{"id":8159,"date":"2014-09-04T14:05:35","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T14:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.123print.com\/blog\/?p=8159"},"modified":"2015-07-17T18:47:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T18:47:00","slug":"create-a-better-work-life-balance-advice-from-a-former-workaholic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/create-a-better-work-life-balance-advice-from-a-former-workaholic\/","title":{"rendered":"Create a Better Work-Life Balance: Advice from a (former?) Workaholic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tip
Tip 1: Family comes first and foremost (mom and me at the hog roast)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s the right work-life balance? Guess what \u2014 there is no right answer. Everyone who is driven struggles with it \u2014 don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

Who has had their boss, significant other, close friend(s) sit you down to share their concerns that you may be burning the candle at both ends? They highly recommended that you should spend more time on X, Y and Z. (I\u2019m raising my hand as I type this.) Guilty as charged. So what do you do about it?<\/p>\n

For me, it is a good reality check to re-evaluate: how am I spending my time? It\u2019s easy to try to justify why you spend your time the way you do. Try the best you can to be objective. Hard to do, I know!<\/p>\n

Some questions to ask yourself:<\/p>\n

1. What could I be doing if I wasn\u2019t working?<\/strong> The beauty of this question is ANYTHING you want!<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Will that extra hour make or break the output?<\/strong>\u00a0An hour easily turns into an hour and a half \u2026 \u00a0two.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. What\u2019s the harm in finishing up tomorrow morning?\u00a0<\/strong>10PM and 6AM are equivalent.<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Will it serve you best to take a break and start again with fresh eyes?<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, fewer mistakes will happen.<\/em><\/p>\n

5. Does it accomplish what you sought out to do?<\/strong>\u00a0It does not need to be perfect.<\/em><\/p>\n

6. Who can help you?<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t feel you need to take everything on yourself.<\/em><\/p>\n

During my career, I have not always been conscious of how I divided my time. I have always found work as a fun challenge and have naturally gravitated to taking on more. This can be a dangerous path.<\/p>\n

Below is a pretty fair diagram that depicts how I spent my time when I was at\u00a0my worst work-life balance. I worked 60+ hours at my day job, added in a good amount of travel for work and was obtaining my MBA full time at night. I still reflect back and wonder how I was able to manage all of those at once. On the flip-side, it reminds me of how much I am able to handle if I put my mind to it.<\/p>\n

\"work-life<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never claim to have all the answers. I am still a work in progress myself. Below are my top 3 tips to create a better work-life balance:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Family comes first and foremost.<\/strong> Make time for the important things. Without work, they are what you have left. Cherish them.
\n2.<\/strong> Find an activity just for you.<\/strong> Leave the office early once a week, coordinate for the kids to be picked up \u2014 go do something you enjoy. \u2018Me\u2019 time is important.
\n3.<\/strong> Have a reoccurring friend activity.<\/strong> Go out for a drink, dinner, have a phone date, Facetime, etc. It\u2019s essential to put time into those relationships.<\/p>\n

\"TipThere is the one time a year that I am able to delineate work and life the best. The neighborhood that I grew up in hosts a neighborhood party each summer. It\u2019s a time that everyone travels back; we roast a pig, relax and enjoy each other\u2019s company. I look forward to this every year. Once Friday afternoon hits, my phone and laptop stay inside, tucked away. I am able spend quality time to catch up with my parents and visit with their neighbors and new folks that have joined the neighborhood family. After that weekend, I feel so reinvigorated and ready to take on the world again. It\u2019s a great reminder that it\u2019s OK to take a break from work \u2014 it\u2019s going to be waiting for me when I get back. Note to self: I need to find more activities like this!!<\/p>\n

How do you manage your time? Any sound advice that you have received that you can share? Do you have a relatable time of when you balance work-life the best?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s the right work-life balance? Guess what \u2014 there is no right answer. Everyone who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6,7,8,10],"tags":[1776,1033,1077,1775],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8159"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9097,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8159\/revisions\/9097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}