Balancing your work life and your home life can be a challenge sometimes. But does balance always have to mean 50:50?
How do you measure "work" and "life" balance?
Some people are willing to pay the price of career success - whatever that means to each individual - by putting in the hours.
They may not seem to have the balance to you, but that is the price they are willing to pay.
To accuse your boss of not providing you a work and life balance is highly unfair. Bosses are not here to provide a balance. For one simple reason: bosses do not know what your balance is, and your balance may not be the same as the other colleagues in your department.
Imagine the laziest colleague you know at work. Now imagine, what would work and life balance be for him/her?
So, what does it mean? Your boss has to customize a balance for everyone?
Don’t get me wrong. Do I believe in work-life balance? Of course I do. I know my balance. I know when I tip to spending more time at work and what are the hours I would like to spend with my family.
But that’s me. Not you. What is balance to you may be different from everyone else.
If you feel you are overworked for long periods of time, quit. But don’t blame your boss for the lack of work-life balance. In the corporate world, the first priority of the boss is to deliver profit to the shareholders.
If you decide to talk about this balance, you must know what your ratio is. Find work that fits that ratio.
If you're not willing to sacrifice your weekends for your company, and you know only the people who spend their weekends at work get promoted, perhaps you should think again about your future there.
Let’s face it – work-life balance is an on going challenge because the nature of your job changes and the nature of your personal life changes as well.
So, you need to constantly adjust it. Instead of blaming the nature of your work and your boss, or the company’s culture, I feel it is better to manage your own time and expectations.
Meaning, keeping track of how you spend your time. If you like to procrastinate and get distracted at work, perhaps your long hours are due to your bad habits?
Review what are your priorities and your work habits. Of course, your company’s work culture is important too. But I would start with you. Review your own work ethics if you are looking at a ratio of work-life balance that suits you.
Once you have done that you can see if your company’s work culture and your workload and assignments fit with your expectations. Then do the hard decisions if both do not meet.
When you talk about work-life balance, do you really know your own ratio that you would like to live with? What's the price you are willing to pay and the effort you are willing to put in?
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Everyone has heard of New Year's resolutions. You know, those promises we make to ourselves about things we'll do better in the year ahead. Sometimes these resolutions work, while other times we end up with gym memberships we never use! But have you ever heard of a career resolution? It's actually the same thing as a New Year's resolution, only career-focused.
However, with something as important as a career, you don't want to break these resolutions. That's why it's important to keep these goals manageable.
Here are four simple career resolutions that are easy to stick to and achieve.
Be Self-Aware Of Where You Stand In Your Career
BigstockBeing honest and self-aware of where you are in your career is the most important step in making strong career resolutions. If your career is going nowhere and you're unhappy, then it may be time to consider a career change, which will take you down a different path entirely.
But if you're happy and in good standing with your career, it's a lot easier to set goals for the year and build out a long-term career plan.
Find A Way To Grow Your Career
BigstockCareer growth is a very broad spectrum that means something different to everyone. It could be something as simple as improving on a weakness or building on a strength. It could also be learning a new skill or taking on additional responsibilities at work.
On a larger level, it could be seeking a promotion or moving into a leadership role.
Whatever the goal is, make sure it includes growing professionally. The worst thing you can do is stay the same! If you're not growing your career, you're dying—and becoming a lot less valuable to your employer. There are always ways to upskill!
Better Serve Your Professional Network
With current colleagues, former colleagues, and other professional acquaintances, you've probably built a solid professional network through the years. A strong professional network can come in handy if you lose your job or are looking to make a career change. However, you shouldn't just rely on your network when you're in need!
It's important to find ways to offer value to your network. This could include checking in with members of your network from time to time. Exchange messages on LinkedIn to see how they're doing or share relevant content of interest. If you can help someone in your network going through a career challenge, you should!
Maintaining a strong professional network is like an investment. If you want it to pay off, you have to put some time into it and be consistent.
Take Care Of Yourself
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Working on your career is hard work! It's okay to be selfish sometimes. Whether you're working to grow your career or looking for a new job, it's important to find balance.
Your family and health always come first, so make sure your career goals don't interfere with that. If you want to set aside time during the week to work on your career that's fine, but don't miss important family events or milestones.
Don't let your career goals get in the way of your health goals. Go to the gym, take a walk, or go for a jog. Balance is key to maintaining healthy career and life goals. Sometimes you just need to adjust that balance as you go.
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Become a member to learn how to UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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