Comments on: Fourteen Techniques for Improving Your Work-Life Balance

By: DJ

DJ — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:34:46 +0000

The last few suggestions are good. However, the first part may be OK for office workers that have flexibility in what they do. However, most workers don’t have those options. When to work, what to do, when to take a break, and when to leave are normally scheduled and required. In fact changing the routine or leaving early could easily cost you your job. My guess is that the majority of workers are not even in an office setting. Other industries have vastly different work environments, tasks and expectations. I guess it’s natural to assume that your own work environement is similar to others. For office workers that have some say in their work flow these are good points. But, I’d like to see some more universal suggestions that could apply to other work – life situations.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:56:41 +0000

Thanks for letting me know that I’m not the only one guilty of Surfing at work. Try as I might, I still let myself get distracted. Good advice, hiding the shortcut.

Exercise is a great stress killer. I pedal to work (16 miles each way), but have a suggestion to those who debate that. Bring the bike to in the morning, ride home-leaving the car at work, get a good nights sleep, then ride back. This way, its not too strenuous at first. Check with the Boss-man- you’ll probably find it is OK to leave the car.

An excellent column.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:45:43 +0000

Those are good suggestions. I’d never thought of installing a filter to block distraction sites, though. I have on occasion deleted all shortcuts to my browser, but I need the Internet for too many valid work tasks for that to last long.

I liked your item “Leave Work Early.” However, I doubt that those who are working for an employer can do that. Hourly workers can’t. And most salaried employees are required to “charge” their time to some project (whether or not a client is billed for it). And, in many office cultures, leaving early looks bad.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:48:54 +0000

not exactly a frugal choice, but I have to recommend a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones for those in loud environments. I work in a very chaotic environment, and when I need to concentrate I slip them on and go to work.

Great list. Also have to second those “don’t forget to exersice” suggestions.

By: Chad A. Moore

Chad A. Moore — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:33:42 +0000

This is a great blog entry! Even a job that you love requires work-life balance. I think these suggestions are “on the money!”

By: Carrie

Carrie — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:34:28 +0000

Any tips on how to deal with an environment where your performance is directly related to the number of hours you work (like a law firm, where the emphasis is on billable hours)? I used to work in one, and spending any time on non-billable activities (like exercise and relationships) was frowned upon. I dealt with it by leaving, but are there any less-drastic measures for the ones still stuck there?

By: cynthia

cynthia — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:38:45 +0000

Thanks for the great post. Your list of suggestions is really helpful. I also like the suggestion of focusing on one thing at at time.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:29:26 +0000

One of the commenters mentioned it – get some exercise should be on the list. It doesn’t have to be a big workout at a gym but getting some physical activity is important.

Otherwise this is a great list.

By: Sridhar J

Sridhar J — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:25:26 +0000

Hi Trent

As a consultant who needs to travel constantly, I have also been struggling with maintaining a balance between my work and personal lives. I have attended a couple of seminars and read quite a few books on this. The lessons I learnt from them have been invaluable.

You have made a couple of very good points; for example, on reducing time wasted near the office water cooler.

If a person has the energy and is willing to make the commitment, David Allen’s Getting Things Done can provide a valuable complement to those who are trying to be better at work and home, while not compromising on either. The key is to have the discipline to practice them consistently.

I have written a series of blog posts, where I discuss my experiences and share some tips, which may be interesting to your readers. This is at
http://lifesays.com/?p=6

By: Favorite Nephew

Favorite Nephew — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:06:00 +0000

Great advice, especially about documenting the tasks you accomplish. More than anything else, this has helped me stay successful in my job. To Trent’s advice, I would also add to document your work visually, if you can. Take photos of what you’ve done and bring them to your next review. OK, now I’m closing my web browser.

By: Ryan Waggoner

Ryan Waggoner — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:00:26 +0000

These are all great suggestions…for making a job more bearable. But I think the big one that’s missing is this: find a job you *love*. Not a job you tolerate, enjoy, or like. Something that makes you come alive. Not that you still shouldn’t pursue balance, but it seems like a lot of people are thinking of balance as more of a way to manage stress of a job they hate. It doesn’t have to be that way.

