Have You Found Balance Yet?
By: Kenni Kaufman
This year, I decided to change things up a bit and toss the New Years resolutions to someone who could fully commit. 2019 would be the year of the mantra, “I will find and maintain balance.”
Cut to today…and I’m still on the hunt.
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I have to admit, I’m a bit of a workaholic. Or maybe I’m more of a perfectionist disguised as a workaholic? I might be saying that to make myself feel better, but either way, balance needs to find me soon.
Or maybe I need to change my perspective.
Something that we all have to remember is that work will always be there. Working tirelessly until 4:00 AM, then dragging yourself into work the next morning at 9:00 AM, really doesn’t impress anyone. Your boss doesn’t know you were up that late, and nor do your co-workers. And would you really want them to know you’re crazy enough to stay up that late working on something you could have done at a reasonable hour?
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Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s necessary to pull an all-nighter. But more often than not, you should be working smarter, not until 4:00 AM. Our culture puts quite a bit of pride in always being busy, and on excelling in the workplace so you can show off your accolades. Those things are important, but so is having a full, rounded life.
So, put your work down and:
- Go to the gym.
- Treat yourself to a massage.
- Take a lunch break.
- Have a drink with a coworker.
- Have dinner with your significant other.
- Call someone you haven’t talked to in ages because you’ve been so busy working.
- Play with your kids.
- Take your dog for a walk.
- Read a book.
- Listen to a podcast.
- Watch a mindless, yet entertaining TV show (Rupaul’s Drag Race is my personal favorite).
- See a show, any show!
- Sit and do nothing.
And when you’re done, work will still be there, waiting patiently for you to return.
Work smart. Work hard. But don’t work yourself into the ground. Don’t work yourself into loneliness. And don’t fool yourself into thinking that work is the only thing that deserves your time and attention.
You’ll show up better for work when you’re giving the proper attention to the other parts of your life, too. People won’t remember or reward you for working yourself into the ground.
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Kenni Kaufman is a tech and entertainment executive who has partnered with companies in the digital media and entertainment industry for fifteen years.
Originally published at https://www.ellevatenetwork.com.
