This post is by SmartBrief’s Liz Perman, reporting from INSEAD Women’s Leadership Conference in Fontainebleau, France, last week.
Men and women alike often struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance, and it gets even more challenging as you move higher in an organization.
Susan Rowe, principal coach & founder of Rowepryal; Evelyne Sevin, partner at Egon Zehnder International; Jane French, head of strategy and product development at Citi; Greg Ellison, managing director at Barclays Wealth; and Anat Bar-Gera, chairperson at 4G Africa, all shared their advice on balancing a demanding career with raising a family. Among the common threads in their panel discussion:
- First and foremost, love what you do. Make sure you’re passionate about your job, otherwise it’s impossible to do your best work, let alone balance it with family obligations, social engagements and hobbies.
- Don’t let life happen to you — make choices. Some people have more energy than others. Know your limits and schedule your time accordingly. Learn to outsource whatever you don’t like to do. Don’t enjoy cleaning the house? Then pay someone to do it for you. If you don’t have time to bake a homemade cake for your child’s bake sale, bring in a store-bought one.
- Don’t feel guilty about making time for your family. Both work and family are important, and there will be times when you need to prioritize one over the other. This is normal over the course of a career and if you choose your workplace with care, your employer will respect your choices.
- Don’t neglect yourself. The soft issues — such as workplace culture — really do matter. You won’t be able to do your best work if your values don’t align with those of your work environment. If you’re passed over for a promotion because you’re pregnant, it’s probably time to consider a change in company, or forge out on your own. If you need to fit in a daily jog to maintain equilibrium, set aside the time and don’t apologize for it
- Choose your husband, wife or partner carefully. Once you’re married, you’re an ecosystem doing the work-life dance together.
- Recalibrate daily. You might not feel like you’re maintaining a work-life balance every single day. Take time to reflect and change your plan for the following day accordingly
- Finally, keep learning and have fun.
What work-life balance advice do you have to offer?
Image via iStockPhoto
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Thanks for the post – 'make choices' was my favorite. We make time for what's important, and there's everything right with putting off or delegating what we consider less important. I find that saying, 'I don't make time' instead of 'I don't have time' helps. It makes me feel like I'm more in control and that I happen to my life, instead of the other way around.
Thanks for the good post!
It is important to priortize work and set clear expectations from oneself, subordinate, peer and even boss!
Many people come with urgency towards the end of the day – but it is important to validate the situation. Most (so called) urgencies can wait till the next working day.
Most importantly – "Family comes first" – If one dies today, company will hire a replacement very soon. But the void created in family – partner, children, parents, siblings – will be impossible to fill …
Thanks! This is a great reminder and is also what I am trying to do all the time. I am starting to take more control of my time and not let life and work run me. Everyone's priorities vary depending on what stage you are in life. In order to properly balance work-life, you should always carve out a time for yourself to regularly evaluate your priorities in life.
I love these reminders: make choices (we do get to choose!), don't apologize and recalibrate daily (not annually). All of this impacts who we are being which directly impacts performance, productivity, corporate culture, parenting and profits.
This post confirms much of the experience many of us have had. Don’t let life happen to you — make choices reminds me of the Principle of Displacement: which means everything you do rules out something else that you won’t do. Be clear on what you will do and what will have to drop so it can!
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[...] 7 Tips for Work-Life Balance: Good reminders of what’s important. I’m lucky to have a the best partner in life in Paul, my husband. It does make a difference. [...]
I'm happy to hear open conversation about this topic and hope more continue to recognize the importance of acting on this. It's so important that we do make the choices and in doing that, set a tone to others of what to expect – demonstrating that a job well done incorporates time outside of work to recharge and devote energy to important priorities. New technologies enable us to spend less time traveling and commuting and make it possible to be more efficient with work time. Working from home is easier than ever in industries that allow for it.
7 tips for achieving a better work-life balance…
Striking the right balance between work and family demands isn’t easy, male and female executives agreed at the Women’s Leadership Conference in France last week. But they did have some advice for making it work, such as making sure to take time for …
Thanks for this post- I know it can be challenging to "do it all" but it can be done. I think one of the best things to remember is to know what your priorities. Really think about it, write it down, make sure those are always at the top of the list, and the rest comes second. If we do that, we don't have to feel guilty and the rest will fall into place.
-Kate