EFactor Presents: The Parallel Between Work and Personal Time

 

When you’re an entrepreneur, there’s no such thing as 9 am to 5 pm, five days a week -- you’re more used to a 24-hour job. On January 14, EFactor visited Chicago and presented “The Parallel Between Work and Personal Time,” an event that taught hard-working movers and shakers the importance of “ME” time, and how it’s ok to not move and shake all the time. With a panel of entrepreneurs offering advice on how they relax and recharge, and a lesson on some basic relaxation techniques, attendees learned some valuable advice on chilling out and kicking back.

 

John R. Dallas, Jr. is the Founder and Chief Alignment Officer of Hillview Partners Network LLC, which is a team of independent consultants, executive coaches and public speaker. The evening’s first speaker, Dallas advised attendees not to wait around for their work-life balance to just show up -- these balances must be made, he said, and built around the strengths of a leader. The keys are, according to Dallas, always stay engaged in your task at hand, think of your kids if you’re having a hard time motivating yourself to build a balance, and don’t go to bed stressed out, so you can always look forward to a peaceful morning.

 

The evening’s next speaker, Nancy Stevens, is the Founder and Publisher of Oaklee’s Family Guide and considers herself a successful Mom-preneur. Stevens shared her “Three Myths of Entrepreneurship:” You can have it all, multitasking gets it done and you’re the one in control. Believing that these things are true won’t help you align your work and personal life, according to Stevens, but simple solutions like listing 5 priorities per day, keeping work at work and out of the home and finding passions that make you healthier, happier and more productive will put you on the right track. Working from home can be a challenge, so Stevens said maintaining flexibility and trying to limit multitasking are very important.

 

Scott Desgrosserlliers, another presenter at this event, is the Founder of TheMeditationMind(dot)com, where he shares products and stories on how to apply meditation and spiritual practices to everyday life, and is a facilitator of the Monroe Institute, the leading organization in consciousness exploration. Meditation, according to Desgrosserlliers, makes a person more present, and therefore more productive, but one needs to find the correct meditation technique for themselves -- whether it be mindfulness, chanting, music or visualization.This one-size-does-not-fit-all rule of mediation, says Desgrosserlliers, makes it kind of like dieting -- good for your health, but everyone has their own way to succeed at it.

 

The evening’s final presenter, Katie Chambers, is the founder of Feng Shui Today, a company that designs office spaces according to the rules of feng shui. These techniques improve energy flow throughout rooms and create more harmonious environments, while maximizing workspaces and changing the daily lives of her clients. Chambers shared some tips with attendees on how to rearrange their offices for better feng shui, including informing them that good storage space is key for inspiration and energy flow, that using sounds can clear out the old and welcome the new, and that positioning your desk with a solid wall behind you results in a power position and one of protection. And for your best sleep -- key to keeping a healthy work/life balance -- electronics in the bedroom should be banished.

 

Our attendees left this eye-opening event feeling refreshed and recharged, not to mention ready to get a handle on a healthy balance between their work lives and their personal lives. We are so grateful to our wonderful presenters for sharing their life-changing tips! We can’t wait to try them out. 

 

Special thanks to our sponsor for this event, Leavitt Siegal LLC, who provided food and beverages to our guests throughout the evening.