What does work-life balance mean to you and how can you make it work?
We’ve been lucky enough to have interviews with various job sharers recently, from Lesley, a new mother describing her job share exprience, through to seeing how Green party councillors split their role. We’ve seen how different people with different needs make a job sharing work for them, helping them get a better work life balance, but what does that mean for you?
The first step to achieving a better work life balance is knowing exactly what you want to get from it. Do you want more time to spend with your kids? Maybe you need more time to look after a loved one? No matter your reasons for wanting a better balance, it’s always a good idea to know exactly what you want.
Once you know what it is you want, it will give you a much clearer idea of how to make your job work for you. Perhaps you won’t even have to change that much to get what you need.
I watched a great talk recently where a father shared one of his experiences. His wife was unable to pick up their son from school so he needed to leave work early to get him. It only took him leaving an hour earlier than normal, but it wasn’t just a school run he ended up doing. They ended up spending a lovely afternoon together, heading to the park, sharing a pizza, nothing extraordinary but the son had the time of his life.
It’s such a small thing, leaving the office an hour early, but it’s exactly that that helps with the work-life balance. The talk its self is only 10 minutes long but I really recommend checking it out, it’s full of great advice. You can find it here
Getting a better balance doesn’t have to mean a huge, life changing alteration to your career. It’s making sure that you’re able to enjoy the little things, it’s being able to be there outside of the 9-5 for your family, it’s being able to leave that one hour early to make the school run.
So take a look at your working situation, do you have time for the little things? Or do you wake up and not stop working until your head hits the pillow at the end of the day? If you fit into the latter camp, it might be time to consider finding a better balance and it might be time to think about job sharing. Give it a look, you might be surprised.