The Accountant Nov-Dec 2016

WORK PLACE
2) You are present fully when needed; If
you learn the art of balancing your work
and personal life, you learn how to pay
attention where due and at the needed
time. This definitely makes you more
effective and efficient at what you do. If
you leave work at your work place, you pay
more attention to your children and spouse
and can give them the attention they need.
3) Less vulnerability to burnouts; having
a healthy work life balance allows you to
separate work and personal life and prevent
work stresses from affecting your life away
from work and vice versa. It prevents you
from feeling overly overwhelmed and
unable to meet constant demands.
How do you lead a quality productive
life both at work, home and personal life?
Here are some things you can do to ease up
the work life conflict and make life more
interesting and productive.
1) Define and understand
what work-life balance
means for you.
This will include taking an over whole
look at your current and future priorities,
Realize that having a career is not
necessarily having a life and prioritizing
tasks and events both at work and at
home. If you are married, discuss with your
partner if you would want to have children
and agree on whether one of you will focus
your time on the family as the other works
and provides or if you will share both
responsibilities. If not yet married, then
you will need to decide if you want to have
a family or exclusively build on your career.
This will help you know how to balance
and what you consider important at what
time. It will also save you from spending
so much time on things that don’t really
matter.
2) Set boundaries and respect
them
Creating realistic boundaries between
work and non-work items
If you set aside the weekends as family
time, respect that and put work aside. Even
if your work is demanding, remember your
family is just as important if not more
important. Put away your laptop, phone
or anything that will distract you. If you
respect your boundaries, eventually your
colleagues and employer will respect them
too.
3) Learn to say NO
For most people saying No to an additional
We need to do a
better job of putting
ourselves higher on
our own ‘to do’ list.”
- First Lady Michelle
Obama
responsibility is hard, but it’s better than to
take it up and not deliver. Be it at work,
church, estate or where your children
school, it is very o.k to say No if you feel
overwhelmed. Remember you are human
and you can’t devote 100% to everything
you do. Stop feeling guilty if you miss a
friends birthday party!
4) Get a mentor
A mentor will tell you what worked
and what didn’t for them helping you in
deciding what path to take especially for
your career. They will hold your hand and
enlighten you on issues to do with your
profession and sometimes even nature you
in your family and personal life.
5) Take some time off, learn to
breathe
Whether you will go for a vacation or just
take a day or a few hours to have your
alone time, you need to recharge. This will
help you put things into perspective and
will also help you think with more clearly.
Time out will improve your emotional
intelligence and you will be able to look
at issues more analytically and rationally.
“Women in particular need to keep an
eye on their physical and mental health,
because if we’re scurrying to and from
appointments and errands, we don’t have
a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We
need to do a better job of putting ourselves
higher on our own ‘to do’ list.” - First Lady
6) Create and stick to a daily
routine
Creating and implementing a clear daily
routine will help you keep track of your
time and achieve the much needed balance.
Developing strong habits like exercising
every morning before work, getting at
least 6 hours of sleep daily, not checking
your emails past 7pm, eating right and not
skipping meals will make you healthier,
happier and more productive.
7) Get feedback from family
and friends
Ask your family and friends if they feel
you dedicate more time and energy to
work than to your personal life and family.
This will help you evaluate and correct
yourself accordingly to strike that blend.
Priorities change from time to time
depending on what stage of life you are in.
As a woman in your twenties and thirties,
the commitment to advance your career
and build a family is very strong. On
the other hand if you are in your fifties
and sixties, your focus may be on more
personally meaningful and purposeful
activities, which may not have been present
earlier in life. However, whatever you do to
establish your work/life balance, it is vital
to create it and keep to it.
Like Brian Dyson, former Vice
Chairman and COO of Coca-Cola said,
“Imagine life as a game in which you are
juggling some five balls in the air. You
name them — work, family, health, friends
and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in
the air. You will soon understand that work
is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce
back. But the other four balls — family,
health, friends, and spirit — are made of
glass. If you drop one of these, they will
be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked,
damaged, or even shattered. They will
never be the same. You must understand
that and strive for balance in your life.”
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016 49