What is Work-Life Balance Anyway

What is Work-Life Balance Anyway Work-Life Balance is one of those concepts that was assumed to be valuable up until recent years, when many people are turning the concept on its head and saying â€Å"work-life† balance is really about LIFE balance. While I agree to some extent, I don’t see the reason to toss out the concept of work-life balance altogether. To me, work-life balance is a moment-by-moment experience. I have chosen to own my own business because I have certain things I want in my life: the ability to work remotely so I can visit family and not take â€Å"vacation days†; the option to do yoga or go for a swim in the middle of the day; and the flexibility to work early in the morning or late at night. These things might not be non-negotiable, but they are important to me. For me, they create â€Å"work-life balance† or just plain â€Å"life balance.† Of course they also create challenges for maintaining that balance when things get busy in the business and threaten to infringe upon my â€Å"me† time. You might be examining for yourself what constitutes work-life balance or any sort of balance as you move toward a new job, your first job out of college, getting into college, or any other venture. Are you interested in creating a life where you work less than 40 hours per week, are not stressed out constantly, are fulfilled and have fun? If so, you have a lot of company! I don’t often write blogs based on infographics, but I found this one- Careers with Great Work-Life Balance- to be enlightening. I realize that work-life balance is just one aspect of balance; you can have the right amount of time at work vs. personal life, but then get out of balance taking care of others in your personal life when you need to be taking better care of yourself! Or you can run into challenges in your work life itself in finding balance with the types of activities you do or relationships you create. Nevertheless, here are some of the main points to consider when planning for your quality of life in relation to your work: Flexibility at Work Nine out of 10 Americans feel that their current jobs don’t afford them enough time to attend to their family’s needs: a major indicator that they do not have work-life balance. Furthermore, half of these employees believe that if they were allowed more flexibility in their jobs–with work hours, vacation days, clock management, etc.–they’d be able to perform their jobs better. Flexible schedules, in fact, have become so much in demand that the U.S. Department of Labor has devoted a whole page and many articles to the topic. Consider the things that are most important to you in terms of your working hours. Does your career path provide the flexibility you desire? Are you getting to spend enough time with your family? Can you take the vacations you want to take? Can you work from home when necessary? If you are seeking to change careers, or change the structure of your current work life, it will help to know what you want in terms of schedule flexibility so you can create a structure that provides the work-life balance you need. What are the Indicators of Successful Work-Life Balance? According to the OECD Better Life Index, an organization dedicated to promoting policies that improve economic and social well-being, popular indicators of successful work-life balance include: Total hours worked per week Time devoted to leisure Average pay Growth potential Flexibility Stress Are these barometers of work-life balance important to you? Will considering these factors change the way you pursue your education, your next career, or how you conduct your job search? Perhaps it will be informative to check out the jobs listed in the infographic that make top honors. You might be surprised by some of them! Creating Successful Work-Life Balance is up to You What constitutes work-life balance is subjective: what is most important to you in your work and personal life may be completely different from what matters to your friends, family or even colleagues. So define the non-negotiables in your life, then do your best to create a career path that meets your unique definition of balance. I for one can tell you it’s a constant challenge!

Why Atoms Form Chemical Bonds With Each Other

Why Atoms Form Chemical Bonds With Each Other Atoms form chemical bonds to make their outer electron shells more stable. The type of chemical bond maximizes the stability of the atoms that form it. An ionic bond, where one atom essentially donates an electron to another, forms when one atom becomes stable by losing its outer electrons and the other atoms become  stable (usually by filling its valence shell) by gaining the electrons. Covalent bonds form when sharing atoms results in the highest stability. Other types of bonds besides ionic and covalent chemical bonds exist, too. Bonds and Valence Electrons The very first electron shell only holds two electrons. A hydrogen atom (atomic number 1) has one proton and a lone electron, so it can readily share its electron with the outer shell of another atom. A helium atom (atomic number 2), has two protons and two electrons. The two electrons complete its outer electron shell (the only electron shell it has), plus the atom is electrically neutral this way. This makes helium stable and unlikely to form a chemical bond. Past hydrogen and helium, its easiest to apply the octet rule to predict whether two atoms will form bonds and how many bonds they will form. Most atoms need eight electrons to complete their outer shell. So, an atom that has two outer electrons will often form a chemical bond with an atom that lacks two electrons to be complete. For example, a sodium atom has one lone electron in its outer shell. A chlorine atom, in contrast, is short one electron to fill its outer shell. Sodium readily donates its outer electron (forming the Na ion, since it then has one more proton than it has electrons), while chlorine readily accepts a donated electron (making the Cl- ion, since chlorine is stable when it has one more electron than it has protons). Sodium and chlorine form an ionic bond with each other to form table salt (sodium chloride). A Note About Electrical Charge You may be confused about whether the stability of an atom is related to its electrical charge. An atom that gains or loses an electron to form an ion is more stable than a neutral atom if the ion gets a full electron shell by forming the ion. Because oppositely charged ions attract each other, these atoms will readily form chemical bonds with each other. Why Do Atoms Form Bonds? You can use the periodic table to make several predictions about whether atoms will form bonds and what type of bonds they might form with each other. On the far right-hand side of the periodic table is the group of elements called the noble gases. Atoms of these elements (e.g., helium, krypton, neon) have full outer electron shells. These atoms are stable and very rarely form bonds with other atoms. One of the best ways to predict whether atoms will bond with each other and what type of bonds they will form is to compare the electronegativity values of the atoms. Electronegativity is a measure of the attraction an atom has to electrons in a chemical bond. A large difference between electronegativity values between atoms indicates one atom is attracted to electrons, while the other can accept electrons. These atoms usually form ionic bonds with each other. This type of bond forms between a metal atom and a nonmetal atom. If the electronegativity values between two atoms are comparable, they may still form chemical bonds to increase the stability of their valence electron shell. These atoms usually form covalent bonds. You can look up electronegativity values for each atom to compare them and decide whether an atom will form a bond or not. Electronegativity is a periodic table trend, so you can make general predictions without looking up specific values. Electronegativity increases as you move from left to right across the periodic table (except for the noble gases). It decreases as you move down a column or group of the table. Atoms on the left-hand side of the table readily form ionic bonds with atoms on the right side (again, except the noble gases). Atoms in the middle of the table often form metallic or covalent bonds with each other.