National Work Life Week: Warrington-based expert shares 5 ways to achieve a better work/life balance which won’t cost a penny to implement.
A leadership expert has shared his top five tips to secure a better work-life balance – and they don’t cost a penny.
Drew Povey was speaking as part of National Work Life Week, which provides an ideal opportunity for people to take a step back and think about what it is they are hoping to achieve and what, for them, makes the right balance.
Drew, founder of the Drew Povey Consultancy, said: “The mistake people often make is thinking that getting a good work-life balance is about doing less work or chasing some mythically perfect division of the two, but I think it’s more like cooking,” explains Drew.
“If you’re going to cook something, the first thing is to know what you’re going to make. Just as you need to know if you’re making a victoria sponge or a casserole, you need to decide what kind of life you want to have before you work on getting that balance right for you.
“Because depending on what you want to make, you will need different ingredients and the same goes for getting that right mix of work and life.
“But don’t assume that what’s right for one person is right for you: getting the balance right is personal to you. Just as we all have different food preferences, don’t let the opinions of others distract from what it is which matters most to you right now.”
Drew’s five ways to get the right mix in your work-life balance
- Check your recipe
You need to decide what matters most to you right now and those things which don’t matter – get rid of them. Make a list of things you want to achieve and the things you need to do, and put them in order of priority.
This changes throughout the course of your life so it needs to be updated. Younger people with a goal such as saving for a house or starting their own business are going to have a different priority to older people who’ve looked up and realise that they have countries they’ve never travelled to or experiences they’ve never had. So the key words are ‘right now’.
Without that clarity, the dish you’re trying to make will end up more a dog’s dinner than cordon bleu as you throw in random ingredients.
- Use the wheel
The Wheel of Life is a tool that provides a visual assessment of what’s going on in your life and is a great way to visualise the different aspects of life such as work, family, health, friends, learning and hobbies – each scored out of ten.
For me, success isn’t about the over achievement in one slice of the wheel, it’s about that balance across it which means that effort is being spread across the things which matter to you.
People who do really well at work, for example, might find they have high blood pressure or don’t see their family very often. That’s not success and by setting it out clearly you can see that while you might be scoring high in ‘work’, the ‘health’ and ‘family’ segment is dwindling away.
- Audit your diary
If someone looked at your diary, what would they say your priorities are? I suspect for most people it would look like their main focus was routine meetings.
Because most people’s calendars do not reflect their true priorities. This is particularly true if you work in a big company, where ‘back-to-backs’ are seen as some sign of importance but no one has any time to do any actual work.
Ask yourself what’s important and put them in a list. Then work out from your diary how much time you actually spend doing each of these things.
My suspicion is that for many people, they just don’t match up. That’s when the realignment needs to happen.
- The power of No.
In every ‘yes’ there are a hundred hidden ‘no’s. It’s about the opportunity cost: every time we say yes to one thing, we are saying no to a lot of other things.
Be deliberate about what you agree to. That is the best way to protect your time for what matters most now. By saying no to something which doesn’t matter, you can prioritise the things that do.
Say it politely. Say it kindly. But say it.
- Micro management matters
Balance isn’t just about the big holidays, which is what people think it is, or taking a day off. I think it’s found throughout the day in the small pauses.
Maybe that’s a walk at lunch, a family dinner that evening or making sure you attend that class or club you really enjoy each week. These things all add up and make an impact and sprinkling them throughout the working week works like a good seasoning.
For more information visit www.drewpovey.co.uk
