Latest news with #worklifebalance
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Overwhelmed At Work? 5 Steps To A More Sustainable Workload
I find myself working before 9am and after 5pm on my own stuff because when I'm at work it's too hard to concentrate. I'm frequently interrupted by my colleagues, and a big part of my job is being available to others -- I oversee a bunch of things -- so I need to be available. How do I make a more sustainable routine? - Editor Working overtime should be an exception and not the default if you're going to have any semblance of personal and professional balance. While many jobs entail managing or collaborating with others, if you find that it's a full-time job to attend to your colleagues, you need to assert stronger boundaries or you're just working on their schedule, not yours. Finally, if you're fitting in your own work at the margins of your day, you're probably not giving your best energy to it. Improving balance, setting boundaries, and assigning the most energetic part of your day to your most important work will help you make your workload more sustainable. Here are five steps to take now: Pick one good habit at a time to adopt for better sleep, exercise, diet and stress management (e.g., sticking to a bedtime routine, hitting X steps each week, eating at least one fruit per day, meditating in the morning). Starting with self-care allows you to flex your change muscle and introduce something new to your routine without disrupting your work. At the same time, you're building a stronger foundation that will make it easier to disrupt your work for the better. You have to be your biggest advocate against burnout. Experiment with reducing your availability to interruptions by following specific practices that signal to others you shouldn't be disturbed. This can be as simple as hanging a sign on your door (or cubicle) that says, 'Do not disturb', 'Please don't interrupt' or 'Working on deadline'. If you're worried that's not friendly enough, you can add a specific time for people to come back (e.g., 'Check back in 30 minutes'). If you have an office with multiple spaces, make it a habit to leave your regular workspace and go somewhere away from your colleagues. Block your online calendar so meetings can't be scheduled at all times of day. Whatever you decide to carve out uninterrupted time, start with 30 minutes three times a week and work up to dedicated blocks of focused time every day. Interruptions from colleagues might be the key reason this editor's other work is spilling into overtime. However, they also might have a To Do list that is unrealistic and could be pared down. To pare down your task list and still protect your job, get clear on what your manager prioritizes from you. Some projects or clients are more important than others, and some ongoing tasks count more than others. For this editor, it might be publishing a certain number of stories on a set cadence, submitting a status report on audience analytics or moving forward on a long-term research assignment. These tasks should get the dedicated blocks of focused times, and other tasks (e.g., filing more than the minimum of stories) fall off. At some point, you can take on more because ad hoc projects finish or you get more efficient with your output, but don't work overtime until you know it's on something that matters. You may prefer some aspects of your job more than others, or it may be easier to do some tasks more than others. Unfortunately, if you default to what you like or what's comfortable, you might neglect what matters most. That includes your manager's top priorities, as well as your own. Your manager's top priorities may not 100% line up with yours. You may be interested in a promotion and need to take on tasks outside your current job or focus on work that gives you more visibility beyond your manager. You may be developing a skill (e.g., AI) that is currently a small part of your job. You may have a personal interest in exploring other departments or areas of the company outside your current role. To keep your own career moving, use some of your focused time for your top priorities, not just your manager's. If your best efforts to bring routine to your workday are still met with interruptions, you'll need to schedule your interactions more deliberately. This could be a 15-minute weekly check-in with your manager, when before they used to drop by for an update. It could be you proactively walking around to check on colleagues and offer your help at set times you choose. Or block off specific 'office hours' each day for questions and requests. It may take time for people to realize you're on a new work cadence, but if you stick to it, they'll realize this is how you work and will jump on the new routine. Improve your time management, and you improve your career.
