pSome people think that life balance is a thing of luxury, something you pursue only when times are good, and that you need to work like a dog to remain employed in this unpredictable economy./p pExecutive coach Deb Bright suggests forgetting about work-life balance for now. “img src="/emoticons/emotion-11.gif" alt="Cool [H]" /aving time for outside interests has to go right out the window now,” says Bright. “You need to concentrate on doing whatever it takes to make yourself indispensable.”/p pIf you’re listening with one ear, it might sound like logical advice -- but work-life balance isn’t solely about balancing work and play. It’s about how you work, what you value, finding ways to match your values to your employer’s values, and accomplishing workplace goals with clarity and finesse./p pForgetting about balance is rooted in fear. And if you’ve been working hard at becoming indispensable, it’s likely that you’re working late, powering through lunch, skipping workouts, and ditching networking or playing with friends. You’re probably also missing soccer games and not too thrilled about doing homework with your kids./p pLiving in balance in a down economy is essential, not only for your wellbeing outside of work, but to assure you remain agile and flexible and capable of making good, values-based decisions in and about your work. If you were interested in maintaining a competitive advantage and being in shape to meet the next opportunity with confidence, wouldn’t working out make great sense? Who feels agile and flexible and confident with 20 or 30 extra pounds? And what about the burden of weight you’ll carry in your mind and spirit?/p pWork smart and strategically. Less is more. And the only time more is more is when it’s more of less./pimg src="http://articles.mercola.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=112185" width="1" height="1"