Support and communication are also key. “I have a great support system at home if I feel a work or volunteer opportunity is a unique one. Having open communication with my loved ones has helped me find balance,” she notes. “Without communication, any type of balance is impossible.”
As in most relationships, pairing work and private lives is largely a question of establishing boundaries. Business authors Dan Guerra and Dana Gionta recommend rating feelings of discomfort from 1 to 10 when feeling overwhelmed: if your rating is from 7 to 10, you’re crossing boundaries and risking your mental well-being.
These boundaries, according to Morris, are the difference between a highly committed employee and an overcommitted one: “An overcommitted employee has fluid boundaries that he/she chooses to shift on a regular basis, based on the real and perceived needs of work, at the expense of time outside of work.
“Highly committed people have a set of self-defined boundaries in place that allow them to make the most of their time to keep a balance across all of the priorities in their lives,” Morris explains. “While both types can be focused on achieving goals and delivering results, there is a definite difference between the two that can be seen in their behaviors during and after the work day.”
Time Well Spent
Volunteer, recreational, educational, and family goals outside of the office can be just as personally rewarding as professional goals at work.
But without the ability to say no, to establish firm boundaries, and to recognize the signs of burnout and the ways to remedy it, you can easily become overcommitted and not realize any of those rewards.
“I have had to regretfully decline some opportunities to avoid being in a situation where I wouldn’t have had the time and energy to provide thoughtful or meaningful contributions,” says L.A. Specialty’s Wilder. “If I’m going to volunteer and spend time away from my office and my family, then I want to ensure it’s time well spent on learning, contributing, and leading change.”
Image: Stuart Jenner/Shutterstock.com
