The high-level executive keeps telling himself he’ll have time again soon – that it’s just a busy time, and it’ll slow down in the near future. However, he’s been telling himself that for SIX MONTHS!
A slow down just typically doesn’t happen.
How does he find a balance?
How does he reclaim his life?
THAT is something that I’m sure many of you can relate to no matter what your work is, whether in corporate, as a business owner or being a busy parent.
There are only so many hours in a day, and I’ll say again what bears repeating: You can’t manage time. You can only manage yourself.
Ask Yourself a Few Questions:
Who do you want to be?
If you’re suffering now, that’s not who you want to be. Think about how you want to live, and how you want to behave daily (i.e., I want to be a present parent instead of being a distracted one. I want to be a boss that trusts vs. micro-managing).
What has to happen for you to be that person?
Write down a truthful answer whether you can accomplish those changes or not.
How do you betray yourself now?
Take a close look at how you behave differently from what you’d like to have happen. Yes, those are betrayals of yourself!
Take on a Few Tasks:
Examine your rules.
They’re meant to be broken if they cause you to suffer. Sometimes it’s you who puts limits or unreasonable standards in place that throw your work and life out of whack.
Write down what only you can do.
I can bet that there are items on your calendar and your to-do list(s) that could be done by somebody else if you let go of the reins a bit. Examine your calendar and your activities and determine if you truly need to be there or be the one doing them.
Hire!
Take some things off your plate by hiring them out (don’t be stingy with yourself; you can do it!) Corporately, look at it honestly as you budget for next year and see if there is room for a hire, a chief of staff, or a second assistant. Also notice if you don’t trust certain current team members to be able to take on some of the things you shouldn’t be doing if additional training or a change in staffing is required.
Consider:
Some things you can’t change. If you work in a toxic work environment, you may not have the power to change it. You must consider your options.
I was once hired by a large pharmaceutical company to run a work-life balance training for their sales force. I asked to survey the team first to get a sense of what the issues were with work and life integration.
The survey showed me that this company truly did not walk their talk. They wanted to provide a session to improve their teams’ lives, but they didn’t truly, in practice, believe in it. I refused the job after I did the survey and told them why.
They came back a week later and asked me to work with their leadership team on this initiative because it had to come from the top down to change the culture, which I did.
If your company doesn’t really have policies that allow you to have a decent quality of life outside of work, you have to consider leaving.
There will never be a perfect “balance.” It just doesn’t exist. Something will always tilt the pendulum in the opposite direction, but it IS possible to find a new balance – an integration – where you have less stress and are living in a way that makes you like your work. Heck, maybe even love it!
We’re here to help…
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