Is having a balance between "work" and "life" a fantasy? At a time when many people feel fortunate to still have a job, are we asking for too much when we want a balanced life?

When was the last time you:

• took a vacation?
• went away for a weekend?
• got away from work early to do something fun?
• worked out?
• spent some time on a favorite hobby or sport?

Achieving balance in your life when your work or business is exhilarating, enjoyable, or demanding can be a challenge. When you have a family, they can be your reminders. When you don't, then you need other factors to remind you to re-align your life.

Sarah had been working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for many years at her employer. After getting married and having children, various relatives helped with childcare when she returned to work. When their two kids started school, however, both sets of grandparents moved away to other states. Her husband started work at 6:30 a.m., so he left the house by 5:45. Sarah had to leave by 7:30 to get to work by 8:00, leaving the kids alone for an hour. Since the children were still so young, being home alone didn't work, and going to a neighbor's house wasn't an option.

Even though all of Sarah's co-workers worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sarah decided to ask if she could start at 9 a.m., take a half hour for lunch, and leave at 5:30. Her employer agreed to accommodate her request. That way, she could leave the house when the kids left to catch the school bus, and her husband got home in the afternoon just before the kids arrived. This worked out very well for their family, and soon her employer began to pursue other avenues to help make employees' lives easier.

Achieving a work/life balance is a possibility, and I think it's reasonable to request it.

Having a work/life balance is often about adjusting your work patterns.

If your place of employment has not yet adopted changes to their policies to help employees achieve a balanced life (and you notice that co-workers seem to be stressed out), it may be time to start discussions with human resources and other management about which types of changes would be do-able.

Why Help People Achieve Work/Life Balance?

More and more companies are realizing that by making it easier for employees to live a balanced life, the employees:

• have less stress (they stay focused on work when they're at work)
• stay healthy (they get sick less often, and call in sick less often)
• stay with the company (there is a higher retention rate)

All of these things are great for employers. I know it's a clich