How to Keep Work-Life Integration in Perspective
Realize, at the end of the day, we are all part of the human race. We are simply trying to ‘be valued, validated’ and provide for ourselves and our families. We are trying to sense a ‘higher purpose’ in all that we do. We are all trying to discover that when all is said and done, that there is much more to life than our 8-5 job! We all want that sense of purpose. And when you focus on doing what you need to do to ‘take care of yourself’ and ‘take care of others,’ you will attain that sense of purpose!! Excerpt from Rubi Ho’s Next Book on Leadership I’m having a ‘semi-stay-cation’ as I write this article.I have two sisters, a brother in law and my nephew all visiting from out of town.As an organizational leadership consultant however my work doesn’t just stop. I wake up in the wee hours of the morning, while everyone else is still asleep, to address any urgent items and needs of my clients.At the same time, I’m also staying up til the wee hours of the night playing ‘host’ to my family.Does this situation sound familiar to anyone else?Welcome to the ‘spinning wheel of work and life!’ Simply put, while we are part of this world, we have to work and live.But often times, it can get out of whack.Take an extended vacation, and you might run the risk of thinking, ‘I don’t want to come back to work!’Conversely, don’t take a vacation and you might never think about taking a vacation, ever!It’s such a delicate balance isn’t it? Here’s some solid ways to keep a healthy perspective First, stop fooling yourself. There’s NO such thing as ‘Life Balance’ while you are part of the ‘Work Force.’ Fighting this fact will leave you more frustrated and ‘kicking other people’s cats’ if you are not careful. For the better part of your life, you will be WORKING more than you are at home! Until World War II, that statement was primarily only for men, but not anymore. That statement is true for both men AND women. In fact, women make up at least 50% of the workforce today up from only 32% since WW II. Just look at this infographic from Mark DeWolf, Economist Department of Women’s Bureau. |
| The sooner you can embrace the fact that you will be MORE at work than at home, the sooner you will be more intentional when you are at home and NOT at work! Here’s the bottom line: There is a feeling of ‘ongoing guilt’ that lies within all of us when we feel our ‘home life’ slipping away because we are at work so much. Maybe I’m the only one feeling this way but I’m willing to bet I’m not. You can blame society and media for this if you want to point the finger at something but regardless, that ‘guilt’ feeling can eat away at you if you are not careful. So instead of ‘feeling guilty’ about working so much, how about embracing more what you can do about it? For Starters, Here’s Some Ways to Achieve ‘Life Integration INTO your Work’ So you can release your guilt! 1. Have a Family Meeting and Set Expectations around your work: You might think I’m crazy here but I’m not kidding! Every Sunday, my wife and I sit down with our family and share our week’s schedule. We divide and conquer and determine who needs to ‘do what and be where.’ But that’s NOT all we talk about. We also talk about what, OUTSIDE of work we would like to do during the week. It’s important for our son that we take time to do and talk about this. It’s also important to us. 2. Intentionally set time during your work day to check in on your family. Now more than ever, instant messaging is easy. But how easy is it for us to lose sight of our family when we are caught up in work? Very easy. No matter, set a ‘ping’ up in your phone to check in with your family at least once throughout the day. It will help you keep perspective and in contact with the ones you love. 3. Work some, all of the time, yes, even on vacation. There will be people who disagree with me on this one but I’ve seen too many people come back from vacation or even a Sunday, and walk into a ‘storm’ they weren’t prepared for, obliterating their ‘peaceful and joyful’ state. Before they know it, they are stressed ten-fold more than they were when they left on vacation! There is a reason why MOST heart attacks happen on Mondays! Working ‘some,’ all of the time, will keep your ‘work muscle’ healthy and prevent you, literally, from exploding your blood vessels! It will also allow you to be actually MORE present with your family while you are on vacation or spending the weekend with them. I purposefully get up at least 2 hours before my wife gets up on the weekends and on vacation so I can get my ‘work fix’ in, leaving the rest of our day to enjoy together. 4. Keep to your after work commitments with your family. Your family will only have a few hours in the week to be with you. You must be intentional about being FULLY present with them with the few hours that you have! I can’t tell the number of ‘work parents’ I am around who do not know how to be fully present with their family, even after work. If you’d like to learn more about The Rubi Ho Group and SAOL Coaching and Consulting, we invite you to poke around our website. |
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