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Conference Presentation on Work-Life Balance
Last week I was guest presenter at a conference in Leeds for Roche (UK) the pharmaceutical company. My theme was work-life balance and the challenge was to present something meaningful in forty-five minutes!
Normally my work-life balance training courses are one day, so I needed to select one aspect which would make them think. I therefore chose the limitations of the brain and how to keep within them. For example there is no such thing as multi-tasking. Anyone who tries to do two things at once will experience what researchers call "dual task interference" which simply means that performance and accuracy decrease. Related to this is our addiction to be "on alert" all our waking hours, open to stimuli from electronic devices and in particular mobile phones and computers. The idea of switching off phones and computers for periods of concentrated effort at work on say a complex project is very difficult for many yet counterproductive.
Here's a tip for home. Allocate one evening per week when you switch off all electronic devices including TV's, computers, and phones. Enjoy the peace and calm. But can you do it?
Last updated: 20 September 2011