“Find a job you like and you add five days to every week.”
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:16:01 +0000

I especially like “Turn off routes of communication to work when you leave.” Sometimes I continue work at home simply because somebody from office remind me of the task I’m suppose to do for the next day. For some reason, I make it a point to do it at home to get “less” work in the office, but often times, time with family is sacrificed because of this habit. What I did to get away from it? Turn my work mobile phone off! I also don’t check work-related emails.

Sam
Fix My Personal Finance
http://fixmypersonalfinance.com/

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:20:38 +0000

At the first of the year, I went on an internet “fast.” I didn’t allow myself to look at a single web page from the office for a whole month. It was dead-painful at first but I eventually broke the horrible habit of web-surfing at work. It’s made all the difference in the world. I’m able to focus on my work without the constant distraction of the-world-at-my-fingertips.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:19:38 +0000

For a while, I was working quite a way from where I lived, so I started taking the train. The best part about that was that it forced me to leave the office at a specific time. It wasn’t negotiable. The train left at a specific time and I had to be on it.

Today, I work much closer to home, but I *must* pick up the kids from daycare at 6pm, no exceptions. That forces me to be out of the office at the same time every evening.

This, in turn drives what time I need to be in the office, since I have a set time to leave. That drives what time I have to be up. This drives what time I need to be asleep by.

In the end, setting that time I must be out of the office drives so much other order in my life and makes so many other things simpler.

By: Tabs

Tabs — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:02:27 +0000

Kept a log once, saved my job, got me an apology from my overbearing supervisor, her boss and her boss’s boss. Also got me a pay raise and promotion two months later. I tell anyone that works for anyone to keep a log, especially if you are good at your job. A log also gives you a sense of accomplishment, lets you know you have done something at the end of the day.

Great post,

-Tabs

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:43:14 +0000

Many people would say this is easier said than done, but you break it up into manageable steps and just suggest to try it! Love it!

I need to take one of your steps a little further, though. I work in a cube and the distractions are incessant. I’m in a culture that expects an immediate response – closing your e-mail would be seriously frowned upon. I even have people come up to me asking if I read the e-mail they just sent two minutes ago. It’s insane. People just walk right up to my chair to ask me something, no warning, and I’m in mid-thought. My phone rings a lot and we have to pick up each other’s phones when someone isn’t there. (I’m currently trying to change this within our department, but I’m meeting some resistance.) There are some days when I feel like I get nothing done. Any suggestions?

By: Andy @ bloginyourface.com

Andy @ bloginyourface.com — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:35:36 +0000

Don’t forget to exercise.

Also, I will admit, I see a wackjob doctor (shrink) about once a month for some anxiety. Nothing big, I have always just tended to be a high-strung person. Anyway, one technique that I have been working on from those sessions is FOCUSING ON ONE THING AT A TIME. I have always been a list maker and I got nervous if I didn’t complete EVERYTHING on that list.

Lately I try to focus on only ONE thing per day. If I happen to get more done that is great, but for now I only work on ONE thing and I always have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day because it is easier to get ONE thing done than a whole front and back side of a list full of things.

By: Mindy

Mindy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:39:09 +0000

I work in an open space office. Everyone in our department has low cubicles. We have a lot of space, but things sometimes get noisy. I second the earphones suggestion. If I really need to concentrate, I plug my earphones in to my computer to listen to music on my media player. It really helps me concentrate. Others may need the kind that cancel noise.

Something else that has helped me TREMENDOUSLY is utilizing the tasks function in Outlook. I put in the timelines for each project and make the project the task. Then I set up the reminders as I need them. It helps me get everything out of my head without having to keep writing lists and wasting paper.

Using the voice mail feature also helps me a lot. It really helps to have specific times during the day when you check your voice mail and return calls. Not all people can do this, but if you can it really helps cut down on interruptions.

By: Boris

Boris — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:33:56 +0000

“Get adequate sleep.” Now there’s some sound advice I could use! Unfortunately, getting sleep is a challenge these days. Such a simple suggestion that carries so much weight. When you are younger, you are able to operate on 4-5 hours of sleep, but as you age, you really need the 7-9.

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:37:23 +0000

Great tips. I need to block the websites I’m most tempted to look at – how do I do that?