Coaching for Women
I know, it’s a very pithy title, isn’t it? But it is accurate. I’ve put together a few of my common coaching questions. I’m resisting talking about tins and doing what it says. (I didn’t resist very well, did I?)
Back to the coaching questions. One of the most common questions I’m asked when coaching women is – how can I continue to make progress in my business/career as well as maintaining a good work life balance?
Superstar Coach?
Well, if had the definitive answer to that I’d be a coach of superstars… (But I am a superstar coach – on a good day.) It’s the eternal dilemma. Despite all the advances in equality, women’s careers in a relationship tend to take second place to men’s. Men can carry on developing their career relatively unhindered when children arrive. This is rarely the case for women.
We lose a lot of good women in their thirties from the workforce. Society still hasn’t cracked the childcare issues, yet all of us need women to have children. It’s not just the responsibility women who have children.
What Makes a Good Work Life Balance?
What makes a good work life balance varies from individual to individual. That’s where you need to start. My definition of balance is very different now I’m in what the French charmingly call ‘Le Troisieme Age’. As a young mum with two children and a full time career it was a mammoth struggle, full of guilt. I was a social worker in a childcare team. Oh, the irony.
Back to you.
The issues for women are often around trying to do it all, the curse of Superwoman. Like managing a home, being a carer for either children or elderly parents, general household tasks (studies still show that a higher percentage of housework is done by women regardless of status of work), let alone actually find some time for themselves.
Homeworking has both helped and hindered. It’s helped by providing flexibility, but hindered by meaning even more tasks have fallen to women. Women’s careers are suffering. We may even be going backwards. I need a much bigger soapbox.
Coaching Questions for Work Life Balance
Here are a few coaching questions to ask yourself when thinking about your work life balance:
1.) How many hours a week do I spend working? Include travel if you still do this.
2.) How often do I think about work when not actually at work or travelling to work? Include positive as well as negative thoughts.
3.) What do I actually feel (trust your instinct) about the amount of time I spend at work, travelling to work or thinking about it?
Lunch Break Anyone?
4.) How often do I take a lunch break lasting any length of time? Have I got caught up in a culture of work preseneteeism?
5.) Do I miss out on time with my family and or friends because of pressure of work, or because I feel too tired to do anything extra?
6.) Does work ever have a negative effect/impinge unduly on my personal life?
Looking After You
7.) When was the last time I did something for myself rather than for someone else?
8.) Do I sometimes feel anxious or upset because of what is happening at work?
9.) When was the last time I lost my temper at work, or quietly seethed with anger and got a headache/IBS?
10.) Do I regularly feel tired or depressed because of work?
11) Do I now spend more time doing household tasks because I work from home? (like prepping dinner when I should be having lunch).
If you are unhappy with some of your answers it may be time to make some changes. Do you need to have an assertive conversation with significant people in your life, be that at work or home? Work out what you want, and then work out the steps you need to take to achieve it. One life. The world needs more wonderful women; you’re precious. Look after yourself.
If you find change tricky, check out this post How To Cope With Change.
RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!
RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.
Posted on January 24th, 2023 by Jane
