How to Coach Clients for Work Life Balance
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I invite you to reflect for a moment—what are the biggest work-life balance challenges that you or your clients face?
Here are some common work-life balance difficulties I see in my clients:
Lack of Boundaries
This is often the paramount issue—how one sets boundaries. Not having clear boundaries between work and personal time can make it difficult to switch off from work and can lead to stress, burnout, illness, and conflict.
Overworking
Most clients struggle with overwork. Sometimes it is the entrepreneur who is in the “go for it” phase, or the professional who has an impossible workload. Working overly long hours can lead to burnout and stress, as well as interpersonal conflict at work and problems in one's personal life.
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Procrastination
There are many reasons for procrastination such as perfectionism, not knowing how to approach a task, or having so many to-do items that they feel overwhelmed so don't start or don't focus. Procrastination often leads to a backlog of work, causing anxiety and being judged as not up to the job.
Lack of Prioritization
If your client has multiple tasks to juggle or has problems with time management, they will often feel overwhelmed by everything they need to do. People often will then focus on tasks that are easiest to get done, even if they're not the most important. If one has a project to do that is complex or difficult, one often feels unsure about the best way to proceed, causing anxiety and the tendency to put off moving forward constructively.
Inability or Unwillingness to Delegate
Sometimes people feel they are the only one that can do the job well, that it will take too much time to train someone else, or they don't believe they have capable help. Not delegating projects, or having nobody to delegate to, can easily lead to an overly heavy workload and burnout.
Lack of Assertiveness
Many employees have not learned the skills to tactfully stand up for themselves assertively, so they don't know how to explain their feelings of creeping burnout and hence do not set healthy boundaries in terms of amount of work being expected of them. When employees do not communicate with their employer about their work-life balance needs, their manager is deprived of the information that could help create better conditions.
Lack of Self-care
All of the above often contribute to a lack of self-care. It takes setting boundaries and prioritizing one's self-care to make it happen. Coaches can provide needed help by listening to where the client is getting stuck and helping them brainstorm self-care activities that they will consistently do.
What can the coach do?
The coach can say to their client after hearing that improved work life balance is part of their goal and inquiring why that is important: “It's great that you're looking to improve your work-life balance! Work-life balance is usually helped by fulfilling other areas of our lives, which often involves creating boundaries or developing constructive habits.”
Here are some coaching question examples you can choose from to help clients achieve greater work-life balance:
Set Boundaries
Boundaries are key to work-life balance. However, people vary in their boundary preferences. Some people prefer strict boundaries, clearly separating work and personal life, while others prefer to be flexible and fluid because they feel that boundaries can be too limiting. But if one is struggling with work-life balance, becoming stressed or burned out from overwork and poor self-care, clearer boundaries will likely be helpful.
The coach may ask:
- What can you do to create a clearer separation between work and personal time?
- What boundaries do you want to set? For example, possibly related to setting specific work hours, turning off work notifications outside of work hours, or avoiding checking work emails or messages during personal time?
Prioritize
Identify the most important tasks and focus on completing them first. This will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
The coach may ask:
- How about listing the activities you engage in during the coming week, then label them as urgent; important, but not yet urgent; and relatively low importance?
- How can you plan to do the activities that are important but not yet urgent, early in your day?
Take Breaks
Taking regular breaks throughout the day can help you stay refreshed and focused. Many clients enjoy an opportunity to take a walk, do mindfulness meditation, listen to music, have a favorite snack, or do something else that they enjoy during their breaks.
The coach may ask:
- What type of break activities would you like to commit to do that you will enjoy?
Delegate
If possible, delegate tasks to others. This can help free up time and reduce your workload.
The coach may ask:
- What projects or tasks could be delegated?
- When and to whom could you delegate this?
Communicate
Communicate with your employer about your work-life balance needs. This often will lead to additional support by working together to find a solution that works for both of you.
The coach may ask:
- What would be helpful to discuss with your manager or colleagues that may help you achieve better work-life balance?
Work-life balance is not a one-size-fits-all solution because of the importance of personality preferences and the varied context of one's work and family. Coaching is especially helpful as it provides the opportunity for exploration of what works and does not work for your client's unique situation, plus provides the ongoing support to increase the chance these constructive actions are maintained for continued benefits.
