Many companies will say, ‘Work-life balance is important’, but then leave it at that. This is the current buzz phrase to drive you as the worker to shut it down and avoid burnout by thinking of the time away from your family, friends, or personal fun times.
I have yet to hear much talk about the counterweight to this balance for many people, Family.
For workers with families of some kind, this work-life balance has people on the other end of the proverbial teeter-totter. We feel pressure to avoid the last-minute Zoom call to address the latest emergency to pop up where other company members must have you there to solve the problems presented to them now, at that moment.
This is where the balance conversation begins and ends for many. Do you say, just one more Zoom call, just one more time for a swoop in and fix?
One more Zoom call, one more meeting, one more time we stay later at work and delay the time with family and friends we have committed to, gives me the visual of me sitting down low on our end of the teeter-totter and them on the high side, feet dangling, wanting to get down and do something else fun.
Wow, this looks fun ^^^ HA!
Or, do you set boundaries with your co-workers by making your effort to have a balance between work and your life, or in this case the family that is dangling atop the teeter-totter asking to be let down?
Queue the fear-based thinking…
What if my co-workers think I am not committed?
What if my boss does?
Will I be looked at as a slacker?
Will this keep me from being promoted?
If the company you work for is evangelizing a better work-life balance then use that as an opportunity to be more organized with your day and show discipline around what you allow your time to be used for. Time management, organization around the core outcomes each day, and discipline. It always comes down to that in my experience. Fear and anxiety come from a lack of preparation.
What has worked for me 90% of the time is a simple exercise called the ideal day. You sit down with a sheet of paper or a note-taking app on a device and then write down the key things you want to do each day in milestones. Then you review and assign timeblocks to these. You will have personal things and work things. Typically for people who work during the day your personal time will start in the AM, followed by some family time for school prep, etc, and then work time, followed by more personal time or family time.
This is where that balance is visually seen. How many hours for work are placed where in this ideal day is all up to you, but in this case you now have a visual to refer to when assessing the balance.
Pasted my current foundational schedule below. Hope it helps!
In my current role, there are true emergencies that I must respond to that relate to life safety and as a team, we are working through some major lifts and shifts to improve the organization as a whole. These push the teeter-totter down in my direction more so at times. My family understands this about my current role and how I bring in money for the family that we all use to achieve personal goals. Also, they know how much these professional challenges mean to me when it comes to goals and personal growth for me and my teammates. I am thankful for their support and love each day as I leave the ‘office’ and get hugs and happy times. In the case of the photo below, a heart-shaped doughnut on a Sunday as I was working!
The was a great doughnut and an even better memory…
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Jason A. Belt 