That's what the ad said and it caught my eye. While I don't play golf, the thought of playing hooky was enticing. It's not that I don't enjoy my work or that I find it boring. Rather, it was the idea of breaking from routine and doing something unplanned and spontaneous that made me consider the gist of the ad's invitation.

With the hours many of us work and the long list of tasks to accomplish in any given day, spontaneity is often considered a luxury someone else might afford. I believe that there are dangers from our heavy workloads and the increasing hours we work per year that go beyond the stress of managing it all. I fear we also run the risk of becoming so narrowly focused on our work that we forget about other activities that give us joy and satisfaction and round out our lives. I can see that Celia (Virtually Organized) and I are on the same wavelength this week in our similarly-themed blogs.

Here are questions to help you look at your work/life balance as it relates to your leisure time: What would you do if you had an unplanned afternoon away from work? Does that question leave you clueless, or does one or many options easily pop into your mind? When was the last time you engaged in any activity that you enjoyed so much you lost track of time? If your answers slant toward "work and no play", you might want to consider a former hobby or activity you once enjoyed and fit it into your schedule in the next couple of weeks—if not spontaneous, planned will do.

It's not infrequent that I encourage a client to pursue an activity that appears to have nothing to do with their career goals or work transition. Because I like to have a sense of how work fits into the context of a person's whole life, I am interested to know what passions, interests or goals are not acted upon. If taken into consideration, they could either shed light on a new direction or improve the person's work/life balance that may be affecting their attitude toward their work. Sometimes, the activity is symbolic of a larger challenge. Take for example, the case of a woman client I saw several years ago. She had forever longed to take voice lessons, but for a variety of reasons, never got around to it. As she described her work issue, which involved her need to be more assertive with her subordinates, it became clear that the time was right to find her voice. She hired a voice coach and covered two issues at once. Her voice lessons were not only enjoyable, they gave her the confidence she needed to shift her communication style at work.

Doing what you love to do can be productive.

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