Traditional retirement seems passé these days. Especially  to baby boomers still trying to shore up their nest egg. Still, a recent survey suggests a good majority of them might be choosing the work they do -  more with their hearts – instead of their financial prowess. There’s a new class of boomers who are rewiring their work life in order to give back while making a buck. The survey was done by Boomer tracker, Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation.

The story highlights some of the challenges boomers will face in following this path such as the need for flexibility, health care coverage and income; it also looks at the rewards of the encore career and better worklife integration.

You can listen to my most recent story on NPR by Clicking on the link below:

Boomers Find Way to Make Social Impact, Money

“Survival of the fittest is not the criterion for evolution, but survival of the wisest.” Deepak Chopra

Those words from spiritual teacher and business maverick Deepak Chopra laid the foundation for a fascinating discussion on a conscious approach to business. My interview with Chopra also marks the launch of a new program here at the Work/Life Monitor – the WorkLife Nation Podcast. The radio series will also run on the Public Radio Exchange which is a feeder network for NPR. Every week I’ll be reporting on how human values are being embraced in the workplace and in business – in a 24/7 world. From the elusive quest for work/life balance to social entrepreneurship – you’ll hear from those on the cutting edge of our Work/Life Nation.

I caught up with the best selling author after he met with social, spiritual and business leaders at the Chopra Center in New York City. The event was co-convened with the Source of Synergy Foundation. The topic – consciousness and its impact on social transformation.

In this Work/Life Nation Podcast, you’ll hear Chopra’s views on how business leaders are tapping into their own higher consciousness – while doing business.

Work/Life Nation with Deepak Chopra

In my monthly column, The WorkLife Minute with Judy Martin in Canvas Magazine, I interviewed Port Washington lawyer Arnie Herz. Frustrated with the workplace scenario for attorneys, Herz came up with his own formula for successful worklife integration or synergy as he calls it.

You’ll read about Arnie’s personal story and get some tips on creating meaningful work. I posted on Arnie a while back including a podcast which you can access here:

Legal Sanity: WorkLife Synergy and the Musings of a Conscious Attorney

As you’ll hear in this WorkLife Monitor Podcast, he’s not your typical attorney. You’ll hear his philosophy on optimizing the business of law, but he also offers solid career advice for anyone trying to manage worklife chaos in a radically changing world.

As the day was winding down at one of my freelance gigs, we spent a short break checking out the latest copy-rant on YouTube pleading with America to cut President Bush a break. It was just a few moments which provided a quick laugh  – and then it was back to business.

But apparently those short dips into never-never land generally last a lot longer in the workplace. Various studies worldwide suggest employees spend about a fifth of their work day engaging in personal activities, (ie.) on the Internet. Apparently, cyberslacking rates pretty high on the list of offenses.

A recent study by on-line compensation firm Salary.com showed the U.S. employees surveyed admitted to wasting 20% of their time at work. About 34% of them listed personal Internet use as the leading time-waster at work.

There is a HUGE difference between wasting your mandated work time on personal ventures, and taking time for worklife balance or integration. It’s really a matter of principle, although one could argue that if an employer is not honoring its employees with appropriate break time in the workplace, perhaps one has to find a way to take that time.

Unfortunately, you have to take responsibility for making sure that alone  -or lunch time  – occurs.  In a 24/7 world, that is easier said than done when your career involves working for someone else. I’m going to list some tips on how to make this happen for you in the coming week. Any ideas on how to approach your employer to let them know you’re burning out? Do share!

And for tips on worklife balance, click here to check out my WorkLife Minute which you can also find on my website, JudyMartinSpeaks.com

In his column on Web Worker Daily, Lea Babauta, who is also the proprietor of ZenHabits.net, offers some practical advice in his post, Cutting the Fat to Get to Lean Productivity. He lists items we should do away with or systems that need to be morphed to become a more lean machine at work. It’s great advice. He speaks of removing distractions, not echewing responsibilities. But I’d counter that there’s one item we often sacrifice, that we can’t afford to do without; taking time to stop all the action for just five or ten minutes to meditate, exercise, do some deep breathing, or listen to some relaxing music. That regeneration of mind and body allows for better worklife integration.

Thinking that every minute counts (which it does, I suppose in a 24/7 marketplace) we mistakenly believe that making the time for downtime is only acceptable as a reward after reaching a goal or completing the work for the day. Recharging our batteries should be fully embraced in our information age. The mind is on overload and in fueling the core fire that we operate from on a deeper level, we extend our ability to go the distance.

I gazed from afar the goings-on in the markets last week. A much needed break from the chaos on the street and the sub-prime meltdown was called for as I figure it’s going to be an active fourth quarter with just about anything coming down the pike.

Other than a sneak peak at CNBC at a rest stop and grabbing the Wall Street Journal which I managed to mostly stare at, I was not open for business. Instead I headed north of the city to Vermont for some peace of mind and a cleanse. This was my way of winding down the summer. I decided to stop everything. We don’t stop in our 24/7 marketplace. I think it’s because we fear we will miss out on something, fall behind, not get ahead of the curve, not get the gig, not being accepted by our peers who are doing the 24/7 thing…etc. But it’s in that stopping and cultivating serenity even for a short while, that miraculous things can happen.

