Creating a Work - Life Balance

1 

I had a conversation with a friend from California the other day about her immensely stressful career and then I asked her, well what do you do to create balance? She followed up with well nothing, I mean I haven't taken up a hobby since I was a kid! I'm sure many of us can find ourselves in the same situation, our days being consumed by trying to climb up the ladder at work however I think it's extremely important knowing when to draw the boundary between excelling in the workplace and making time for everything else that matters.

This still isn't always easy for me. There are days when I'm leaving work and its 7p.m....yes 7p.m. on a Wednesday!! I mean how the heck am I supposed to take the train home for 45min., go to the gym, make dinner, and watch The Mindy Project on time? So what I've found to creating a realistic work-life balance is creating  boundaries so work doesn't consume your life. 

2

Here are some suggestions that I have found to work for me:

1. Create a Cut Off Time: As a teacher I can literally take my work home with me, read, and research until the cows come home, we can all do that, however that kind of work-aholic-ethic doesn't promote a  balanced lifestyle. So I decided that at 5:30p.m. I'd tear myself away from my work and leave. I also made a rule to not answer emails after 7p.m. Setting a cut off time establishes limits for yourself as well as teaches others how to treat you. I even recently read in a recent O Magazine interview that the COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandburg and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead leaves work at 5:30p.m. so she can spend time with her kids and husband, no ifs ands or buts about it. Women everywhere applauded her for standing behind her belief of having a work-life balance publicly. So much so that she received many flowers from complete strangers! 

2. Commit to a Hobby: For me nothing ensures I follow a more balanced schedule than having to take out my wallet and pay for a 10 week Italian course or figure skating course (btw next up is hip-hop dance classes!) So if it means forcing myself to make time for other things outside of work by having to shell out money then that's what I do to stay accountable to a healthier lifestyle as well as nurture my passions. 

3. Schedule Time for the Craziness: As important as it is to leave work at a decent time it's also unrealistic, especially starting out, in a career to expect to have the perfect 9-5 schedule and work free weekends. So I decide to stay late 1 day of the work week and commit to spending only 2-3 hours doing work on Saturday. Being realistic about the amount of work I have yet again setting boundaries helps me stay on track. 

4. Set-Up Reminders!: If you'd take a peek into my iphone calendar you'd probably laugh. I set up reminders for EVERYTHING I even put in reminders to remind me to text someone back! With so much going on, it's easy to forget the things I need to stay on top of like preparing my lunch for the next day or taking my vitamins or calling my Mami to wish her happy birthday (sorry for the midnight call Ma!) so setting alarms or keeping a sane to-do list will help with the balance. 

5. Set up Goals: Last June after I became single and was figuring out what I wanted to devote my time to outside of work, I decided I wanted to run a 5k, so I downloaded the Couch to 5k app and I began training for the race multiple times a week. Having specific goals helps me stay on track and is very rewarding when said task is complete. 

I hope these suggestions help. I just think it's important to try and fill your life with all the things that make you happy. When I look back at my life I want to have many career goals marked off my list but I also want to have many memories of time spent with friends, running many more 5ks...maybe even a half marathon?!, traveling, knitting, etc. Below are some links to some very interesting articles that I found very helpful.

* O Magazine's 6 Strategies for creating work-life balance 

* A Cup of Jo shares the stories of 15 working moms share their work - life balance endeavors 

*A great Forbes article about the alternative to balance... momentum!