“Work life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individuals right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society.” – flexible-working.org
It is perceived by my nearest and dearest that I don’t have the right work life balance and they believe it has got worse. As I am sat on the plane ready to start my holidays I have some time to wonder why (and nicely prove their point at the same time!)?
Has the recession pushed me to work harder?
Throughout this credit crunch period I have been anti recession, believing that we could talk ourselves into and just as easily out of this mess. I don’t dispute there was a mess and that the decisions that were being taken in certain sectors that could not continue. There had to be fall out.
It is true, I didn’t want to be part of the fall out, so did this environment push me to work harder?
Like many (or all) business owners, I work everyday. I did before the recession kicked in and I have no doubt I will continue to do it when it’s gone.
I want Cheeky Monkey to be the best Change Management Consultancy it can be. I want the people who work at Cheeky Monkey to contribute in the best way possible and be the best they can be at what they deliver. I want Cheeky Monkey to be successful and that is what pushes me.
Success = being the best you can possibly be
Always Connected!
The recession may be playing a part but other things are having a bigger influence. We have embraced social media as a way of engaging with a broader spectrum of people and keeping us sharp. We are operating on a Cheeky Monkey cloud, access to everything by everyone without having to be at a desk.
To make sure we could do this efficiently we invested in the latest Blackberry’s and iPhones. Fantastic, I am linked to our client’s networks, integrated calendars, business and private emails, messenger and our whole social network from something that fits in my pocket. My god it’s efficient, and allows me to work 24/7 wherever I am. I am probably at 18/7 if I am being honest and my friends and family are constantly telling me its going too far.
My Blackberry has had the biggest effect on my work life balance.
Although I am one of those people who is in the pub checking my BB at regular points, at least I am in the pub. It was not long ago I made choices on going out or not going out based on how much work I had to do and most of the time it was the latter. Although my working day has increased, so has my social activity…
The lines between my work and life are blurred, what is wrong with that?
So, as we make our approach into Nairobi I am happy that I will be able to keep in touch with my fellow monkeys and our clients with ease and enjoy a fantastic family holiday. I have control over my work life balance, technology has given me this and it is for the better.
In times like these I think you’re doing absolutely the right thing, putting in 200% to sustain and grow Cheeky Monkey. It can only benefit you all when things out there are healthier.
I always try to remember how fortunate I am, that I enjoy my work. I reckon it’s fair to say that many (most?) people take a job that they find tolerable in order to make a living. When you can take pleasure in work, the work/life balance seems less of an issue.
I do work the odd late one in the office and have personal projects outside of my day job (starting to sound like a raging workaholic now), but I do my best to balance that with commitments to other things in life – partner, family, friends, Wii (kidding!).
There are two main reasons that I try not to *over* do it:
1) It can bring diminishing returns in terms of quality of work – tiredness alone can cause you to make mistakes and turn a few minute’s work into an hour. I think it can hard to be focused and inspired when you’re feeling a bit burnt out.
2) There comes a point where the correlation between hours put in and productivity/results/success stops scaling. Time after all, is a finite, non-renewable resource. Eventually *what* you’re doing becomes more important than how many hours you spend doing it. Bill Gates doesn’t work a 10,000 hour day
As an iPhone fan I know what you mean about the appeal of being always connected. Knowing when to ignore all those little demands on your attention is a skill I’ve not yet perfected. The noise in our lives will only intensify in future – everything from work to notifications that some person you haven’t seen since school is eating a sandwich. Prioritising and selectively ignoring is becoming an essential skill just to cope with it all.
I hope someone confiscates the battery from your Blackberry while you’re on holiday!
Jambo Alex! Your points are well made and I agree. Sometimes you do go beyond the point of no return and you have to know when to call it a day. Equally sometimes other things are just more important. I am lucky that I have always had the energy of at least 10 people and I love what I do it is a blessing. As I am relying to you I am waiting for my next flight to nairobi sat in the sun listening to my Ipod and inspecting rocks my neice is finding in the hope one contains a diamond! Knowing your limits is the main thing and having a total lust for all life essential.
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