Lifestyle balancing
Dr. Robert M. Gresham, Contributing Editor | TLT Lubrication Fundamentals April 2016
Better management of your professional and personal lives can affirm your values while increasing your productivity.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / styf22
THE FIRST TIME I HEARD THE TERM lifestyle balancing I was on a ski trip. One of our group members, a marketing executive from a large pharmaceutical company, was talking about this new employee program for their employees. I thought, cynically, that this was just more corporate feel-good gobbly-gook.
But as I began to think about it, highly effective people do just that. First, by lifestyle balancing we primarily mean balancing work life and home life. This unfortunately requires a high level of self-discipline, but when you take a look at highly effective people, that is one trait you can readily identify with and is common to them all. They have the self-discipline to manage time effectively. This doesn’t mean coming up with some magic percentage break like 40% work, 60% home. Rather, it involves constantly analyzing the things before you and focusing your time and intellect toward that which you can manage most effectively.
Harvard Business School used to have a so-called mail box test to teach managers how to manage their time effectively (today it would be an email test, I suppose). But here’s the idea.
Suppose you just came into the office at 8 a.m. from a one-week vacation. Your boss comes in and tells you that you must give a marketing presentation to the board at 9 a.m. The phone then rings and your plant manager tells you there was a fire at the plant and one employee was killed and three badly burned. The phone rings again and your wife tells you your son just fell down the steps and broke his arm, but the ambulance is on the way—you get the idea. There are no truly right answers, but the key is to identify what you can delegate, what you can have no measurable impact on, what only you can do and so forth. Then take action.
The second key trait is much like today’s overworked term
multitasking but not necessarily simultaneously. The idea here is to try to keep your mind reasonably engaged virtually at all times. For example, while you are doing something repetitious like mowing the lawn, you can be thinking through a presentation you will have to make or resolving a family problem—not just robotically mowing in circles. While driving down the road you can be thinking about resolving a tough customer problem or a problem your son is having at school—not listening to talk radio or music. Some people talk about doing their best thinking while in the shower—that’s another good example.
Companies can do a lot to make this easy for their employees. For example, they can make it easier for employees to come in on nights and weekends when there is a need. With my son in tow, I used to go to the office on many Saturday mornings while on the way to the hardware store or somewhere else. He got to see what life was like on the job. Sometimes he brought his homework if I knew I was going to stay for a while. And we got to spend time together. On the other hand, if he had a soccer game or some other activity important to him, I wouldn’t hesitate to leave the office a little early to watch him play.
At halftime during my son’s games, while going to get a hot dog and drink, I might be thinking about work. Once this becomes a habit, you almost aren’t aware you are doing it. But a word of caution: I don’t mean to condone those obnoxious people loudly babbling on their phones in inappropriate places. Nor do I mean constantly texting people at work while I’m supposed to be watching my son play soccer. The point also is when you are doing something, concentrate on that, but when there is downtime, don’t waste that time. The other key here is that all this must be in an appropriate balance.
Additionally many companies have jogging trails and exercise rooms so employees can manage their time as well as their fitness while at work—it also helps to build relationships with other employees, something harder to do with so much digital communication and people working from their homes. Further, I had a friend whose wife had serious back surgery and needed him to help with her recovery. He was able to set up a special secure computer system so he could work from home yet manage his lab work with his technicians and coworkers. This was years before working from home had become commonplace.
So why is lifestyle balancing important? A balanced lifestyle leads to the so-called
productivity cycle. The idea is that if a woman (or man) is doing things consistent with her values, she will feel good about herself. If she feels good about herself and what she is doing, then she will want to do more of it, which makes her more productive. Being more productive, as long as it is consistent with her values, usually makes a person feel good about herself and generally more successful.
And so it goes round and round. Lifestyle balancing has a lot to do with the values part of the equation. The values have to include both work life and home life. It would be impossible to work for a company you consider unethical, dishonest, crooked or the like—especially if they encourage you to behave that way—well, unless those are your values, too. Likewise, you can’t work effectively if you feel your family life is paying a heavy price for you career. Where are you on the productivity cycle? What does your lifestyle look like?
Interestingly, STLE plays a role for its members in the productivity cycle. Clearly the various industry awards STLE presents to members increase their professional standing and should enhance the individual’s feelings about herself. Serving on various committees teaches skills in meetings and project management, which should enhance a person’s sense of contribution and self-worth, and those same skills can equally be applied on the job or in an administrative committee, civic, church or synagogue activity. Many members bring their families to the STLE annual meeting and then go on vacation together afterward, which shows lifestyle balancing. Indeed many members talk of STLE as a family. Certainly a highlight of the annual meeting is the renewal of friendships made over the years, not only with the individual member but often, at least in my experience, with their families as well.
All of this reinforces our collective values and makes us more effective not only at home and on the job but intrinsically as individuals. I would encourage you to get out the scales and see if you are in balance.
Bob Gresham is STLE’s director of professional development. You can reach him at rgresham@stle.org.