Work-Life Balance: The Key to Productivity and Satisfaction
Like many others, I struggle to create work-life balance in a way that satisfies me. I feel pride in having a busy schedule and being productive, and often feel guilty when I take time for self care. The guilt of not being busy doing work or school impacts my ability to balance a social life and self care. When it comes to balance, I struggle to know when to start and stop working, how to hold myself accountable, and how to take time for myself. For these reasons, I felt that it was important to bring in someone who, despite her busy schedule, has been able to find work-life balance for herself. Together we are going to provide tips for students in the workforce and those currently in school.
Juliana Lee is a Business and Integration Architecture Analyst at Accenture, a professional services company that offers Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services. Juliana got a degree from Queen’s University in biomechanical engineering, and afterwards taught herself how to code! From there, she got a job in software, but didn’t love how the company approached work-life balance. Juliana pivoted and landed a job with Accenture, a company who has been able to support her in creating a work-life balance that suits her needs. Juliana currently works with large-scale clients and helps companies identify what they need and how to solve their problems, all while finding a balance between work and her personal life.
For students graduating soon, going into co-op, or looking for internships, Juliana’s key takeaways on how to manage work-life balance are as follows:
Figure out your work style, and find companies that support that! For example, while consulting has longer hours, Juliana likes that she can be flexible with when she works those hours so she can still enjoy things like traveling. Finding your work style and the right balance for you is important because Juliana says that “not enough balance ruins productivity and moods.” Accenture has been able to facilitate Juliana’s work-life balance by having an outcome-based mindset so she can be flexible with her time so long as she creates the outcome. Additionally, Accenture offers mental health resources, benefits, and social events.
Try to do things where you can’t be on your phone or laptop, in order to fully disconnect from work. Although she has her phone on virtually all of the time, Juliana tries to find time where she can go away and disconnect from her phone and computer. “It’s hard to be half deep in work if you’re doing something you like that requires you to not be on your phone.” For Juliana, this looks like volunteering and exercising, but it can vary from person to person.
Find ways that make you feel productive that are not work related. Sometimes it can be challenging to take time for yourself if you worry about not being productive. Similar to the point above, being productive can look like volunteering, exercising, and getting enough sleep! Companies like Accenture have resources for employees to help with work-life balance. For example, Accenture has health benefits, such as being active and counting steps that will come back to reward them in the future.
Set career goals! “Set career goals, because if you know that you’re on track to finish them, you should be okay to sign off at the end of the day. For work-life balance, you need to convince yourself that you’re happy, so set yourself up for success so you can justify it to yourself.” Accenture has been able to work with Juliana to determine how she wants the next months to pan out and how much responsibility she wants, which helps her make her success more tangible.
Although finding balance career wise is important, it is equally important to find ways to maintain balance throughout the semester as well. Juliana shared a few tips for students, and I have added some things that have worked well for me too!
Be happy with the choices you’re making every day! “The efforts that you take for setting your boundaries have to come internally. Some people are more content to work and play in different amounts, and there will always be somebody studying the extra hours.” If the efforts come from internally, you’ll be able to set yourself up for success by justifying your choices to yourself! For me, I’ve been learning how to set boundaries around self care, because I know that I will always prioritize school and other people over myself. This looks like telling people if I have the capacity to listen to them or give feedback, or saying no to seeing people if I think I would be happier by myself. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from all of this is that you can set boundaries and still be a good friend!
Try to disconnect from your laptop and phone. Especially with classes being delivered remotely, it can be tough to step away from the screens. As mentioned earlier, Juliana recommends finding activities that you enjoy while also forcing you to not be on your phone. Like she said, not enough balance ruins productivity and moods, so find that time to dedicate to yourself and not your schoolwork, away from technology!
Set blocks of time in your calendar to dedicate to yourself. I find that I struggle with remembering to actually take time for myself, and as someone who is very dependent on google calendar, it is helpful to schedule in blocks of time for myself! This prevents other people from scheduling meetings during those times, and helps me feel better about how I’m using my time. For me, these blocks of time can be a form of exercise, cleaning, doing absolutely nothing, or being involved in a community that makes me happy. I’ve involved myself in WIB for the last few years, and this organization has held me accountable to not make excuses, and instead push myself to do things that are good for me. I’ve learned that self care is more than just spending time alone, and a lot of growth and care for yourself comes from the connections that you hold with other people.
Establish daily habits that help you be your most productive self! This might look like not going on your phone first thing in the morning, journaling, or ensuring that you have enough time to eat before class starts. Planning out your day can be helpful, especially if you are able to prioritize your tasks and split those into smaller sub-tasks. Ultimately, you don’t have to get everything done on that list, and that is okay! Focus on what is necessary and make sure the list includes time for yourself as well.
While “balance” is going to look different for everyone, it is important to understand and explore what your own definition of it is. As Juliana explained, work-life balance is crucial to being productive and feeling satisfied with how you’re spending your time, but it’s not always easy to maintain. We must be intentional about balance both as students, starting with some of the tips above, and in our careers, by finding companies that suit our needs, similar to how Accenture fulfills Juliana’s needs for work-life balance.