Most people do not believe that they balance things in their lives. Instead, they juggle. Some people delegate various responsibilities and tasks to others because there are so many things to do and only so many hours during the day. Many people try to juggle their family, friends, leisure, work, relationships, and health.
The number one career concern for most company leaders and employees is that of balancing work and family responsibilities. Balance is experienced differently by each of us. "Work/Life Balance" did not become part of our vocabulary until the mid-1980s. The issue of work/life balance has become increasingly important to employees to the extent that more executives are beginning to take a step back and look at their own careers and family life.
The following questions have been asked many times by many people: Are work/life practices in your business actually allowing you to have a life too? Does work intrude on personal time? Do we work to live or do we live to work? Even though some might say that the work/life balance does not exist, there actually is a process involved in setting your right balance. You have to find what works the best for you. The work/life balance issue has becomes a greater concern the further you go down the corporate totem pole. Nearly 85 percent of chief executives and managing partners surveyed said work/life balance is either a highly important or very important concern, compared to 90 percent of surveyed middle managers, and 93 percent of surveyed staff.
The art of leading others can be a difficult balancing act. Facing more pressure from others, making tough decisions, and taking risks of yourself and of your organization can take its toll on many. You not only juggle your family responsibilities and work schedule, but also manage your personal relaxation time − when you get the chance.
Addressing needs on an urgent basis demands a lot of attention from a leader, both internally and externally. Having a lack of direction and facing many challenges throughout your day, you need to find the motivation to optimize your productivity. One of the keys to satisfied and efficient leaders and employees is work/life balance.
After hitting the snooze button when you wake up in the morning, how often do you find yourself thinking of everything that you have coming up during the day, and you think and feel that you cannot do it all? To maintain balance, you need to develop specific goals and priorities set around areas of your life that you can work with. This will also help you work smarter not harder. To achieve a better work/life balance, the following tips will help you juggle through your daily routines:
1. Plan in Advance: Plan your week, not just your day, as you create your own road map for your day's work. This helps you avoid wasting your time on things where you can be productive. Make sure as you plan your day that you include spending time with your family – even put this time on your calendar. Put family time on your calendar as well. Some believe that if you spend a few minutes planning out your week, it will make a big difference in your commitments to your family and other important obligation you have without sacrificing what needs to get done.
• Give yourself a daily reminder. Remind yourself on a daily basis how valuable time is that you spend some of it with your family.
• Remember to cross the things that you already completed off your list, and go back to check you list several times during the day. Seeing how many things you have crossed off can also give you a sense of accomplishment and help you move forward to the next things on the list.
2. Prioritize: Be clear as you prioritize your commitments. You need to look at what you have, and at times should do, for keeping both your job and your home life in order. If you find that you have more than five specific responsibilities for a given day, look to see which ones are more important as you prioritize what you can actually accomplish during that day. Some people who consider themselves as happy workaholics, for lack of a better term, are those who can prioritize. They can focus all their energies in a productive way to the extent that they know what their priorities are.
Spend about 10-15 minutes at the end of each day to think about what you have accomplished, and what you want to accomplish tomorrow. This helps you develop your skills in both prioritizing and in planning your week, especially if you have not done this before. You will find that you will become more efficient at juggling your responsibilities as it will also help you set time in accomplishing the tasks you need done.
3. Be Flexible: Manage your home and work on a creative basis. For example, by planning ahead, you are better able to manage your work and home life responsibilities, especially when unexpected obligations arise. Having a flexible work arrangement can accommodate you with your personal and family situations when you need to take off from your daily work routine. If you are both committed to making it all work, and stay in frequent communication, you can get it all done in a way that supports both work and family. Being flexible means being open to any and all changes.
4. Maintain Your Focus: Focus on the things to which you need to commitment. Accomplish what you need to get done within the time span you schedule for that task. Stay focused on what is really important to you and your business.
What keeps us from focusing? Primarily, it is all the distractions that you have that need your attention. Have your assistant or secretary take messages or put the phone calls into your voicemail and set a time on the calendar when you will give this your attention. If you must answer the phone, be brief and tell the caller that you cannot talk at that moment but will call them back at an agreed upon time. Give you secretary or assistant specific instructions for when you are either expecting a particular phone call or when you will be meeting with someone. Set a time block, written on your calendar, when you read and answer emails.
Let this focus spill over to your home life as well. Do not answer the phone during a family dinner – let voicemail take it and deal with it later. Have family time set aside where all cell phones are turned off. Make these times that everyone in the family agrees to, and stick to it.
5. Share the Load: Do not take on a major project by yourself if you can either delegate parts of it, or get others in your department to help you with it. This will get the project done more quickly, it will initiate input by others who may come up with ideas that you did not think of, and it will promote team building within the organization. You do not have to do it all yourself.
This applies to your home life as well. Have a family member or members take on some of the responsibilities and share the household daily chores with that person. Make weekend projects a family affair. Not only does this help with the time commitment, it provides time that you can spend with other members of your family.
6. Unleash Your Creativity: Create an action plan to achieve balance within your life. Explore the options you have before things get too overwhelming for you and your household. With everything you have to do, take a few minutes and think of what you can do to balance your life better than it is currently. You may find creative ways in conducting both your work and home responsibilities within.
7. Take Time Out for Yourself: For many people, there is not enough time in a day to do everything they have to do. On the other hand, many people believe that 80 percent of their results are due to 20 percent of the tasks they work on. Accordingly, the amount of time you spend working is increasing to the extent that the time you spend with your family has been decreasing.
How can you possibly manage to do your work, take care of your home life, and still have some personal time? Whether you take some time out to blow off steam, or look forward to getting through a tough day, you need to take time out and possibly find an outlet to put your mind on something else. Some leaders believe it is not worth working in a high position, making big money, and not having the time to spend with their families. Many of these leaders have found ways to take some time out for themselves.
You need to be flexible with your work, family, and personal juggling acts and be open to ways to implement these steps I have outlined into your specific life situations. You need to know the signs that occur when you are imbalanced: resentment, fatigue, overwhelmed, depression, dissatisfaction at work, and an unhappy family life. And you need to know what will best help you deal with these situations. Every person, family, and situation is different. Take time out and do something you like to do, at work or at home. This will reduce any tense feelings you may experience. If you have not been very effective in balancing your life and work, look to see what you can change a little at a time. Creating a balance between your work and family responsibilities effects the daily functioning of you, your family, and your employees.
In today's fast-paced work and home environments, more and more professionals are seeking ways to improve their lives by finding a better balance between their work and family life. As you juggle your life, keeping all of these balls in the air essentially means being in control and feeling comfortable with the choices you make. By following these basic tips, you will not have to worry about dropping any balls – or at least those you choose not to drop. The next step of putting a plan into action is up to you.
Neal Burgis, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Burgis Successful Solutions, an executive coaching firm. He has 18 years of experience in helping others with their goals and performance levels. He specializes in executive coaching on work balance issues of performance, leadership development, self-confidence, customer service and improving interpersonal skills, as well as being a sounding board. Neal holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.Ed. in Counseling and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He is a National Certified Psychologist and is certified as both an Executive Coach and a Business and Workplace Mediator. |
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