Work Life Balance
24 August 08 - 15:52
Time for another amateur post. With a bit of luck and effort you should all see a gradual improvement in my writing style, so stick with me.Work life balance. Is it a reality, a myth or simply not understood?
My employer has always made a pretty big deal about selling the idea of work life balance, and as someone who wanted to achieve a workable balance between my work and quality time with my family this suited me fine. I am sure also, that my peers have always understood work life balance to be about time. Is this how employers see it? Is a work life balance even possible?
This is a subject that since becoming a front line manager has plagued me constantly. Is it possible to give my employer value for the extra dollars in my pay cheque, meet deadlines and stakeholder expectations and also give my wife and kids the time and attention that they deserve?
I was recently beginning to see the glimmerings of a possible answer when I came across a blog post by Nina Simosko over at Slow Leadership. (http://www.slowleadership.org/blog/2008/08/the-misnomer-called-work-life-balance/) Nina took all of my questions and wrapped them up in the perfect manner by moving away from 'work life balance' and discussing the issue in terms of outcomes. More specifically Nina talks of managing those outcomes that you wish to achieve.
So lets look at some examples as they apply to me personally.
1. Time for the family every day is a prime outcome for me.
The way that I ensure this outcome is by leaving work at 4pm every afternoon, which in itself is an outcome to be managed. The way that I do this is by arriving at the office on or just after 7am every morning. I then get to go home, spend time with my family, eat dinner with them, coach my son's soccer team and see my younger kids to bed. If I have pressing deadlines I then log in to work remotely and put in a few more hours, but I have spent that daily time with my family. Outcome managed!
2. I wanted to spend a whole two day weekend relaxing recently.
I guaranteed that I could free my mind from work concerns for the two days by working on several projects till 1am Saturday morning. It was a long haul but I got my two days, saw some old friends, spent time with my wife and even used the extra work time on Friday night to listen to my favourite music while I worked since I was at home. I also made some positive headway on some work tasks that I had struggled with. Outcome managed!
3. I want a better lifestyle for my children than what my wife and I experienced as children.
I still dont get the full amount of time that I would like with my family but taking promotions, putting in the extra time and earning those extra dollars ensures that there are resources for my kids to live, learn, develop and socialise in ways that I have always wanted for them. Outcome managed!
There are many other great examples of managing outcomes such as going the extra yards to get a late sleep in one morning, or to go see your dentist during the day or just deciding you need a break. Many variations on the theme and ultimately all possible to manage with the right approach to your work life and the right approach to communicating with those you report to at work.
So, don't think of work life balance as simply a way of balancing time between work and home, but as a way of examining and managing all of your desired outcomes holistically. Maybe the way forward will become clearer and your stress levels will be a little lower.
The next outcome is to find both time and energy resources to learn to play guitar. Who knows, maybe I will manage it.
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