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01.26.09 Strive To Maintain Work Life Balance  By Dan MorrillWork life balance, does it have a place in today's economy? If you listen to me, the answer is yes, if you listen to Deb Bright the answer is no. Which one is right? Would you believe both of us? Work life balance is not a way to suck the company dry, be a non-contributing person who is only there sucking air, drinking coffee and not providing anything while you are in your cube. Work life balance is something that all companies should strive to maintain, even in a time of economic recession. There are some key reasons why you do not want to do the following. 7. For now, forget about work-life balance. A major preoccupation when the economy was humming along nicely, "having time for outside interests has to go right out the window now," says Bright. "You need to concentrate on doing whatever it takes to make yourself indispensable." Source: CNN, Anne Fisher's Contributor Page
It is so easy to get burned out if you do everything to make yourself indispensible. You miss important things, you slack off on your health, and in today's job market there are no guarantees that you will keep your job. It is not so much that you make yourself indispensible by trying to do it all; it is going about being indispensible by doing it smartly. You can still have a work life balance, and make yourself indispensible and there are ways of doing it without burning out. These are all things you can do in the course of an eight hour day, 40 hour work week that will help you keep your job, and help you keep your work life balance. We all know that things happen, people get sick, kids need this or that, crisis happens. Realistic managers understand this, it is when the crises get abusive that managers start to notice and when problems start to happen. Business as usual is over with for a while, how well you work in your employment environment is the important part now. You can still play an important role, without giving up those things, work life balance, that are important to you.
Take a look at the technology in the company, what is it, where it is going? Are you going to school? Are you learning the new technology? Can your boss ask you questions and you come up with answers, often right to help them out? Are you reading the same magazines or web sites as the CEO, VP's, Directors? Are they on linked in? Facebook? Are they your "friends" on line? The question here is are you paying attention to senior leadership, then using that knowledge to improve yourself, or show that you are learning the next round of technology today. Even if it is on your own dime, doing this puts you well ahead of the pack. Take a look at your leadership, are they scared? How are they dealing with fear? Are they being Machiavellian about things (and if they are do you still want them as a boss) or are they trying to work things through and be supportive. If they are being supportive, help them out, find out what they need that they don't have the time for. The more you help your boss, the more the boss is likely to remember you fondly, and keep you around. How good a team member are you? Are you participating 100%, offering good sound suggestions or are you in the way, thinking that things cannot be done because of one thing or another. If you are a positive influence, thinking that anything is possible, then you will do well. How good is your work? How much rework does your work require? If you can keep the errors down, you are saving money. You still need to meet all your deadlines, but if you are doing good quality work that does not require a lot of rewrite, and meeting deadlines, life will be easier. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Dan Morrill has been in the information security field for 18 years, both civilian and military, and is currently working on his Doctor of Management. Dan shares his insights on the important security issues of today through his blog, Managing Intellectual Property & IT Security, and is an active participant in the ITtoolbox blogging community. |
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