Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Work-Life-Balance.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Work-Life-Balance.html Balance is better understood as flow. For instance, I'm building my business right now. It's been my full-time occupation for about six months, and I've spent a disproportionate amount of time during that six months on my business. Since I've made the choice to pass up a variety of recreational activities -- everything from going to the movies to taking a spa vacation with a friend -- it would be easy to conclude that I'm "out of balance." http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/When-Personal-Impacts-Professional.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/When-Personal-Impacts-Professional.html It happens to all of us: the pressing personal problem or concern that takes center stage, leaving little energy or attention for anything else, including work. Examples are a family member's prolonged illness or death, facing the prospect or reality of divorce. Although most of us are practiced at putting on the "game face" and getting on with work, events of this magnitude may make it difficult or impossible to manage that. Each person is, of course, different, and no solution will fit everyone. Here, however, are some useful coping mechanisms. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Too-Busy.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Too-Busy.html Is there some aspect of your life or your practice that’s busy because busy looks good? Would you prefer something different? Or do you feel trapped, unhappy with the schedule you have but unable to see any way to change it? Though it may not be easy to see, choice is always present. Spend some time in possibility and ask, if you could make one change in your time, what would it be? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Time-Management.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Time-Management.html How to recapture your usual efficiency and focus? Spend less time in the office. Not dramatically less, but an hour or two. Note that this isn't a long-term strategy to increase efficiency, but rather one designed to help you get over the hump of whatever has got you off your regular game. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Stop-Workplace-Stress-In-Its-Tracks.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Stop-Workplace-Stress-In-Its-Tracks.html It's difficult, if not impossible, to avoid stress entirely. These tactics will allow you to perform emergency stress reduction, but you must also be aware when you're beginning to feel stressed. Do a self-check periodically (hourly, when you get up and move, or some other interval that works for you) so you can notice stress build-up so you can take these stress reduction steps before the stress level becomes unmanageable. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Start-Networking-Today.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Start-Networking-Today.html Networking isn't about getting business on the spot, it's about developing relationships that will lead to business, directly or indirectly, down the road. Networking almost always requires the long-term approach. If you use these tactics, your first networking meeting will be a successful and, perhaps, even an enjoyable event that will encourage you to keep coming back. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Problem-Solving-for-Professionals.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Problem-Solving-for-Professionals.html Effective problem-solving requires effective diagnosis of the problem, not just the symptoms. Identifying and challenging our assumptions and expectations is key to creating meaningful and lasting change, whether personal or professional. Each of us has the ability to do this. However, recognizing the frame that we use to perceive the world may be difficult simply because we’re so accustomed to our own assumptions and beliefs. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Passing-Up-Good-for-Great.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Passing-Up-Good-for-Great.html Work/life balance requires surrender of part of one area - whether it's time spent on work or time spent on personal matters - in favor of the other. But we don't generally like giving up anything we want. We want it all, and we want it all now. Maturity requires us to recognize that perhaps we can have it all (though that too is open to question), but we certainly can't have it all at the same time. The single most useful skill for deciding how to arrange this work/life balance is the ability to pass up good for great. Learning that skill requires that we be able to recognize what's good and what's great, to identify appropriate time frames to help with the good/great evaluation, and to guard our decisions zealously. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Networking-for-Introverts.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Networking-for-Introverts.html Networking is always a popular career topic, and the reason is simple: the people you know and those who know you will have an enormous influence on your personal and career success. If you're an introvert and the very thought of networking makes you want to dive for the nearest rabbit hole, that statement may provoke panic. But keep breathing, because networking doesn't have to be painful -- not even for introverts. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Change-Your-Mind-and-Change-Your-Life.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2467/Change-Your-Mind-and-Change-Your-Life.html Want a new job? You'll have to pull some time and attention away from what you're doing now to make the time to launch a job search. And if you believe that business development is something that you'll begin "later," you likely won't recognize client development opportunities that may come your way -- because chance favors the prepared mind.