Forget Balance - Create Flow
“Work-Life Balance” is that over-used expression we have learned to ignore. It may surprise you to know that it first came into use in the 1970’s[1] in response to concerns surrounding women formally joining the mostly male dominated workforce. When women began to engage in fulltime employment, the natural expectations included the intricate juggling act of “gracefully” handling a full time job and traditional female family responsibilities.
Let’s be real – “work-life balance” is actually impossible. Instead let’s strive for work-life integration. We no longer need to strive to set aside equal amounts of time and energy to our professional and personal selves. Integration means acknowledging that every week will NOT be the same. We can schedule and plan ahead AND expect to handle surprises and emergencies.
It’s our honest, committed attempt to integrate ALL the parts of our life into the fixed time we have, never expecting perfection. How you choose to spend your time and energy is dependent on what matters most to you – and even that won’t be the same 2 weeks in a row. It’s more of a “flow” than a “juggle”.
When your current professional/personal integration is simply not working for you (it typically shows up in the stress that you carry on your shoulders, desperately wanting a massage), it’s time to consider your options. And yes, you always have options.
Take Action – Investigate What’s Possible.
Does your place of work offer some type of flexible work arrangement? Is this something you can propose? A hybrid of working at home and in the office has become popular because employees and companies have greater job satisfaction and increased productivity when they don't have the burden of over-rigid hours and commuting time. A 45-minute traffic jam or train ride can be turned into focused attention to making progress on projects or taking care of something personal that you have been meaning to get to. The important thing is to use this time purposefully.
If you’re on a global team, the fluidity of time becomes crucial. Set aside time and create a structure to check in and schedule meetings. For example, define times at which you will check email if your team members or collaborator works different hours. Address only those things needing your immediate attention (this is likely not to be often) and address everything else during your business hours. Do your best to create a routine you can sustain.
Take Action – Assess What You Are Really Doing.
So many people are running on “to-do” list hamster wheels. We’re following our task list, completing the actions, crossing them off only to do them again next month. Assess how you are spending your time over a week or two. Are you confident that your time is being spent on tasks that represent what is important to you? If not, reconsider their priority and scheduling – push them off your “must do” list and onto your “will do”. Or, be bold and remove some tasks all together.
Take Action – Manage Your Most Important Client – You.
When you start your work day already tired, stressed and hungry, even if you’re at your desk on time, no one is getting the best you have to offer. Do better at identifying what YOU need to function at your best (or “best possible for this particular day”).
You may have heard or read these tips before, but this time, don’t dismiss them – take them to heart. I can hear the excuses lining up:
“Those don’t work for me” – then create strategies that hit home for you.
“I start doing that, but then others walk all over my time” – if you don’t take responsibility of owning your time, you’ll be stuck in people pleasing mode.
These are starter tips – suggestions. Implement what you can, but feel free to invent others that are more personal to you. The goal is to create a strategy that will flow into your version of a busy yet productive day:
Block time to eat nourishing food every day. Even on the busiest of days, lunch doesn’t need to be long, but do take the time to eat something that will "feed" your brain and body and step away from your desk. A crazy calendar might mean meals are taken at different times all week, but they shouldn’t get left out of your day.
Create recurring appointments for short breaks. Make words like “mid-morning walk” or “afternoon break” part of your normal vocabulary AND enter them into your calendar. Honor this time as a meeting with yourself that should be taken or strategically repositioned if the day is full of unanticipated events.
Beyond stretching, snacking, walking, use work break time to get some personal tasks done. No, not mindlessly scrolling through social channels, but real breaks and real tasks. Water the plants, return the books to the library, chat with a co-worker, or make an appointment that you have been putting off.
Replenish yourself. Drink water – we often forget to do so when we are feeling stressed and incorporate something energizing and restoring into your weekly plan.
Your best self makes everything better. Let’s be real, no one deserves to work or live alongside the stressed, exhausted and short-tempered version of you. Tuning your brain onto other things for short periods of time throughout the day helps you feel refreshed and restored. You are one person that shows up in every part of your life. Embracing strategies that allow your professional and personal life to flow throughout each day is work-life integration at it's finest.
If you’re not sure if this can work for you, why not reach out and start a discussion? I’m here to listen and congratulate you on putting yourself first.
[1] https://positivepsychology.com/what-is-work-life-balance/