WORKERS in the Worcester area are being invited to attend free advice sessions this week on how to make better use of their time at work so they don’t need to do overtime and encroach on time with their family.

Pitman Training, based in New Street, Worcester, is urging employers to take their staff along to Work Life Balance drop-ins to help them be more efficient and productive at work to enable them to spend the time they want with their families.

Individuals are also welcome to attend independently to take advantage of the free advice and taste some free brain food during the sessions which aim to help local workers achieve more productivity at work to try and reduce the need for work to blend into family time.

The team is sharing insights from the organisation’s Work Life Balance, Time Management and Influencing Skills seminars in a bid to help shave off overtime requirements and tackle findings from The Modern Families Index 2016 which include:

• A third of parents (29 per cent) reported being burned out often or all the time

• Four out of ten parents say that work intrudes to stop them spending time with children often or all the time

• More than one in 10 UK employees work over 50 hours per week

• Workload is the main reason that working parents are putting in extra hours at work

• Four out of 10 younger fathers would take a pay cut to improve their work life balance

• A third of parents surveyed find their relationship with a partner is also impinged upon often or all the time

Pitman believes that by improving typing speed by just 10 words per minute, office workers, who spend an average of four hours a day at a keyboard and can type from 15 to 30 words a minute, could save themselves a whole working day per week. This gives them a better chance of getting home on time.

The Worcester centre manager Jazz Chateau said: “We have got behind this campaign because we often hear of parents who are really up against it, trying to fit a full-time job into part-time hours, trying to juggle kids pick up and drop off with finishing tasks that build up in the day. Often this ends up with them taking work home.

“We are fully on board with anything we can do to help alleviate that and help parents, and all workers, achieve their workloads within their office hours rather than it eating into personal time.”

Jazz added: “We’ll also be encouraging people to go home on time today (October 5) in support of National Work Life Week and will be sharing tips on our social media channels that could help people achieve this.”

National Work Life Week is run by Working Families – the UK’s leading work-life balance organisation and runs until the end of this week. It aims to promote harmony between working life and home life, and encourages people to find ways to strike a better balance.

For more information on National Work Life Week visit http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/

Pitman Training, which specialises in office, IT, administration, finance and business skills training, has produced a 'Seven Days To A More Productive You' infographic offering tips on how to be more productive. They are:

Day One - Prioritise and Schedule. Make a “to do” list each day and start with the most important tasks that need immediate attention.

Day Two - Delegate. When working in a team, learn to delegate tasks to the team members best suited to do them.

Day Three - Learn a few Microsoft tricks. Learn the Microsoft Office shortcuts for applications you use most frequently.

Day Four - Make Use of Your Energy. Make a note of what time of day you operate best. If you have more energy in the morning, focus on those jobs which require the most brainpower.

Day Five - Be prepared. Look back on what you achieved today and celebrate your success, then identify what you need to do tomorrow and make a plan. This enables your brain to focus and results in increased productivity.

Day Six - Improve your typing. If you spend four hours a day working on your keyboard, improving your typing speed by 10 words per minute could save you a whole working day a week (based on a 37.5hour working week starting with a typing speed of 15-30 words per minute).

Day Seven - Consider your reading. An expert reader can read 1,000 to 1,700 words per minute. There are various ways to improve your reading.

For more information about the Modern Families Index 2016 produced by Working Families visit http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Modern-Families-Index-2016.pdf.

The report, partnered by workplace and childcare programme provider Bright Horizons, reveals more parents are working full-time and the “typical” family arrangement, where a father works full-time and a mother works part-time, is receding.

Bright Horizons director of Employer Partnerships Denice Priest said: “It is clear that balancing work and family life is an ongoing challenge for more and more families in the UK.

“The survey shows that much of working parents’ annual leave is being used to cover childcare emergencies, at the detriment of time for family bonding and wellbeing.

“On a typical working day many parents struggle to go home on time – and if they do they are likely to take work home with them and keep available via email and mobile phone.

“Working parents are trying to do it all and are often reluctant – or fearful - to ask for help.”