Work-Life Balance 1:1
First intensive session to redesign habits, boundaries, and energy
🎯 Main Objective
Help the client define what “good balance” means for their context, diagnose their current reality, and leave with 3 concrete changes (boundaries, habits, and energy management) they can implement this very week.
Specific Objectives:
- Clarity: Align values, goals, and expectations with work and personal life reality.
- Diagnosis: Audit how time is used today (typical week and energy drains).
- Boundaries: Design 2-3 realistic boundaries with communication scripts.
- Habits: Define 2 sustainable micro-habits for recovery and focus.
- Stakeholders: Identify key conversations (partner, boss, team) and prepare messages.
- Self-observation: Detect stress triggers and automatic responses.
📋 Required Materials
Time blocks and priorities
For exercises and role-plays
Quick self-assessment by areas
Identify leaks and overloads
Scripts for saying no and renegotiating
Micro-habit tracking
⏰ Detailed Schedule (60 minutes)
Check-in and Context
Align session expectations, current state, and personal definition of “sufficient balance”. Establish safe and practical framework.
Warm-up: Express Wheel of Life
Score 8 key areas (health, energy, relationships, leisure, work, finances, growth, contribution). Choose 1-2 leverage areas.
Round 1: Diagnosis and Typical Week
Map a representative week. Identify time leaks and stress sources. Detect “automatic yeses” and chronic multitasking.
Micro-pause and Reframe
4-6 breathing, postural reset, and focus choice (boundary, habit, or energy) for the next round.
Round 2: Boundaries and Conversations
Define 2 concrete boundaries (e.g., schedule, meetings, notifications). Practice scripts with a key stakeholder.
Round 3: Energy and Recovery Habits
Choose 2 micro-habits (e.g., 10′ walk, screen-free pause, end-of-day closure). Design anchors, success conditions, and metrics.
Debrief and Action Plan
Concrete 3 SMART commitments, risks, and supports. Agree on accountability and first checkpoint.
🎭 Roles and Responsibilities
👨💼 Coach Role
- Facilitator: Create psychological safety and focus.
- Mirror: Point out patterns, triggers, and language.
- Strategist: Prioritize impactful and feasible actions.
- Trainer: Practice scripts and micro-habits.
- Accountability: Define metrics, check-ins, and reinforcements.
🎯 Client Role
- Explorer: Share context with honesty.
- Designer: Choose realistic boundaries and attempts.
- Practitioner: Try scripts and habits in session.
- Observer: Record signals and daily progress.
- Help Seeker: Ask for support when needed.
❓ Question Bank by Round
🔥 Warm-up (Choose 1)
- “If this session were a success, what would change next week? (or: how will you know it was useful?)”
- “What would a workday with good (realistic) work-life balance look like for you?”
- “What area, if you improve it, would have a domino effect on the others?”
- “What drains your energy most today and what restores it fastest?”
- “At this stage, what does ‘sufficient balance’ mean to you?”
- “What small change (≤10 min) would give you the greatest return this week?”
🧠 Diagnosis (Choose 2-3)
- “How was your last work and personal week, hour by hour?”
- “Where do you say yes by default and then regret it?”
- “What commitments are non-negotiable for you and which ones aren’t (yet)?”
- “What makes you go into multitasking mode and what triggers it?”
- “What would you do if you had 10% more daily energy?”
🛑 Boundaries and Conversations (Choose 2)
- “What minimum boundary would improve 3 annoyances at once?”
- “Who do you need to renegotiate expectations with this week?”
- “What trade-off will you accept to protect your non-negotiable?”
- “How would you communicate a no without breaking the relationship?”
⚡ Energy and Recovery (Choose 2)
- “What micro ritual (≤10 min) could you do daily without fail?”
- “What closing habit would help you truly disconnect?”
- “What signal will you use to remember the pause (alarm, app, object)?”
- “What simple metric will indicate you’re improving (sleep, steps, RPE)?”
🚀 Challenging (Choose 2)
- “What are you willing to stop doing starting today?”
- “If your boss doesn’t accept the boundary, what alternative will you propose?”
- “What’s the cost to you of not changing anything in 3 months?”
- “What prevents you from asking for help and how will you do it this week?”
- “What would you do if you had total permission to prioritize yourself 30 min a day?”
🎭 Coach’s Coaching Modes
🤝 Empathetic (Warm-up)
Behavior: Active listening, validates emotions, reflects.
Body language: Open, paced, kind eye contact.
Objective: Safety and emotional clarity.
🔍 Analytical (Diagnosis)
Behavior: Asks for data, deepens, looks for patterns.
Body language: Focused, takes notes, precise questions.
Objective: Objective reality and leverage points.
