Work is demanding. You're expected to show up for a full day to complete your tasks, and sometimes, the expectation is set to be available 24/7, especially with the ubiquity of smart devices.

Though it's commendable to excel at your career when it bleeds into your personal life it can encroach on your mental and physical well-being Shannon Gausepohl stated, people, need time to think, relax and give themselves a break: Otherwise, productivity will decrease.

Even God demand of us to rest according to Leviticus 23:3 – “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings” the consequence of disobeying this law is death according to the Bible in the old testament, which implies rest is very important, church leadership should not keep it members in church almost the whole Saturday/Sunday because it is also a day of rest and rejuvenating - somebody shout halleluiah!.

Dr. Stephen Covey narrated a story from his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” that goes like this, once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

Reflection

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever may bebut less happy than ever.

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking the time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking the time to read etc. 

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. Efficiency is doing things right, however, effectiveness is doing the right things as stated by Peter Drucker, are you or your employees efficient or effective in executing daily responsibilities.

If you've noticed a steady stream of employees leaving your organization for another opportunity maybe you might be piling too much work on them. A new study from Kronos Incorporated revealed that employee burnout is a huge factor in why many organizations struggle to hold on to their top workers. 

Specifically, 46 percent of human resources leaders blamed employee burnout for up to half of their annual workforce turnover, with nearly 10 percent saying burnout causes more than 50 percent of their yearly turnover. "Not only can employee burnout sap productivity and fuel absenteeism, but as this survey and story above shows, it will undermine engagement and cause an organization's top performers to leave the business altogether," DeWitt (vice president of business development for Kronos) said in a statement. "This creates a never-ending cycle of disruption that makes it difficult to build the high-performing workforce needed to compete in today's business environment." Too much work and not enough money are the leading contributors to employee burnout. The study found that 41 percent of the people surveyed attribute burnout, in part, to unfair compensation, while 32 percent blame it on unreasonable workloads. Another 32 percent said a huge cause is too much overtime and having to work after-hours as expressed by Chad Brooks.

HR leaders also pointed to other causes of employee burnout, including poor management, a negative workplace culture and employees seeing no clear connection of their role to corporate strategy. Because more than 85 percent of those surveyed said improving retention is one of their goals over the next five years, figuring out how to cut down on employee burnout is critical.

Dan Schawbel, a partner and research director for Future Workplace, said the biggest priority, and concern, for business leaders in 2017 will be retaining employees in an even more competitive talent marketplace. "As the economy continues to improve and employees have more job options, companies will have to provide more compensation, expand benefits and improve their employee experience," Schawbel said. "Managers should promote flexibility and ensure that employees aren't overworked, in order to prevent employee burnout that leads to turnover."

Part of the issue is that organizations continue to invest resources in their recruiting strategies, but then say they don't have enough money to enhance their employee-retention efforts to borrow the words of Chad Brooks again. A research found that while nearly 97 percent of HR leaders plan to increase their investment in recruiting technology by the year 2020, 16 percent said not having money in their budget is their primary obstacle to improving employee retention. "While not all burnout can be eliminated, much of it can be avoided using critical strategies that balance consistency and personalization of schedules and workload, leverage managers as models for how their team can achieve work/life balance, and implement tools and technology that proactively manage burnout or otherwise support these efforts," said Mollie Lombardi.

So what can workers do to stop stressing and start getting work-life balance right? I share the same views of Shannon Gausepoh below - six actionable ways to help you adjust your attitude and feel more in control right now.

Recognize the role of work: work plays a significant part in life. It keeps the lights on, pays the bills, makes the car payment, funds retirement and permits yearly vacations, Newcombe said. Adopting the right mind-set allows you to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of your labor, rather than making your job seem like endless donkeywork.

Don't be afraid to unplug: we live in a connected world that never sleeps. Turning off from the outside world provides time to recover from weekly stress. "It also gives us space to let other thoughts and ideas surface. When you are always on, you don't allow other things to surface that might be more important," Stone said. "I meditate each morning for 10 minutes, which provides me with a great start to my day."

Create (and stick to) a daily routine: like maintaining a calendar, implementing a strong daily routine will help keep you on track to achieve the balance you want. According to Lewis Howes, entrepreneur and author of "The School of Greatness" (Rodale Books, 2015), setting strong habits, such as sleeping 8 hours, avoiding checking your email for the first couple hours of the day, getting outside daily, and taking time to eat right and work out, will make you healthier and happier."It will absolutely reflect in your mental clarity, emotional capacity, relationships and creativity," Howes said. "Those are the traits that make up the greatest leaders and most successful people."

Make time for yourself: while being good at your job is important, it shouldn't be your entire life. You were an individual before taking this position and you should prioritize those activities or hobbies that made you happy."Whether you take a walk in the park, get a massage or [take] a hot bath, it's important to always set aside an hour a week to do something for yourself," said Mark Feldman, "When [we] hire, we ask about [details like] books being read by the applicant. It shows that they have interests outside of work life," Tatum said.Tatum suggests reading, traveling and fostering hobbies that have nothing to do with your career.

Take your vacation: sometimes making time for yourself means taking a vacation and shutting work completely off."A vacation could be a 15-minute walk around the block without looking at your phone, or a vacation could be two or three weeks traveling with family/friends," Stone said. "It’s important to take a step back to physically and mentally recharge. If you are surrounded by good people at work, a vacation should be easy to take."

Be present, consistent and accountable: being present requires you to be attentive at home, at work and during free time, Woods said. Where you spend your time and energy has a direct connection to how successful you are in achieving work-life balance."It's so easy to get caught up working, but it's so important to spend time with family, friends or other people who bring joy into our lives," Stone said. "Though it might not seem obvious at first, the memories that we create while spending time with those we love help spark new ideas, and ways of thinking.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” is it true that you have no time to sharpen your axe and have been very busy trying to cut more trees for promotions, money, fame, etc. It seems that your employees are busier than ever - efficiency, but less happy that ever – ineffective. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness very soon. At the end of the day “the power is yours”.