Articles

November 2006: Manage This … Work-life-balance

You get to the office at 7 AM to get some work done before everyone else is in.  Around 2:30, you realize that you haven’t eaten anything for lunch, so you gobble something down from the vending machine as you check your e-mails.  Around 7 PM, most people are gone, so you’re able to get more work done.  You finally leave the office a little after 10 PM.  Getting home, you take a couple of minutes to eat some food and get some personal business done.  By the time you wind down and are ready for bed, you get about 5 hours of sleep each night.  Does this sound familiar?  Who is benefiting?  You?  The company?  Your career?

While some companies definitely still reward this work-centric lifestyle, if they were to take a long-term view of it, they would realize that it is not good for them.  A recent article in the Harvard Business Review states that when you get 5-6 hours of sleep a night, your cognitive performance is significantly impaired.  This includes your decision-making abilities, your ability to focus, short-term and long-term memory and cognitive speed.  Furthermore, having a “life outside of work”, whether it’s with your family, volunteer experiences or hobbies add a creative aspect to your work.  Finally, it’s essential that you take the time to be healthy, including eating right, exercising and sleeping enough, to be at your most productive and creative. 

Living that kind of unbalanced life does not benefit your career.  As stated in an earlier ezine, you need to take the time to network.  An unbalanced lifestyle leads to burn-out and health issues.  Again, by taking a long-term view, it’s obvious that it does not benefit your career. 

Finally, for all the above reasons, it is not healthy for you.  Work-life balance is a necessity for employees.  As leaders in your organization, you need to model it and to encourage it in your employees.  It will lead to a healthier and more productive organization in the long-run.

To get one-on-one coaching or training and learn more specific ways to obtain a work-life balance, contact Kerrie Halmi at Halmi Performance Consulting:
kerrie@halmiperformance.com or 510-336-0654.

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About the Author: Kerrie Halmi is a coach and facilitator specializing in people management skills. Her passion is increasing women’s success in business. See www.halmiperformance.com

Past articles are on www.halmiperformance.com
Terms of Reprint: You have permission to publish this article in your newsletter, e-zine or on your website as long as you print the entire article, unchanged and include the copyright and “About the Author” information (Resource Box) and all links. Please e-mail Kerrie@halmiperformance.com to let the author know where and when the article will appear.