Re-balance Your Life-Work Balance.

My favorite season is here – Summer. And with it, the desire to work less, play more and live happily. Because if you’re living a wealthy life, you better be having fun.

So, what better time than right now to re-balance our lives between the work we have to do and the fun we want to have.

That sounds great. But the big questions is: How?

Well, here are a few things that you can do to even things out. Now, you might say “There’s no way I can do that.” But remember, if you want to make a big change, you have to take a big action. Here goes.

1. Leave Work at Work
That’s right. Don’t take work home. If you can’t perform your duties during your regular working hours, then you’re doing something wrong – like scheduling too many meetings, making too much out of the minutia of work or even surfing the web too much.

2. No Weekends
Just like #1, if you can’t accomplish your work duties between Monday and Friday, you’re not working as efficiently as you can.

3. Shut-off the Crackberry
When did it become OK to check email at all hours of the day and night, during family dinners, at 3am in the morning and when you’re helping your kids with their homework? Well, it didn’t become OK, we just accepted it because we became workaholics. I believe that if you really want to re-balance your life and your work, the most important thing you can do is to turn-off your Blackberry when you’re home.

4. Ramp-up Your Social Life
Yes, do more social things. Schedule them on your work schedule so you don’t “forget” about doing them.

5. Coach Your Kid’s Teams
I know, you don’t have time to coach your kid’s teams. Well, make some time. Don’t think you can? Then next time you’re sitting in the stands, watching your kid play, look at all the different parents who are coaching. Then after the game, ask those coaches how they do it. You might learn a few things about scheduling and the importance of being with your kids. Also, NEVER take your laptop to your kid’s games. NEVER.

6. Take Weekend Trips
Every few months, take your family on a fun weekend trip. No, this doesn’t count as your “vacation”. Just schedule it and go have some fun.

7. Date Your Mate
Show your significant other how special he/she really is by scheduling and going on fun dates. The results will astound you.

8. Read Something Different
Change your reading habits to stimulate your brain. And to bring new knowledge and ideas into your life. If you’re into business books, try some fiction instead. If you like non-fiction, crack open a few mysteries. You’ll be glad you did.

9. Swim in an Ocean, Lake, River, Stream or Pond
To me, this is one of the most important ways to re-balance my life and work. I love to swim in natural waters (not pools) because it brings me back to nature. I know that this may sound crazy in an article on a wealth site, but try it. I promise you that it’ll bring you back to a time in your life when life was more important than work. And life was a lot more fun, too.

Pay Yourself First, Win $5,000!

Have you had your fill of Reality TV. With its crazy contests to see who can lose the most weight, who can find love and who can survive on a desert island?

Well, now the world of reality contests is about to invade another medium: the internet. But this time, it’s not about losing or finding or surviving anything.

It’s about saving MONEY. That’s right - stashing away some moolah, clams, greenbacks.

In The Pay Yourself First Challenge, sponsored by FNBO Direct, a division of the First National Bank of Omaha, 5 contestants will go head-to-head to see who can save the most over a 6-month period. Each participant’s savings will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000. Which means, a contestant can walk away with more than $10,000 total!

And it will all be captured online - in video and on blogs.

Think you’ve got what it takes to win? Then create a 1-minute video about what you’re saving for. Enter the contest and you could be selected as one of the 5 finalists. Just visit pyfchallenge.com. Read more

Take a Break: It’s Leisure Time

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be hanging out on a beach instead of sitting in an office.

To me, and to a lot of us, playing is a lot more fun than working. But there never seems to be enough time to really enjoy our leisure time to its full extent.

Now, Marci Alboher’s article on today’s NYTimes.com talks about why we NEED leisure time.

It touches on a bunch of topics, like:
- how a lot of us use our leisure time to do one thing to excess
- how a lot us define ourselves through our work (I’m guilty of this)
- how we can really plan for leisure time.

It’s kind of an academic study about our relationship to leisure time. But I think it’s worth a read. Check it out and let us know what you think.