Work-Life Balance in 2020

• May 13, 2020

As we move forward to the summer months in 2020, finding work-life balance is more complicated than ever. While many of us ordinarily struggle with this concept, it becomes even more prominent as we find ourselves in situations where we are working from home. Our home offices have become a shared space for all of our daily activities. The challenge becomes maintaining balance and separation, while finding ways to achieve your goals, both personally and professionally. Here are three ideas as we move forward into this time of an increasingly uncertain summer.

First, ask yourself, why do you do what you do? What do you enjoy? What’s great about your job? What don’t you like? Get back in touch with your passions. Understand all of these different ideas and concepts, and make sure that you’re attending to all of them. However, it can be easy to fall into a trap. In environments where we do not see as much supervision and accountability, we may not put forth the same efforts or begin acting in areas that feel like lighter lifts, which might not have the impact that they usually do. Do not forget that it is a hard road sometimes. So be sure that you’re always making sure that you’re choosing the harder right over that easy wrong.

The second piece is to keep your schedule. Remember, our jobs have not changed. So we’re not changing what we do. We’re only changing how we do it and how we go about it. Here, personal time management becomes even more critical. As we work more from home and more remotely, keeping a tight reign on our calendar and our daily tasks becomes even more serious. Understanding what all our different priorities, stakeholders, and what the information they need is a delicate act. Make sure to keep a running list of everything. Manage your calendar very carefully. Prioritize your tasks, because itis going to make a world of difference because we don’t have the same level of accountability, and we do not see the same stewardship that we usually see in our daily lives.

The last piece is to remember that it is a balance. Where do our work stop and our private life begin? When you’re working in the same area, and your commute is across your living room, how are you balancing everything out? How are you making sure that every time you pass through that same room, you’re not checking your email, even at seven, eight o’clock at night? Be sure to draw the same limits that you drew during your time in more-traditional environments. If you did not respond to an email at eight o’clock at night before, do not start now. We’re still doing the same things we’ve always done. We’re just changing how we’ve done them.

In the end, when we are faced with the struggle of an upended work-life balance when we face the battle of complicated changes in how we work. First, remember what your passions are and why you do what you do. Second, make sure that your time management skills are healthy and that you are following through on all of your responsibilities. And that you are staying well organized in the face of a new class of accountability and oversight. Lastly, maintain your balance. Make sure that you’re finding a way to be you and do the things you enjoy, while not feeling trapped. At the same time, your work is getting the same careful attention that it always has.

Ed Brzychcy is former U.S. Army Infantry Staff-Sergeant with service across 3 combat deployments to Iraq. After his time in the military, he received his MBA from Babson College and now coaches organizational leadership and growth through his consultancy, Blue Cord Management and leads the C-Suite Network Veteran Business Leaders Council.