Quick Tip – Put It Away

Give an inch and they will take a mile – Issue #97

Have you encountered this problem at work? You go above and beyond in a specific instance (e.g., working a 12-hour day or coming in on the weekend), but then your employer thinks that this is your new baseline?

I’m old enough to have worked before everyone had a cellphone and then after everyone had a smartphone in their pocket. In the golden olden days, you left work, came home, and you typically didn’t do more work.

You spent time with your friends and family.

Laptops weren’t standard then, either. But, there were times that you’d do some work on your home computer. However, work was usually constrained to your time in the office.

Once smartphones entered the scene, it became all too easy to be on call 24/7. People can message you, call you, and send you an email whenever they want.

My professional life at my last few corporate jobs started bleeding into my personal life. No matter what I was doing at night or on the weekends with my family, my manager expected me to be reading and responding to email.

We’d even have “emergencies” that required everyone to drop everything and work on the problem. Kiss your weekend and personal time goodbye.

There are different philosophies for managing work-life balance. Some people advocate a blended strategy and accepting that work and life are intertwined.

So, you flow in and out of your personal responsibilities and work activities. I think many of us do this to some degree (a few to a significant degree).

However, other people recommend that you establish hard boundaries between work and life. They have a point.

You can say that you are “present” with your friends and family when you’re in the middle of an outing, dinner, or event. But, if you are constantly checking your phone and responding to work issues, you aren’t 100% there, and people know it.

I do have a blended strategy with my personal life and business. For example, I’ll go skiing with my family, but take a quick break at the lodge and use their wireless to get some work done before hitting the slopes again.

However, there are times that I need to be 100% focused on my personal life. I didn’t always set this boundary, and I regret it.

When you are celebrating the birthday of a loved one, be focused on nothing but that. If you go to the movies with your family, silence your phone and put it away. When you eat dinner with friends, enjoy the conversation with them, and stop looking at your phone.

The problem is that work will take everything that you give it and demand even more. It is a voracious beast that is never satisfied.

I finally realized that I could literally work 24/7 and still never be ahead at work. But, I would burn out and die.

Work is important, but so is your life. Blended is the reality now, but you should set micro-boundaries between your work and life at critical moments too.

Don’t let your boss own your entire life. Don’t let work consume you. Set boundaries, put your devices away, and enjoy moments of peace from the demands of your job.

Speaking of; Happy Holidays! 🌲❄️ 🎉