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
New Gen Z work trip trend that would make Boomer's heads explode
Since Gen Zers started entering the workforce we have seen a rise of a multitude of different work trends, all focused around not letting work take of your life. It started with quiet quitting and bare minimum Mondays, before moving onto coffee badging and acting your wage. Now, the youngest working generation are taking things a step further. Rather than just focusing on work-life balance, they are now looking for ways their work can benefit them during their personal time. They are capitalising on perks like fully paid work trips by having their partner, a friend or even a family member tag along. It seems the younger generations have less reservations about mixing business and leisure, with the new trend fittingly dubbed 'bleisure' or 'blended travel'. And they aren't shy about sharing it either, with a rise in young people sharing their bleisure travel online. 'POV you take your bestie on all your work trips,' one TikToker wrote on a video. 'You hire me, you hire her.' Another showed a clip of her and her mum walking hand-in-hand, writing 'Normalise taking your mum on work trips.' Another video read: 'When your bf brings you on a work trip to NYC but he has to work all day while you enjoy the fancy hotel and explore the city.' While having a plus one tag along on a work trip isn't inherently problematic, it is the way some people are going about it that is causing controversy. A YouGov survey of 12,000 people commissioned by the Crowne Plaza hotel chain revealed that 74 per cent of employees would invite a family member or friend on a work trip, according to Business Insider. Shockingly, one in five admitted they had already done so and didn't tell their employer. It is the secrecy aspect that is the real issue with this new trend, according to recruitment specialist and author of Earning Power, Roxanne Calder. 'It's not the act of bringing someone that signals immaturity; it's doing it without transparency,' she told 'If your job funds the hotel room, there's a basic social contract in place.' Ms Calder said breaching this contract raises ethical questions and is not a good look professionally. 'Not telling your boss isn't clever; it's a failure to understand the power of trust in professional environments. And maybe the fact it is conducted in secrecy signals you might also sense it might boarder on being unprofessional,' she said. The act of bringing a plus one on a work trip isn't a new thing in and of itself, with Ms Calder saying what's new is the 'lack of shame about it'. Previous generations may have still done it, but it was done quietly and possibly with some guilt or awareness that they were bending the rules. 'Only in a generation raised to believe that every moment of their lives deserves to be shared, and preferably reimbursed, would this be considered a trend,' Ms Calder said. 'That shift isn't just cultural, it's psychological. Gen Z is the first generation raised to optimise experience as much as achievement. 'They don't view a career as a ladder, but as a landscape. And in that landscape, if you're travelling for work, why shouldn't joy come too?' HR specialist and founder of Corporate Dojo, Karen Gately, agreed that there has been a definite shift, with young professionals being more open about blending work and personal life. While the behaviour itself isn't unique to any generation, Gen Z are more comfortable challenging traditional boundaries. However, Ms Gately warned sneaking your bestie onto a work trip isn't without its risks, saying it could very easily lead to a breach of trust between you and your boss. 'If your employer finds out you've concealed this, it can damage your professional reputation and relationship with your boss,' she told A plus one could also prove to be a distraction from the main reason for the trip, which is to work. 'Even unintentionally, splitting your focus between work and personal time can impact your effectiveness,' she said. 'If you're disciplined enough to be focused on work when you're meant to be working, it can be OK. But if having your partner or friend with you is likely to distract you from achieving the outcomes you need to, it's not a good idea.' There are also insurance implications that need to be considered, with Ms Gately pointing out if your travel companion is injured or causes an issue it could complicate liability and insurance coverage. While for many, this trend may just be seen as a fun way of getting the most of your work life, Ms Calder said it also speaks to something larger. While the rise of hybrid and remote work has allowed employees previously unheard of flexibility, it also means workers are now more accessible than ever. Most people have access to work emails on their phones, making it easy to slip into the habit of responding out of hours. Is there a small 10 minute task that needs to be done over the weekend? Well you might as well log on at home and get it out of the way. Ms Calder said it is this type of overlap into people's personal lives that is driving young people to ask: 'If work shows up in my personal life uninvited, can my personal life show up in my work life by design?' 'Employers who treat this purely as a compliance issue will miss the point. And employees who treat it as a loophole to exploit miss the longer game: trust, maturity, and self-awareness will always outperform hustle masked as rebellion,' she said. In the end, the recruitment expert said it is not about whether we should ban or endorse blended travel. 'It is about having an honest conversation about boundaries, trust, and what professionalism means in a world where the personal and professional are increasingly entangled,' she said.
CBS News
a day ago
- Business
- CBS News
Dallas-born service gives busy North Texans the gift of time
They say time is money. But what if you could buy yourself more? For many working parents, balancing demanding careers, school drop-offs, appointments, and birthday party planning can feel like a never-ending to-do list. But one North Texas mom has found a surprising solution that's quietly becoming a lifeline for families across the region. Juggling work and home life CBS News Texas Ginette Beecherl, a mom of three, knows all too well how hectic life can get. "I come home, someone's crying, milk is spilled," she said. Beecherl works full time in finance, with a packed calendar. Like many working moms, she feels the pressure both professionally and at home. "I have a lot of pressure at work, but also a lot of pressure on myself to be super present at home," she said. A personal assistant for home That's where a service called Faye steps in. Faye is a subscription-based company that pairs busy parents with a trusted family advisor for four, eight or 16 working hours per month. The advisor acts as a behind-the-scenes helper, handling everything from appointment reminders and school events to birthday party planning and organizing the family calendar. It's like having an executive assistant for your home life. "Faye is that invisible life raft that makes you more intentional with your friends, kids, work and husband," Beecherl said. Affordable and expanding nationwide CBS News Texas The service is designed to be both affordable and accessible. It launched its pilot program in Dallas in May 2023 and has since expanded to offer family advisors in multiple cities nationwide. Its virtual services are available across the country. Beecherl's advisor, Laura Thompson, helped her complete a long-postponed project of compiling a book of old family letters. She's also helped book trips, order meals, and plan parties. Support that makes a difference A soon-to-be mom of four herself, Thompson says the goal of Faye is simple: support. "I think the biggest feedback I hear is like, 'Thank gosh it's done,'" she said. What began as a way to save time has turned into something much bigger for families like the Beecherls — less stress, less guil,t and more time spent being present. "It helps us all live a more fulfilling, better life that makes us all more present," Beecherl said. Finding a village, virtually And in a world where it still takes a village, some families are finding theirs — one task at a time.