Achieve work life balance in IT industry with 7 toughest steps
Simple steps as we read, tough to implement…
“Company is not responsible for work life balance, rather you need to create it for yourself.”
Everyone has different definition of work life balance. People hate working when they are on vacations, or getting stressed when vacations are getting over. Some hate late working hours. Some have to wake in middle of the night to fix certain production issues. Find yours first.
Here is the thing, we are going to understand problem based on 80/20 rule. 80% of your habits needs corrections and discipline and 20% is company culture where you are challenged again and again to loose your balance.
Company culture is mendable, but not that simple and straight forward and takes time. But you can consider it as an opportunity to fix your 80%. Once you get disciplined or find better opportunity; switch.
Lets focus on 80%
Your time is precious like nothing else in the world. Begin with tracking yourself first where you are spending your time.
Time
Spend limited time on social media or phone playing your favourite game or watching favourite TV serial. Rather spend use time to sharpen your skills.
Stop wasting your time with people cribbing whole day, tell them no once you will never from them again.
Perfectionism
Find out what is minimal required for the job to be done. Which doesn’t mean you don’t cover the potential risks.
Perfectionism needs time to achieve it, your mind will keep finding loop holes and would be presenting you as disaster. You need to think clearly.
Disconnect
Its very important for you to be healthy and check out the other side of the coast as well. Spend some good time with family and friends and stay away from technology while you do so.
I know its not easy but you will have to begin. Learn something small and new, remember your childhood when you use to talk about hobbies. Pick any and learn again, cause your habits will accept it faster due to childhood imprint and its been time you chasing materials.
This not only reduces stress but increase happiness factor inside you.
Vision
Lot of people rely on company to provide them path or KRA/OKR etc. And its not a surprise when not so great managers forget to give you direction. They think only about sprints but can’t see or plan beyond that.
If you can’t see what you want to achieve, then how anyone else is going to think for you? Aligning to someone else goal is not going to work for your belief system.
Create a vision, try aligning it with the company. If can’t align then you are in a wrong company.
Patience
Patience is what is missing in lot of us, due to fast growing internet we think we can achieve everything in few minutes. When it doesn’t happens we taste the failure and go under panic.
Velocity & planning is what it all matters, we have habit to push hardest when it begins and at the end due to stress and don’t want to answer the failure.
Plan well, cover all risk and push disciplined energy everyday.
Procrastination
Its a killer habit without a doubt.
- Understand what, how and why of the problem?
- Prioritise or understand urgent vs important AKA eisenhower decision matrix
- Use http://bulletjournal.com/ to maintain todo list like never before.
- Now or never.
- Execute the hardest task first.
- Reward yourself after completion.
- Work in less distracted environment, if doesn’t exists move away from distractions.
- Visualize how your end goal would look like.
Easiest way to create future is to work today.
