Have you ever felt that your projects are beginning to take over your life? It's quite a common feeling, because Project Managers and teams usually work long hours on a project to ensure it's success. Work becomes "everything" and as a result, your personal life becomesWhat is a "Work / Life Balance"? To us, it's "getting the maximum enjoyment from your work time and personal time, every day". This means really enjoying the time you have at work, and the time you spend after hours, so that you're getting the most out of what life has to offer. The reverse of this is not enjoying your job, and not having a personal life. If you're in that camp, then read these 10 tips to get back on track:
In this part two newsletter, we've offered 10 serious tips to help you...
Get a Work / Life Balance on Projects
Tip 1: Prioritize
Sit down over a nice warm drink and ask yourself this question. "If this was your last day on this planet and you were reviewing your adult life to date, then what would you say about it and what would you wish you'd done differently?" Think long and hard about this question, then write down your answer. Now set out a clear vision for what you're going to do differently, from this point onwards.
Remember, you may not need to make radical changes to improve your life. It's usually just about priorities. Write down a new set of priorities for your life, ones that mean the most to you.
Tip 2: Set Goals
Now you need to set yourself 3 personal goals, to help you "get the maximum enjoyment from your work time and personal time every day". For example, your goals might relate to your physical health, your personal time or the way you approach your work. The goals must together help you to achieve your perfect work /life balance (as defined above).
Tip 3: Watch your Hours
It makes sense that to achieve a perfect work/life balance, you need to enjoy both your work, and your personal life. If you work around the clock, then you may not get the time to have a personal life. So try and balance your work time, family time and personal time, so that you actually make time to achieve your goals.
Tip 4: Look after Yourself
You should now set out a health plan for the next 2 months, to make sure that you look after yourself as best as you can. Set simple goals for eating the right foods, exercizing 2-3 times a week and doing the little things that make you feel good. If you feel great, then you'll gain tons of new energy you never new you had before, and you can throw this new energy into things that make you feel even better.
Tip 5: Socialize
We’re not all "social butterflies" but it's a well known fact that socializing with good friends is a great way to reduce stress. Make a special effort to make a new friend sometime soon. It may sound corny, but new friendships often add spice to life.
These 5 tips, along with the 5 tips in the next newsletter will help you to get the most out of what life has to offer. At Method123, we care about you. So go for it - give it your best shot!
PART2
Believe it or not, as Project Manager you can have a great work life, and personal life at the same time. It’s called having a good “work / life balance” and you get it when you prioritize your life as highly as you do your work. In this second of two newsletters, we’ll offer 5 more tips to help you....
Get a Work / Life Balance on Projects—Part II
In the last newsletter, we helped you set work / life goals, balance your work and personal time, look after yourself and add some pizzazz to life. So if you’re game enough to try more, then try these 5 additional tips on getting the right work / life balance today:
Tip 1: One a Week
What do you have a passion for? Is it arts, sciences, sport or something wacky? Whatever it is, try and move heaven and earth to make it happen once a week, every week. Tell yourself: this is the one time in the week where it’s ‘MY TIME’’ - then stick to it. You’ll find it incredibly rewarding. In fact, you’ll start looking forward to that activity each week, because you know you’ll have fun doing it.
Tip 2: One a Day
In addition to the “one a week” activity above, kick off a “one-a-day” as well. Make it something small, to ensure you find the time to do it. It could be “spending 10 minutes reading a magazine”, “going for a walk around the block” or “calling a friend”. As long as it’s enjoyable, then make it a regular time in your daily schedule. This is the hardest tip of them all to keep to, but the most beneficial in the long run. If you’re serious about your work / life balance, then you will be able to find 10-15 minutes in the day (every day) to do this. Oh—remember to make it fun!
Tip 3: Find a Peer
Nothing beats having a peer to do this with you. Find someone who wants to get the same out of life. Open up to them and tell them what you want to achieve. Then work together to motivate each other to achieve the personal goals you set. Meet bi-weekly, to talk about what you’ve struggled with and what you’ve achieved. Then advise each other on what can be done to improve. Peers can provide the support needed to make a real difference in someone's life. So choose your peer wisely and work together to achieve your joint goals.
Tip 4: Rewards
While peers can motivate you, true motivation comes from within. So to help you meet your goals, set yourself a reward for achieving them. The reward doesn’t need to cost a lot, for instance, it might be “taking 2 days off work to share with my family”. The most important thing is that it reward is something that means a lot to you and is worth fighting for.
Tip 5: Feeling Proud
If you can achieve your goals or even get half way there, then feel proud about having done it! We know that it takes a lot of effort to make a change in your life. So feel proud about what you’ve achieved. This sense of pride will show in your work and your personal life. And guess what? You’ll have gained new enjoyment from life, so it has to be good!
