WORK / LIFE BALANCE FOCUS GROUP

Hello and welcome to everyone joining in this group! Let us first start by saying, that at no point during this journey will we ask you for any personal details, so please know that aside from an email address to send you correspondence and whatever name is listed on that contact form (you can be princess consuela banana hammock if you like) your identity will remain anonymous and your privacy in tact, though we do hope you will help to provide us with as much information as possible so that we can really go deep in the research and do our best for all of you!

This group is now open and will run from Sept 2022 – Sept 2024. Once you subscribe to the group, you will be assigned a code number which will remain your group ID until the end of the project. You will continue to receive thread information pertaining to our mission until the group closes. If you wish to stop receiving information you can email us and request your cancellation though we do hope that you will continue to provide us with insights as you might find that your outlooks or perspectives change from the beginning to the end and this is really important to document as it shows the moving dynamics within the fields and therefore gives us the required data we’re hoping to obtain!

It must be stressed that this is a deep psych research group that is looking to collect info that reaches across various paradigms of our psychological, emotional, personal and professional bandwidths so some of the questions may seem ‘unrelated’ or quite detailed but it helps to draw a bigger picture. Remember, work is work – life is not work, life is what goes on outside of the working day and we seem to forget we are far more than our ever consuming jobs and titles. We’re aiming for balance. It must all be considered!

THE WORK / LIFE BALANCE FOCUS GROUP LOOKS AT SOME OF THE FOLLOWING:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LISTS BELOW ARE WHAT IS CONTAINED WITHIN OUR QUESTIONNAIRES IN A BASIC FORMAT – THE BELOW IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ANSWERED AT THIS TIME, THEY ARE JUST EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT BEFORE YOU COMMIT TO JOIN. IT’S HANDY TO NOTE THIS BEFORE HAND SO YOU ARE AWARE OF WHAT TO EXPECT

THE START AND END OF YOUR DAY – What time is the start of your day? Do you have enough time in the morning to get ready or is your daily start a constant stress / battle? How long is your commute? Is your commute a time or peace or stress? Do you have children to drop off first? If so, how do you feel about this and how do they feel about this? Is it a stressful start to your day? Is your commute affordable to you or is it pushing your financial limits? Do you have breakfast before you head out? Do you listen to anything on your way to work? If so, what and how does it make you feel? What time do you finish work? Are you expected to cover over time or OOH? Is it a mad rush to collect kids on your way home or do any other drop offs / pick ups on route or is it a smooth ride? What time do you get home? Do you have to see to kids homework / clubs etc? If so, is this shared duty or is it all on you? What does dinner look like? Do you home cook or take out? Are your evenings a time of peace and quiet or is it a mad house? Do you get everyone to bed at a reasonable hour so you can spend some time to yourself? Do you get to bed at a decent time? Do you feel relaxed and rested at the end of each day?

THE INSIDE OF YOUR WORKING DAY – What time do you arrive at work? Do you start the day as busily as it goes on or is there a gradual pace to pick up? What is the general mood like in your place of work from your colleagues? Do you find yourself wishing that you didn’t have to be there or do you enjoy every day for the most part? What are your breaks like? Do you get a long with your colleagues? How about your clients? What about Management? Is there a point of your day that you tend to dislike and if so, can you think of why?

THE WELLNESS IN THE WORKPLACE QUESTIONNAIRE (Looks at the type of practice, number of staff, rotas, salaries, OOH, competencies, general feeling in practice from you, if you are supported by management, if you feel appreciated for your hard work, if you feel your personal commitments are considered, whether you feel supported by your colleagues, whether your work place invests in any wellness considerations for you to support your mental health or day treats for you as a bonus or a time out such as spa days or gym memberships, If you have enough breaks throughout the day, if your place of work offers you complementary refreshments or lunches, whether your management team offers positive leadership, if there is a positive cultural and social environment within your place of work, any other relatable topic that corresponds to your feelings within the work place – PLEASE BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE!