👔 Directive-Pragmatic (Boundaries)
Behavior: Concretizes, cuts down, converts to actions.
Body language: Agile, decision-oriented.
Objective: Executable scripts and agreements.
🔥 Challenger (Habits/Energy)
Behavior: Raises the standard, anticipates obstacles.
Body language: Determined, direct, respectful.
Objective: Realistic commitments with accountability.
📊 Feedback and Progress Framework
🎯 GROW + SBI (2-3 min per block)
Use to advance and adjust in each round:
1. Goal (15-30 sec)
“What exactly do you want to achieve in this part (e.g., a concrete boundary for meetings)?”
2. Reality + SBI (45-60 sec)
“Situation: In your post-6pm evenings… Behavior: You respond to messages until 10pm… Impact: You can’t disconnect or sleep well.”
3. Options (45 sec)
“What 2-3 alternatives do you see? (time blocking, delayed response, team norm, self-reward)”
4. Will/Way Forward (45 sec)
“What will you do, when, with what support, and how will we know it worked (simple metric)?”
✨ Indicators to Observe
- Clarity: Goals and boundaries formulated positively.
- Realism: Actions ≤10-15 min and anchored to routines.
- Communication: Brief, assertive, and kind scripts.
- Energy: Physiological signals (sleep, tension, hunger).
- Tracking: Simple and visible metrics.
- Adaptation: Adjustment to obstacles without abandoning.
📝 Scripts and Key Phrases
🎬 Session Start
“Today we’re going to define what ‘sufficient balance’ means for you, audit your typical week, and leave with 3 concrete actions you can start right away. We’ll prioritize what gives you the most impact with the least effort.”
🛑 Meeting Boundaries
“To protect deep work and my health, I need to limit meetings to [time slot] and maximum [number] per day. If something urgent comes up outside that schedule, I can offer [alternative]. Does that work for you?”
📵 Notifications and Responses
“Between [time] and [time] I’ll be in focus/rest mode and won’t respond to messages. I’ll respond starting at [time]. If something can’t wait, please mark it ‘urgent’ and we’ll address it first thing.”
💬 Deadline Renegotiation
“With the current volume, to maintain quality I need to move [task] to [date]. In exchange, I can deliver [part] earlier and keep you updated with a progress report on [day].”
🧘 End of Day Closure
“I close the day with 5 minutes: review tomorrow, block 1 priority, turn off notifications, and a small disconnection ritual (walk, stretches, or reading).”
🚨 Important Considerations
⚠️ Managing Resistance
- Normalize fear: Changing boundaries generates initial anxiety.
- Micro-trials: Start with low-risk contexts.
- Habit swapping: Substitute, don’t just eliminate.
- Mind your language: “I need” and “I propose” instead of “I can’t”.
🎯 Maximize Learning
- Design the environment: Visual reminders, automate repetitive tasks.
- Quick checkpoint: 2′ daily review (what worked, what to adjust).
- Allies: Identify 1-2 people who will reinforce your boundaries.
- Iterate: Adjust without judgment; avoid “all or nothing”.
- Record energy: 1-5 scale at start and end of day.
✨ Variations by Client Type
- High work demand: Focus on renegotiation and batching.
- Remote work: Closing ritual and physical boundaries (space, clothes, door).
- Family with kids: Shared blocks and partner coordination.
- Freelance: Response policies and clear business windows.
- Perfectionism: Define “good enough” and time limits.
🎯 Final Debrief Questions
For the client (individual reflection – 2 minutes):
- What action gives you the greatest return with the least effort?
- What worries you about implementing these boundaries?
- What support do you need and who will you ask for it?
- What will you try in the next 24-48 hours?
For coach-client discussion (6 minutes):
- “What defines success for this week for you?”
- “What obstacle do you see as most likely and how will you overcome it?”
- “What simple evidence will tell you you’re doing better (1 metric)?”
- “How will you reward yourself for maintaining your boundaries?”
- “What do you want to review together in our next meeting?”
🔗 Connection with CareerRoadmap
💡 Post-Session Integration
Link learnings with personal roadmap:
- Update typical week with focus and rest blocks.
- Create backlog of boundaries to implement by priorities.
- Define simple metrics (sleep, steps, RPE, app time).
- Schedule conversations with stakeholders and save scripts.
- Upload habit tracker and set reminders.
- Set checkpoint at 7 days to review progress.
📋 Homework (7 days)
- 3-day time audit (morning/afternoon/evening) with energy notes.
- Execute 1 boundary conversation with script and record result.
- Practice 2 daily micro-habits (≤10 min) and mark on tracker.
- Protect 2 deep work blocks (90 min) in calendar.
- Do 1 “no screen” recovery activity of ≥20 min.