Halfway through the movie The Karate Kid, the Mr. Miyagi character sends his young student, Daniel, off into the world with this advice: “Go find balance.”

Maybe that sounds a little corny now, but Miyagi did have the right idea. Striking a balance between the pressures of work and family commitments, as well as the need for rest and leisure activities, is key to health and happiness. But, for some of us, finding that balance is difficult.

Whether you’re a Type A workaholic who is self-motivated to keep serving clients and prospecting for new ones, or someone who has become overloaded with client demands, all work and no leisure can take a big toll of your physical and emotional health. And corporations are learning that a stressed-out workforce is unproductive and costly.

“Work/life balance is not a luxury. It’s a necessity for good health, good energy and productivity,” says Dr. David Posen, a medical doctor in Oakville, Ont., who specializes in stress counselling.

One common symptom of a life out of whack is increased stress, says Posen, author of The Little Book of Stress Relief (Key Porter). Fatigue or even exhaustion are other common complaints, along with headaches, trouble sleeping and abdominal cramps. Feelings of frustration, anger and depression are also common complaints.

People who lack balance sleep less and develop unhealthy habits, says Nora Spinks, president of Work Life Harmony, a Toronto firm that consults with governments and companies on work/life issues. “They eat less predictably — more prepared fast foods, fewer vegetables — so they are not getting optimum nutrition,” she says. “Their whole bodies are affected, from energy to digestion to headaches.”

Further, these overworked folks often unwind after 15-hour days with a glass of Scotch before turning in. People who work long hours are more likely to depend on coffee, tea, caffeinated pop and energy drinks. Spinks says the overworked and unbalanced also lack exercise, which brings its own set of health consequences, including heart disease, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

People who are overworked and overloaded become less productive at work, Posen says: “If the balance isn’t there, it affects your mental functioning, so these people don’t concentrate as well. They have problems with their short-term memory. If they try to multi-task, they start missing things, become disorganized and less reliable.”

What these people need is a respite between busy periods, a time to restore energy — “A time to decompress, clear your head, to get perspective on things,” Posen says.

But when we become overworked, we tend to cut back on the very activities that we need, such as exercise and sleep.

Sleep is an important, often misunderstood issue, Posen says. Some think sleep is for “wimps,” he says, when, in fact, sufficient sleep is vital to good health and work performance. The symptoms of sleep deprivation are almost identical to those of high stress. Many of the patients that are referred to Posen are sleep-deprived: “When they start to get the sleep they need, as simple an intervention as that is, they start to feel much better and start to function better. They are more productive, so, for example, they don’t have to work as many hours to prepare a proposal for a client.”

Everyone should get at least 30 minutes of some form of regular exercise three to five times a week. “Even if it’s just a walk on your lunch hour,” Posen says.

Leisure is equally important, but is more difficult to prescribe because people have different interests and tastes. “One of my prescriptions, so to speak, is do something for yourself every day,” Posen says. “My guideline is at least an hour a day on weekdays and at least two hours a day on weekends.”

The time doesn’t have to be consecutive, he explains, so you can go for a half-hour walk on your lunch hour and read for half an hour at bedtime. Or you can meet a friend after work for an hour and have a hot bath before you go to bed. The point is to be doing something for your own enjoyment.

What’s an appropriate activity? Posen explores the patient’s “repertoire” of leisure activities. He asks: “What do you like to do?” For many it’s golf, tennis or reading. But the answer may be elusive because the person has been in “all work” mode for so long he or she doesn’t currently have any hobbies. The patient may have to look back to the sports or musical instruments they played in school. “I have patients who are pulling out old guitars they haven’t played in years,” he says.

@page_break@Posen himself recently dusted off the trombone he hadn’t played in 20 years and joined a local wind ensemble. “It’s been wonderful,” he says. “You’re never too old. We have retired people in the orchestra.”

He tells those who can’t come up with a hobby to be creative. Is there anything you always wanted to try — if you only had the time? Get a ping-pong table or a pool table, he says. Take up sudoku or crossword puzzles.

And some business leaders are coming to see the value of a well-adjusted, balanced workforce. An increasing number of companies are implementing work/life balance programs — with flexible hours, work-sharing programs, wellness programs and onsite daycare and fitness facilities.

“People are finally recognizing it’s not a flavour of the month. It’s not something that’s here today, gone tomorrow,” Spinks says. “It’s something individuals, managers, corporations and, increasingly, boards of directors are considering extremely important to both individual and organizational health, productivity, performance and sustainability.”

Creating a good work environment is more than installing a daycare centre and a gym, says Don Rolfe, CEO of Vancouver-based Ethical Funds Inc. : “It’s what you do for the particular needs of the individual.”

Ethical Funds has a work/life balance program based on flexibility. It allows employees to continue to receive benefits and accrue vacation time while on maternity leave and assists with daycare by allowing staff to fit work schedules around child-care needs.

“We’re open to job-sharing,” he says. “I’d rather have a person who knows the job work for four or five hours a day than leave us.

“People have a lot of stress in their lives, and they come to work to do a good job,” he adds. “Our job is to help them be successful. Anything we can do in that regard is extremely important.”

Corporations that don’t take action on work/life balance will pay the price. Research has shown, for example, that talent retention is one of the top concerns among corporate executives. “If they are to meet the increasing demands of customers, they need a workforce that’s not depleted, stressed, burnt out, overtired, undernourished, with no friends, no family, no loved ones and hasn’t had a good laugh in the last while,” Spinks says. “They want people who are sharp and bright, articulate and happy, well nourished, well exercised and well rested to cope with the complexities of the job.”

A maxed-out workforce cannot deliver optimal performance or promise customer retention. And good talent will leave for a firm that offers a better work environment. “Ignoring the issue and hoping it will go away is damaging,” she says. “Failing to address what needs to be done is not only bad business but also unethical.”

People with high work/life conflict have higher absenteeism and use more prescription drugs than others. Prescriptions mean more time off for medical appointments and higher health-care benefit costs. Spinks says more people today are seeing doctors about issues such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain, and the most prescribed drugs are for stress-related problems: anxiety, depression, high cholesterol, heart disease, gastrointestinal ailments and pain.

When companies take the right steps, the results are obvious. Spinks tells of a large pharmaceutical firm that had difficulty retaining employees because of a poor work/life environment. The firm took steps to improve both the physical and the operational environment. When it moved to a new location, executives made sure there was natural light, an onsite fitness facility and a relaxation room. They eliminated fried food from the cafeteria and brought in a salad bar. They replaced free coffee with free fruit.

On the operational side, the firm imposed time rules: no meetings start before 8:30 a.m. or after 4 p.m. And staff is allowed time off for family obligations without fear of negative impact on their performance reviews.

“It’s based on a philosophy of optimal performance and respect for one another’s time,” Spinks says. “And they’re living that out by ensuring everybody has optimal opportunity for maximizing health and well-being.”

Within a year, turnover dropped and performance increased measurably. The Canadian office became the highest-performing among the firm’s worldwide operations, winning awards for workplace quality. IE