THE WELLNESS IN THE HOME PLACE QUESTIONNAIRE – Looks at your home life and personal life and how BALANCED it is within all your personal networks – Remember, you don’t have to elaborate unless of course you wish to – YOUR RELATIONSHIPS -Are you in a happy partnership or is there stuff going on that’s causing you trauma? Do you have a close circle of friends? What about your relationship with your parents and siblings? How about your kids? All in all do you have happy relationships in general or are there particular issues here for whatever reason that cause you stress / worry / disappointment / sadness etc? YOUR FINANCES (Do you have debt that is causing you additional stress? Are your outgoings currently higher and affecting your in out balance? Do you wish you earned more? Do you wish your partner earned more? Do you have to work more than one job to be able to meet your outgoing requirements? Any other form of financial stress – you don’t have to be specific unless of course you wish to- YOUR HOBBIES AND INTERESTS – Do you do something for you such as dance classes / yoga / craft club / cooking club? – Do you go to the gym? Do you do things with your partner such as date night? If so, is this frequent or just as and when? Do you feel you do enough in your spare time to say that you are enjoying life outside of work and home? If not, why not? – YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS Do you eat a healthy, well-balanced diet? Do you truly know what is a good diet for you or are you not really sure? Is your overall health in good condition? If not, why not and what do you think could be done to improve your health? Do you exercise regularly? Do you smoke and if so, do you wish you could quit? Do you drink alcohol and if so, do you consider that you drink too much? Do you consider that you’re overweight and if so, does it effect you emotionally? Do you sleep enough each night, ie – Do you get a full 6-8 hrs of undisturbed quality sleep? Do you get outdoors in nature as often as possible? What could be done to better your overall health? OTHER IMPACTFUL TRAUMA AND STRESS THAT MIGHT BE AFFECTING YOUR OVERALL HEALTH? Have you experienced a trauma, grief, bereavement, separation, loss of income, sudden shock or anything else you wish to state as impacting your overall health? (By overall, we mean physical, mental, emotional and spiritual)

AFTER COMPLETING AS MUCH OF THE ABOVE – We look at how the 2 go together – WORK – Is your Manager / team leader supportive of any area of your personal life that is currently under distress? If so, please specify. If not, why not? Do you feel comfortable talking to people at work about personal situations that trouble you? Do you feel that if something were to occur in your personal life that required your absence from work that the work place would be fully supportive without you needing to worry for your position? HOME – Is your partner (if you have one) supportive of your work commitments? Are they supportive of any overtime you do? Do they encourage and motivate you towards your professional goals? Do you feel as though there’s balance between the 2 fields? i.e When you’re at work your family is fine and can manage smoothly without you but you still know you’re deeply valued and when you’re not at work, you can relax wholeheartedly at home without worrying about the workplace but still know you’re deeply valued – And if not, please specify where you believe there is lack and what you would like to see happen in order to create a more positive change (please answer this honestly even if you don’t feel like your objectives would be met – It’s always good to have a plan of action!)

YOU CAN REGISTER BELOW, THOUGH PLEASE ALSO FEEL FREE TO BROWSE THE GENERAL ‘WELLBEING IN PRACTICE’ QUESTIONNAIRE THAT MANY OF OUR NETWORKING VETS AND RVN’S ARE COMPLETING HERE. YOU CAN COMPLETE IT NOW IF YOU WISH THOUGH IT WILL BE SENT TO YOU ALONG WITH A MORE DETAILED RANGE OF QUESTIONNAIRES FOR YOU TO COMPLETE IN YOUR OWN TIME. ONCE WE SEND YOU THE INITIAL 3 IN DEPTH QUESTIONNAIRES YOU WILL HAVE 6 WEEKS TO COMPLETE AND RETURN THEM TO US. WE WILL SEND YOU REMINDERS EVERY NOW AND THEN JUST TO MAKE YOU AWARE

TO JOIN OUR WORK / LIFE BALANCE FOCUS GROUP PLEASE SUBSCRIBE BELOW

A MASSIVE THANK YOU FROM EVERY ONE AT