I believe that a creative impulse arises as we take notice of our own desire for a more meaningful integrated worklife experience. But that concept needs to be embraced in our society and our workplace in order to develop. As we support each other in our quest for worklife integration or balance if you choose, our worklife paradigm will shift as a collective. Take the words of Rick Jarow, Ph.D, from his book Creating the Work You Love:

“Perhaps in the near future, like-minded groups will develop where people can support one another’s efforts to manifest the work they love. This is helpful, not as a crutch for emotional weakness, but as a sounding board and support system for those daring enough to venture forth into the marketplace with a new idea, and for reinforcing the reality of abundance as opposed to the fear of scarcity.” Rick Jarow, Ph.D.

Imagine abundance. Taste it. What does it look like, feel like, sound like? What does abundance mean to you? To me, it’s the synergy of success and serenity. My definition is personal and requires a daily routine of awareness in the workplace and while doing business. It also requires me to be aware not only of my behavior, but those around me and my reaction to it.

Getting back to this idea of abundance, it’s difficult for the mind to grasp that abundance can be birthed from stillness in a working environment. Last week, as mentioned, I endeavored to explore.
Being the maverick that I am, I decided to just stop and listen; not for just a moment or two, but for a week which is very unusual for me. I headed to north to do some contemplating and cleansing.

Vermont offered roads lined with farmland, eco-green everything, and a guaranteed friendly smile at most stops along the way. It’s a simple visual experienced along single carriage roads. The thoughts – not so simple. Deep rooted patterns, thoughts of what is, what was and what could be along the way set the stage for a personal encounter with the recesses of my mind chatter.

Winding down the summer, heading into the release of autumn, I decided to do a cleanse. I chose the ancient eastern method of Panchakarma (PK), a detoxifying and cleansing program based on ancient purification and rejuvenation techniques from India. Check out The Ayurvedic Center of Vermont. According to Ayurveda, the mind and body have the intelligence to heal themselves, so I dived into an intense few days of cleansing.

I won’t get into the details of my experience, but I will share this; “stopping” lead to an incredible purge of old ways of doing things, deep contemplation about the way I want to structure my worklife, and oddly enough, a sudden rise in business during what is typically the slowest time of the year.

I just watched and listened to the messages that suddenly appeared on my voice mail and Black Berry, but I didn’t respond. Speaking engagements came overnight, new projects and work dates were proposed, and some new radio work appeared. I just listened, trusted in my own intuition that stopping was an okay thing to do – and continued to cleanse and contemplate. Somehow, in the daze of letting go, I became less attached to outcome. While a surge of excitement is building about what’s to come, I suddenly feel it can all wait until tomorrow without vanishing.

Just yesterday during a book discussion group that I was leading on worklife balance and integration, a quick run around the circle of women revealed that they hadn’t exactly come to speak about balancing their working and personal lives. In fact, I ended up with an intimate few who were more interested in exploring the value of cultivating joy, peace and passion in the workplace. Balance was not the operative word. All of the women actually loved their jobs, but how to sustain a joyful serene disposition during the daily grind of their careers was the real topic of conversation.

With book in hand I found myself in a dilemma. Should I stick to my original overview of this great book that might help them integrate their working existence with their human side, or should I surrender to the moment at hand following the lead of a handful of women who expressed a different agenda?

It was clear that abandoning the original plan was the wisest direction and it yielded some extraordinary results. While it was a no-brainer to go with the flow, I noticed a slight resistance within my self as I had thoroughly prepared for the evening. But prempted by the group dynamic – I jumped into the cold “watering hole” for a refreshing lesson in being in the moment.

We had some dynamic conversation, strayed into our personal and spiritual lives, took a dip into the waters of each individuals worklife scenario and kept coming back to the same interest for all involved in the discussion – how to find joy, cultivate that joy and sustain joy in life and at work.

One woman shared that she went to church every morning, for another it was Zen meditation that she used to start her day. Still few could say that they were able to carry that serenity into the workplace. The ensuing conversation was not simple for these women, but they all came to the same conclusion – the serenity was not going to come from outside themselves, but from within. So it was up to them to make it last, but they had to go a little deeper to examine the resistance.

It reminded me of a lesson that I seem to manifest just about every day with regard to resistance to change. Doing the work to cultivate a more peaceful existence is only one part of the journey. The second part is in making the decision to want to take the journey toward joy and serenity. Once again, I was called to task in remembering that once the resistance is conquered, the surrender to the journey becomes less of a task. Serenity emerges out of the organic creative energy of the desire to change.

Canvas Magazine:

A Backdrop for Ideas, Perspectives & Life on Long Island

In my Work/Life Minute in Canvas Magazine this month I had the wonderful opportunity to interview my good friend News 12 Long Island anchor, Lea Tyrell. She has an interesting  perspective on work/life integration.

Seen here on the News 12 set with her two year old, Tori, she makes it look easy. But being a mom while maintaining her career as Long Island’s best known anchor, has proved to be quite the juggling act. Every day brings a new kind of chaos, whether in the newsroom or as a mommy.