The call to rest
Work-life balance blogs are totally overdone. I know. However, in our current situation, finding my work-life balance is 10 times harder especially with the days where I have to work remotely or have to space out my work differently because I am needed in other areas at different times and even more frequently now. Although this is mind-consuming and stressful to get used to, I find myself needing to ask myself how I can achieve work-life balance without sacrificing my career ambition? Here are some things that I have depended on to maintain my ambitions and my sanity!
Take a moment to consider how you work
Finding true work-life balance isn’t easy, it’s about redefining your own attitude to work and deciding where your priorities lie. What is your priority? Map out what you want to achieve professionally and personally and put a realistic timeline in place.
Ask yourself things like: How do I divide up my working day? How long do I spend commuting? When am I at my most productive? Am I a good candidate for remote working? What supports are there for me at my workplace? When I leave the workplace everyday, do I switch off fully and make space for my personal life or do I need to practice this more.
Once you’ve a clearer idea of what currently occupies your time and what you want to spend more time on, it will be easier to compartmentalise different elements and avoid putting unrealistic expectations on yourself. The key in achieving your career goals is that you will never find the perfect work-life balance, and at times one will take from the other.
Don’t compare yourself to others
This is important advice for both your professional and personal life. Don’t look to others to validate your success or happiness. Although it’s great to track your progress to ensure you’re not underperforming, don’t let that process be joy-consuming. It will only have the impact on your career that you allow it to have and more often than not the comparison you are seeing is unfair and not true.
Learn the power of saying no
Being collaborative, flexible and willing to help out colleagues are admirable traits but there comes a limit. Allowing yourself to be a dumping ground for late deadlines, extra projects and overtime is not the way to accelerate your career. Being a yes-man will likely result in your coworkers undervaluing your time rather than appreciating your extra work. Learn the art of the polite but assertive no. Technology has made it easier for your “available” icon to stay infinitely green.
When you are not in the office, you are offline
You’ll never achieve balance if you’re always just a phone call away. When you’re finished work for the day, sign out of your work emails and messaging apps and don’t accept any calls from the workplace. Sounds harsh but it is essential. There really isn’t anything that will constitute an out of hours call unless you’re in the life-saving profession. Don’t be afraid that setting boundaries around your working day will hinder your chance at promotion. It’s actually a good way to ensure colleagues and managers understand the value of your time and adhere to process. On that point, you don’t need to explain or make excuses for having a life outside of work. Your boss doesn’t need to hear about your woes once it’s not affecting your performance. So don’t make it one!
Plan, set deadlines and pace yourself
Be honest and be realistic. Communicate openly with your colleagues and peers about what can be achieved. On a daily basis, a to-do list is critical; it helps clear the mind and prioritise what needs to be accomplished first.
Start each day with clear priorities- personal and professional. Tackle the most important things first- those that take the most focus and effort. Procrastination kicks in if you start with the smaller tasks and suddenly the pressure has mounted.
Setting deadlines helps develop productivity. Focus on the prioritised task and try not to be distracted- whether by phone calls, emails or social media. According to a recent Deloitte study, people look at their phones 47 times a day on average. Remove the social media distractions that we are all so guilty of and take us off on many tangents and steal hours from our day that could enable us to be much more productive.
Parkinson’s Law explains:
Work expands as to fill the time available for its completion.
Try to get into the practice of assessing how much time it should take to finish a task and set a limit. Ideally you will learn how you work most effectively and improve your productivity levels.
Judge your productivity by your results, not the hours you put in – especially right now. When time is uninterrupted it can help heighten productivity and sharpen focus.