Winning at Work/Life Balance

Work/Life Balance is still an issue in the work place.

It is still one of the top two reasons why highly successful employees will end up leaving their job. (the other being $)

How does one help manage their workload which seems to be so off kilter for many?

One consistent quality that the most balanced candidates possess, is one that was often preached in the 1980’s.

Time Management

Not enough people execute time management tactics or execute them to the full extent.

Many people from the younger generations have never even been taught formal time management skills.

There is an overused expression of “work smarter instead of work longer.”

This useless expression does not even resonate with people as they do not know how to define “work smarter”.

For more guidance, one should use the philosophy that is used by the military as well as some of the most efficiently run organizations.

“Plan your Work, then Work Your Plan”

This means fully embracing your Outlook calendar or calendar application, using daily to-do lists and winning back control in one’s life.

Be ruthless with your daily minutes.

Deciding that the ten minutes before your next meeting is too short to accomplish anything significant is incorrect logic.

Daily checklists of to-do’s both big and small will allow you to complete small tasks in those minutes which in turn allows you to check things off your list which creates a sense of accomplishment, sets the pace for the day, and continues momentum.

Other longer periods of time can be used to start tackling larger projects.

Dedicating allocated time blocks at the start of a day will allow one to focus 100% of their time on those key projects.

Don’t be disturbed by ringing telephones or arriving emails that occur during dedicated work sessions.

Steven Covey called these disturbances a low priority (3) out of 4 priorities in terms of time management.

Stick to the key areas of focus and schedule specific time during the day for returning emails and calls.

Unless you are working in a call centre or working as an air traffic controller, feeling the need to return emails and telephone calls as they arrive will not assist with work load management or work/life balance.

It does not qualify as “working smart”, it kills momentum and increases the anxiety levels about priority work that is not being moved forward.

Farewell,

Mike