Written by: Ivonne Zucco, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Bal·ance (noun)
A state in which different things occur in equal or proper amounts or have an equal or proper amount of importance.
About two years ago, a speaker at a training introduced me to the idea that attempting to separate work from life, as in "work-life balance," was unreasonable. I agree; work is part of life. At a minimum, we spend about a third of our lives working and, if we have healthy habits, a third sleeping. This idea of work-life balance then leaves us with the notion that labor takes away from "life" and makes us judge ourselves when more of our life "time" is consumed by paid work.
Conversely, the saying "if you do what you love, you will not work a day in your life" also sets false expectations. Most jobs are profit and results-driven endeavors. Because of its transactional nature, it is unavoidable to feel apprehension, even when we are passionate about what we do. If you were to, for example, volunteer the same work you do, most of the stress would probably go away because the financial and formal evaluation of your performance would be gone.
Additionally, maintaining good time management habits is even more challenging with the pandemic and remote work becoming the norm. Tending to your children, picking up dry cleaning, and filling your car's tank is no longer limited to after work hours or weekends. In the same manner, work time spills into your evenings, making it feel like it never stops.
Unfortunately, since we humans are wired to be social creatures, our jobs' perceived internal and external pressures feel stressful. This is because the neurons that feed our need for approval and belonging are linked to our pain systems. Setting boundaries is easy — maintaining them is difficult. To beat this instinct, self-regulation and pursuing internal clarity are essential.
Here are a few guidelines you can follow to try to build a routine that allows you for enough play, relax and recharge time without the thought of work following you everywhere you go:
1. Try to wake up every day around the same time and set a morning routine that allows your brain to awaken gently. For example, you can take time in the morning to center by exercising, drinking your tea or coffee in a quiet space, or doing a chore that takes you away from thinking about the long to-do list waiting for you at work. If your preference is reading the news, try to do it the old-fashioned way (paper) and stay away from screens. Checking the information on the internet can easily extend to checking your email and make you miss a precious centering time necessary to start the day right.
2. Set a time to start your workday and try to stay away from doing work before then. Also, create a ritual to begin your business day. By following the same steps every day, you will create predictability, which will help you ease into your tasks.
3. Separate time for activities that require focus in your calendar and stick to it. One trick that has worked for me is setting a twenty-five-minute timer while I do thoughtful work. Twenty-five minutes is enough time for me to concentrate but not too long to feel bored. During that time, I do not allow myself to check any forms of communication and then concede to a bit of distraction time. I often find that I rarely need a break once I am deep in the work.
4. Separate two or three blocks of time during the day to respond to emails and resist the urge to look in between those times. Also, practice answering only those messages that require your input and avoid "replying to all" as much as possible. Use the like button or other features to acknowledge the receipt of emails. Unsubscribe from the list and emails that do no longer make sense for you to receive. Use codes like FYI, Action Required, High Priority, etc., on emails subjects to assign importance.
5. To manage external expectations, be sure that you are clear and consistent about your available times for work-related requests. Use all the tools that technology provides: Automatic replies, email signature, voicemail greetings (office and cell phones), and be consistent with it. Most people will be ok with the fact that you are out, but they need to know what to expect from you. Try to eliminate the sound alerts and applications on your phone that are distracting when you are relaxing.
6. Decide a way you will communicate with your team and with those you are serving. For example, you can set up guidelines like: for feedback required within two business days, use email, for feedback needed during the workday use our teams chat, for answers within two hours use text, and for matters that require a response right away call me.
7. Divide your never-ending to-do list into micro and macro lists. Macro is the project you need to complete; micro are the steps that will take you to get there. By subdividing your macro list into the micro list, projects won't seem so overwhelming, and you will get a sense of completion once you check off items out of your micro list. It is essential to decide what are the three top things you can do today.
8. Allow a 15-30 min buffer between meetings to write your notes and get your follow-up started.
9. Decide in advance what time you will end working, and have an end of the workday routine. Reviewing your to-do list is an excellent way to end your day. You will feel prepared for the next day and disconnect knowing that things are more or less under control.
10. If you are a manager, show by example. Do not contact your team after work hours or on weekends. Most email systems now have a feature to schedule emails to be sent at a later time.
As I mentioned in my previous article on burnout, the pandemic has caused many to reconsider the value of work as we knew it. Industries are suffering the consequences of people understanding that they cannot blindly comply with the demands imposed by our old way of working. I think that eventually, things will settle down, but will we be better off when this happens? I believe that we could be as long as we learn to balance the emotional toll our job has on us, so it does not interfere with rest and recovery time.
Ivonne Zucco, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
As the Founder and CEO of A Better Story Coaching, Ivonne's mission is to work with individuals searching for fulfillment and balance in their careers and with companies working towards intentional culture change. We are currently experiencing a significant shift in humanity. Because of the worldwide health crisis, individuals have learned that there is much more to life than working 12 hours a day. For so long, we believed that the only way to be happy was to follow the old script of working hard to obtain financial security and sacrifice our health and relationships to buy things to make us happy. Today people are learning that:
Life balance is more important than wealth.
Creating memories is more important than obtaining accolades
Financial security does not mean more money; we can live with less
Finding meaning in what we do is the only real fuel to living a successful life
Ivonne works with those looking for clarity and purpose using a pragmatic approach to help them advance from where they are to where they want to be. Bilingual-bicultural (Spanish-Latino).
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