Creating A Balance Between Your Work and Your Life
What are the trends? What can we do to achieve a better work/life balance for ourselves, our teams and our organizations?
By Doug Heidebrecht
A recently published “Stats Can” study revealed that we’re working half an hour more each day than we were 20 years ago. Ouch. Yes, there’s been talk about work/life balance, flex-time, hobbies and job sharing but obviously, the situation doesn’t seem to be improving. Is there any hope? Is there anything we can do to create a better work/life balance?
Yes, there’s lots we can do and thankfully the corporate world is taking the issue very seriously. Here’s what’s driving the change:
Changing demographics
As baby boomers retire there will be a reduction in skilled labour by 19% (IBM/ABC study). Interestingly, “new hires” or “generation Y”, value freedom and don’t want to work the same hours as their parents. Younger managers and employers value balance on a personal level. They’re involved with raising their children and usually have working spouses, so they genuinely care about work/life balance.
Corporations are becoming “motivated employers” and they understand that offering a decent work/life balance plays a huge role in attracting and keeping good people.
The changing workplace
Today’s workplace is less physical and more thoughtful requiring information and creativity, hence the term “knowledge worker”. But, as we all know, our brains have their limits.
A happy employee is a more productive employee. We’ve known this for a while, but the evidence is gaining critical mass and becoming irrefutable. And, with people like Richard Branson and Lee Iaccoca arguing the case for balance, people are listening.
Here are some things that employers, team leaders and individuals can do to help create a better work/life balance:
For employers and team leaders
• Wake up. Your job as a leader is to create an environment that will attract and keep good people.
• Observe. Be on the lookout. Does anything need to change?
• Lead by example. Don’t talk about balance, demonstrate balance.
• Promote a crazy idea called “lunch”. Encourage people to take 30-60 minutes of non-work time for lunch.
• Make sure people take vacations – without email or phone messages. Forward planning and cross training enable vacations and are valuable business exercises.
• Develop a “no internal email” policy between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
• Eliminate out of town business meetings on Mondays and Fridays so that travel doesn’t eat into the weekend.
• Encourage flex time. Allow a reasonable amount of flexibility in scheduling and use the motto, “as long as we produce the desired result”. A recent flex time program at Best Buy saw productivity increase by 35%.
• Incorporate “me-time” goals into your evaluations or business goals. Follow-up, for example, “Joanne, you wanted to read two books; how did it go?” This is not a “normal” business practice but it should be.
For individuals
• Take the initiative. Most companies won’t force you to leave on time or take a proper lunch break so it’s up to you. Know your limit and understand that you need balance.
• Get over the guilt. You owe it to yourself, your career and employer to do what it takes (i.e. balance) to stay recharged, engaged and energized.
• Find things you really love to do. If “you” and balance is on the back burner, it’s time to find a passion and figure out what you really want to be doing.
• Plan balancing activities. Schedule time for the driving range, family, friends, hobbies, etc. Or, schedule “nothing time” when you can be spontaneous. Make “me time” impossible to back out of much like you’d do with an important meeting.
• Draw a line – simply be more conscious and intentional about how much you intend to work.
• Stay on top of your key priorities. Raise the bar in how you manage your workload, stay focused and reduce relatively unimportant tangents.
• Disconnect. Limit your access to work email and calls during non-work hours.
Work/life balance is not the “flavour of the month” among business strategies. As individuals, team leaders and employers we need to take responsibility and act to create a better work/life balance.
Doug Heidebrecht is a facilitator who specializes in workload management learning and work/life balance. He can be reached at 416.762.9472 or via www.managingme.com
2600 John Street, Unit 207, Markham, ON L3R 3W3 T: 905.475.5222 F: 905.475.6369
