Maintaining work-life balance is an active, intentional practice, which we all must work on throughout our lives. By paying close attention to what you need more of, what you have enough of, and what you can let go of in your career and personal life, you can move toward better balance and health.

Anush Hansen, MA, MPH, LPC, CCC

The Work-Life Balance Assessment

Hi. I'm Anush Hansen, Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Career Counselor and creator of the Work-Life Balance Assessment.

I developed the Work-Life Balance Assessment when I noticed my counseling clients struggling to articulate what specific factors in their careers and personal lives were leading to their stress, anxiety, burnout, and lack of balance.

I wanted to create a simple, accessible tool to help people untangle these factors, identify their career and life priorities, and develop a concrete plan for improving how they feel and function in their day-to-day lives.

I'm excited to share this tool with as many people as possible, and help them uncover what they need to move toward balance and health.

Scroll down to learn more, and to explore our Work-Life Balance Assessment products.

What is the Work-Life Balance Assessment?

The Work-Life Balance Assessment is a simple, user-friendly card sort activity.

It will help you:

1. Clarify, prioritize, and process your career and life priorities

2. Articulate what’s getting in the way of having what you want

3. Create specific, actionable goals for building your priorities into your life, and moving toward balance, health and joy

The Work-Life Balance Assessment can be completed on your own, or with help from a career or mental health counselor or coach, either in-person or online.

Take the online assessment

How does it work?

The Work-Life Balance Assessment is a deck of cards for you to sort, and includes 30 Personal Priorities cards and 30 Career Priorities cards.

You’ll sort the cards into 3 categories:

1. Priorities you want or want more of in your career and personal life

2. Priorities you already have enough of in your career and personal life

3. Priorities you don't need or that don’t apply to you

You’ll then answer 15 structured follow-up and goal-setting questions to help you delve into the meaning of your priorities, and aid you in developing a concrete, actionable goal to help you incorporate your personal and career priorities into your life.

Take the online assessment

WORK-LIFE BALANCE ASSESSMENT PRODUCTS

The Online Assessment ($15)

Meant for one-time, individual use, the Online Work-Life Balance Assessment is an interactive drag-and-drop card sort activity. It's designed to be simple, and affordable, so that individuals can engage in important self-reflection and career exploration on their own, even if they're not currently working with a counselor or coach.

The Online Assessment includes 30 Personal Priority and 30 Career Priority cards. Sorting through these cards will help you identify what you need more of, what you have enough of, and what you don't need in your career and personal life in order to feel more balanced and healthy.

When you're done, you'll receive a customized report, including your results, a structured set of follow-up and goal setting activities, and a series of optional activities to help you process your priorities further.

Take the online assessment

The Gift Tin ($35)

The Work-Life Balance Assessment Gift Tin is a fun but meaningful gift to give to a friend, loved one, coworker, employee or even yourself!

Perfect for individuals who want clarity about what they need for a more joyful and balanced life, this card deck will walk users through categorizing and ranking a series of career and personal priorities.

Once cards are sorted, the user will complete several follow-up and goal-setting activities on their own to help them find meaning, direction and balance when it comes to their personal and professional life.

The Work-Life Balance Gift Tin is a thoughtful token and meaningful gesture to show your coworker, employee, friend or loved one you care about helping them discover their happiest, healthiest and most authentic self.

Purchase Gift Tin

The Professional Package ($65)

Designed as a multi-use tool that can be used with an unlimited number clients, the Work-Life Balance Assessment Professional Package is a powerful resource for counselors and coaches to help their clients clarify, vocalize, process, and set goals around what they need in their career and life to feel happier, healthier, and more fulfilled.

Cards and follow-up activities are interactive, thought-provoking, and designed to help your client reflect on their career and personal needs, setting the stage for meaningful conversation with your clients over the course of several sessions.

The Professional Package Includes: One high-quality, multi-use card deck; 10 color Question Guides; 8 supplemental activities to use with clients; and member access to our Work-Life Balance Assessment Community of Practice .

Purchase package

Balance starts here.

Take the next step toward balance & wellness.

Take the online assessment

A really simulating tool that helps put language into a priority setting process, helping users find, live, and be more of what they want. The card sort uniquely makes the process more engaging.

Dr. Rich Feller, Professor, Distinguished Teaching Scholar & NCDA Past President

After 20 years dedicated to my work community, my boundaries between work and life felt helplessly blurred. I used the Work-Life Balance Assessment to reflect on and clarify my priorities and it helped me realize I needed a change. I am grateful for this tool, which enabled me to rearticulate my goals and values, as well as envision a new career path that made me feel excited and optimistic. I plan to revisit the assessment to hold myself accountable or reassess my priorities to help me maintain a healthy balance!

Kristin, counseling client

The card sort helped me figure out where I was feeling stuck in my life. It helped me see that my professional self was thriving and that there was room for growth in my personal sphere. That helped me realize that I had a couple core needs that I could start meeting right away. The clarity this provided changed my perspective and empowered me. I am grateful for this amazing tool!

Jackie, counseling client

I received my professional package in the mail, and I just wanted to take a moment to express how pleased I am with your product. I am so excited to use the cards with my clients! The whole set, including the header cards, the priorities, and the question guide are so well-thought-out. I think that especially in the beginning stages of therapy when clients know they want "something" to be different, but aren't sure what, this will help to articulate goals.  I came across your link in one of the Facebook therapist groups, and I'm so glad I clicked it!

Kate, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

I knew when I ventured back into the workforce after having been a stay-at-home parent for 5 years that I wanted to explore a new career path.  The Work-Life Balance Assessment was the perfect tool to help me find my career direction while reminding me that family and time for myself is also important. 

Lisa, counseling client

The Work-Life Balance Assessment card sort is an incredible tool for helping my clients to clarify their needs and values while quickly pinpointing specific areas that we can work on in therapy together to bring more balance, meaning, and mental wellness into their lives.  

Christy Cole, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor

I'm a huge fan of card sorts. There's something magical that happens as people move cards around and make decisions about what they value. I use many card sorts with clients; and now I'm adding the Work-Life Balance Assessment cards to my mix. What a great way for clients to think about what is important in their life and work and how they balance their priorities in both areas. By walking through the process and then designing goals, the client really begins to sort out what's important and how they want it to look in their lives. It is seldom only about the money…and these cards really help people figure that out.

Jim Peacock, Principal, Peak Careers Consulting