Work-life balance is a tricky thing to get right. You want to put in the effort to succeed in your career, but you also need to have time to be yourself. If you’re struggling, there are plenty of successful people to look to for guidance. Use these tips to improve your work-life balance while furthering your career.
Decide What’s Important
According to EY CEO Mark Weinberger, you have to decide what’s important in both your career and your family life. You won’t always be able to do everything, so you need to put these important things first when you’re faced with a conflict.
For example, Weinberger gave a speech at a meeting in China, but instead of staying to mingle with employees, he headed back to the United States to be with his daughter for her driving test because it was more important to him.
Don’t Dread Mixing Work and Family
These days, many professionals realize mixing work and family is unavoidable. Eric Termuende, author of the book Rethink Work, has switched from the term “work-life balance” to “work-life integration” because of how ever-present work is in our lives.
Even Richard Branson, head of Virgin, isn’t afraid to combine work and his personal life. He records meetings with his family in his work diary, an approach that ensures everyone gets the attention they need.
At the end of the day, being successful in this fast-paced world often means the lines between work and family are blurred. Therefore, you can’t spend too much time worrying about finding the perfect balance. In fact, Square CFO Sarah Friar recommends rejecting guilt about situations like this.
Be Flexible
Very few successful people work steady 9-to-5 hours. Weebly CFO Kim Jabal, for example, works from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., comes home to take care of her kids, and then works three more hours at night. This gives her enough time to finish everything she needs to do in a day.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you should be a workaholic. But if your job is calling for longer hours, don’t be afraid to heed that call. The CFO of Alphabet, Ruth Porat, worked through the night several times during the 2008 financial crisis.
While these are some of the ways successful people approach work-life balance, you don’t have to follow their suggestions. Find your own path to work-life balance that works for you. What other tips do you have for better managing the stress of work and what you do outside the office?
Works Cited
Kosur, James. “17 highly successful executives explain how they balance work and life.” Business Insider. 20 Nov. 2015. https://www.businessinsider.com/executives-talk-about-work-life-balance-2015-11.
Link, Lisa. “Must Know Strategies for Achieving Work-Life Balance.” Cornerstone University. 21 Nov. 2017. https://www.cornerstone.edu/blogs/lifelong-learning-matters/post/must-know-strategies-for-achieving-work-life-balance.
