important to first realize that we need to start living on our own terms rather than the ones dictated or driven by some external agents. Identifying individual priorities and then fixing the SMART boundaries to safeguard these priorities become the initial steps to begin this journey. While implementing these, learning to understand and to use the power of 'no' at the right time is imperative. In order to respect the boundaries, each hour and day needs to be managed efficiently but this cannot be achieved if there is no support system and no work is delegated to proficient concerned people. To make the best out of the limited time, it is highly important for every individual to be a good worker as well as a good manager. Be extremely watchful for the time leaks and plug them as and when they start surfacing, trying to interfere in the defined boundaries. After having worked with preferences, boundaries, priorities and expectations, the following step is to establish these same things in context of the organizations and the communities. This step calls for looking outside to evaluate whether our individual world is in sync with our external world and in case of any discrepancy appropriate measures can be adopted to address the same.

After explaining all these helpful keys, the author makes it very clear that this is not a one time exercise. It has to be maintained and worked upon continuously to reduce stress levels and to enjoy the mental peace always. Without regular conscious follow-up, there is possibility of falling into the same trap of being caught between work life and personal life time and again.

However, I felt the need of a more detailed chapter in the beginning for the readers to identify why they need to embark on the journey to have a work-life balance. The personal requirements and expectations could be very diverse for different individuals. If the goal is unclear, the conviction to follow it sincerely will not come naturally. So spending a little more time and energy on identifying the reasons to begin this exercise is not a bad option.