There is no such thing as perfect balance, it is only balance and that is what we should strive towards achieving.
In the Picture: Me attending a work conference
Work life balance is a term used to describe the middle ground a person finds between their work and personal life. (Sanfillipo, 2020) Every person has their individual stance or outlook on how to achieve it. Sometimes a person may need to give more time to their personal life than their work if something is going on at home or within their relatives. However, sometimes a person may want to give more time to their work and career in order to reach a promotion or a certain work goal. I personally believe that a person should always try to analyze what is important to them in that particular time and make a sound decision of giving more time to that certain aspect of their life. I recently came across a very thoughtful and interesting podcast on Work/Life Balance from ‘Let’s All Scream’. In the podcast the speakers discussed their own experiences pre and post Covid working experiences which gave me insight on how to deal with my own upcoming struggles and how to balance between both university and work.
“ I personally believe that a person should always try to analyze what is important to them in that particular time and make a sound decision of giving more time to that certain aspect of their life. ”
I work as a content executive at Emirates Group which is well known for being the world’s best airline and destination management company. I am also completing the last year of my bachelors programme and have classes 3 days a week. My job timings are flexible but the nature of the job does not always allow me to set my own time. I need to accommodate meetings according to my clients time and not my own.
My Strengths & Weaknesses
My strengths are that I am a good communicator and have good time management skills so even my clients and my manager trusts me with choosing a meeting time and place. I usually complete my university work at night as I am home and comfortable and that helps me think better. I always have my laptop with me so I keep doing my research and studying for both work and university whenever I am on the go. I also make sure to grab a cup of coffee or catch lunch/dinner with my friends and family whenever my schedule allows. I do not make excuses and prioritize tasks and people accordingly. My weaknesses are that I don’t eat a healthy balanced diet and do not get an adequate amount of sleep. This is because I feel lazy to prepare my meals and get distracted on my phone which wastes a lot of my prime productive time. This in turn adversely affects my work as sometimes I feel drained and exhausted and do not have the energy or right mind to complete my university or work tasks.
Action Plans
I will apply the Four Quadrants of Time Management as that is the concept that struck me the most when I read about it. It is simple and helps me understand where I am going wrong. I have started using this concept to prioritize my tasks the past week and it actually seems to work and gives me proper direction. I would like to develop a routine for myself with to do lists along with time slots so I can keep myself in check and perform well throughout the week to achieve all my goals. Going forward, my action plan is to manage my time enough to prepare weekly meals for myself and eat them instead of unhealthy options. I have followed a blog called ‘Peace.Mind.Body’ on Instagram, they post a lot of healthy recipes which will motivate me to prepare my meals for the week. I will also try to complete my university assignments throughout the day itself so I can rest at night. I have downloaded an app called sleep tracker which will help me to assess my daily sleep hours and will keep reminding me to switch off my phone when it’s time to sleep.
In the picture: Me enjoying a dinner at The Palm, Dubai.
References
Sanfillipo, M., 2020. Business News Daily. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5244-improve-work-life-balance-today.html [Accessed 05 03 2021].
Let's All Scream Podcast on Work Life Balance.[Online]
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-all-scream/id1503107011
[Accessed 12 03 2021].
Sleep Cycle - Sleep Tracker. [Online]
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sleep-cycle-sleep-tracker/id320606217
[Accessed 10 03 2021].
Comments