Finding Work/Life Balance When You Are The Boss
Project-management systems maker Workfront asked working women to identify the biggest obstacle in obtaining the perfect work/life balance. The leading answer from all respondents was “bad bosses.” A bad boss can certainly make life difficult for working women, especially if the chief is particularly demanding, lacking in empathy or has no interest in the long-term happiness of her employees. But what happens if you are the boss, the CEO, or the captain of your own company? How do women who have worked so hard to get to the top make sure they maintain a balanced life between their job and their personal lives?
Prioritize Your Life: If you are the boss, you’ve no doubt put business success high on your list of priorities. You’ve worked hard for your position and you should reap the benefits of your efforts. However, that doesn’t mean that your priority list cannot be edited and rearranged from time to time. Reaching the top might have topped your list in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, but things change. If you have a family, a child or a significant other, you will no doubt feel the demands that these intimate relationships make on your time. This is when, as a boss, you can take charge of yourself. Make a list of what is most important to you and begin allocating your time and energy wisely to ensure the most important things don’t get left behind.
Hire Power: As the owner and president of a successful company, I can directly attribute our success to one thing: my team. I am nothing if not for the hard work, the passion and creativity of every one of my employees. I have carefully built a core group of trusted women (and men!) who have proven their loyalty and dedication; therefore, I can often step back, get out of their way, and watch great things happen. When you hire great employees, you can delegate responsibilities, end the micromanaging and find that work/life balance that can make you successful both professionally and personally.
Flex Time: As the head of my own company, I have worked with many employees who needed flexibility in their schedules or their work location. As technology continues to impact how, where and when we work, I’ve seen that flex time and working remotely can be successful solutions to work/life balancing acts. Because of our success in these areas, I can occasionally work at home and don’t feel the pressure of being in the office full time to be a successful leader. Again, it comes back to having good employees who won’t take advantage of your physical absence. I am a text, Skype session or phone call away and I can still lead without being onsite.
Unplug to reconnect: Even if you are out of the office on personal time or on vacation, there is a real tendency to stay connected on a full-time basis—especially when you are the boss. When you’re constantly connected via instant messages, emails and phone calls, you cannot be successfully engaged with your friends and family or focus on your personal interests. When you are on personal time, I advise that you alert employees to only contact you in an emergency or set a certain time of the day to check in with the office and catch up on emails. It’s really a matter of setting boundaries (and back to that priority list!) to ensure that downtime is your time.
Meditate/exercise/diet: It may seem obvious, but you cannot possibly function as a successful leader without being in shape and in charge of your body, mind and soul. Neglecting nutrition, exercise and sleep—as well as a lack of personal joy—has taken down the mightiest of CEOs. Make sure you are not a casualty of your own hardwork. Be mindful of what your body and soul are lacking and take the time you need to hit the reset button.
Me Time: As a CEO or company president, you are juggling the needs, wants, expectations and demands of staff, clients, colleagues, a board of directors and any number of other people jockeying for your undivided attention. On the personal side, you may also be taking care of children, spouses, partners or other family members. But what about you? When was the last time you took time to read a book? When was the last time you took an extra hour to reconnect with an old friend at lunch? Because of the constant demands on both sides of your life, make sure you luxuriate in doing the things that energize, refresh and reconnect you to you.
Pamela Eyring, President, The Protocol School of Washington