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nick Lachey doesn't allow work-related worries to 'bleed over'
Nick Lachey tries to "compartmentalise" his work life. The 51-year-old star has been married to his wife Vanessa since 2011, and Nick has now revealed the secret to their happy marriage. Nick - who has co-hosted 'Love Is Blind' alongside Vanessa for the last five years - told the 'Richer Lives' podcast: "I think the best thing you can do is not bring your work home with you. Which is tricky when you work with your spouse. "I think we do a really good job of doing that, for the most part, but it's not easy working with your spouse sometimes." Nick feels it would be easy to allow work-related problems to "bleed over" into their home life. However, the TV star has managed to "compartmentalise" different parts of his life. He said: "Sometimes you show up for work and there's an argument at home that you brought with you to work and you don't want that to bleed over. And sometimes there's arguments at work that bleed over. "You don't want that, so, you know, I think it's kind of good to compartmentalise and recognise that you're here doing a job. Yes, you're a married couple, and we've been together almost 20 years now, so I think that's our golden rule, is don't bring work home, don't bring home to work. Try and keep it as separate as you can." Nick previously explained that the loved-up couple always "make time to prioritise each other". The TV star also admitted that parenthood has changed his love life. Nick - who has Camden, 12, Brooklyn, ten, and Phoenix, eight, with Vanessa - told People: "Sometimes you have to be deliberate. You have to make deliberate attempts because the spontaneity, the romance, whatever you want to call it that existed pre-kids, it just can't exist the same way. "And I would argue that it shouldn't exist the same way because your priority should be your kid, but you have to also make time to prioritise each other. And if you lose sight of that and lose track of that, then I think that's when you can get into some trouble."
CBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CBC
From struggles to startups: How 2 Regina mothers turned bad maternity leave experiences into businesses
Social Sharing For women in demanding jobs, the decision to have a baby can be a lot more difficult than missing a few days at work. "I just always knew that once I made the decision to start a family, those two things were going to butt heads," said Beth Wanner, mother to a two-year-old girl, on CBC Saskatchewan's Blue Sky. When she became pregnant in 2023, her career was taking off — she had moved from director to vice president for a tech company. Wanner said she always feared how having a baby would impact her job. She would wait for the next career milestone to mark the right moment. At the same time, she was experiencing infertility issues. She did not want to be seen by her colleagues as less dedicated or focused, so she carried her struggles quietly. "There's a lot of assumptions that are made once you start having a family," Wanner said. "So I made sure to over-perform at that time. I was going to put in everything, so nobody even had the faintest whisper that something was going on for me." Wanner was waiting for the results from her second in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) transfer when she heard her work was planning to cut jobs. "I started to get the feeling that I actually might be included," Wanner said. "I said to my husband, 'would you rather that the results come back that I'm not pregnant and I get to keep my job or that I'm pregnant and I'm going to be fired?'" Her husband chose the baby over the job — and that's exactly what happened. Two days after Wanner found out she was pregnant, she was let go. "I don't think my pregnancy impacted why I was let go in that case, but the irony was hiding it to prevent the worst, and then it happened," she said. After four months of job-hunting, Wanner landed a new position as vice president for another tech company. Instead of hiding it, she signed the offer letter and told them she was pregnant. "The reaction was horrible," Wanner said. "I believe the first question I was asked was, 'when did you find out?' The second was, 'why did you do this to us? Why did you pick us?'" Despite their reaction, Wanner worked for the company until she ran into medical complications with her pregnancy. She developed placenta previa, a condition where the placenta attaches low to the uterus, which moved her delivery date up four weeks. "I told my boss that I was actually going to need to take leave even earlier," said Wanner. "Three working days later, I was fired." After giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Wanner decided to take her experience and come up with a solution to provide more security to women, parents and businesses during leaves. In 2025, she launched Mother Cover, a fractional and interim agency that provides coverage for temporary leaves from work. The business aims to look at both sides of a leave — the parent and the business. "How can we step into that parent's shoes to continue their projects and their work, take care of their work, [their] baby, for them while they go do what's important in their life at that moment, and hand it back to them when they're ready to step back in?" Wanner said. The business uses a roster of "leave partners" interested in fractional or interim type of work — many of them also being mothers and parents — to fill the spots needed in the workplace. Hannah Castle, founder of My Friend Penny, is another Regina mother who turned a bad maternity leave experience into a solution. Castle, who now has an eight-month-old daughter, battled chronic sickness during a very difficult pregnancy. "I had chronic nosebleeds, I had very low iron, I had very low blood pressure," Castle said. She ended up having to leave work when she reached 30 weeks and gave birth four weeks later. Castle said her experience revealed a gap for women when it comes to navigating sick days while pregnant. She and co-founder Mary Weimer decided to start My Friend Penny so mothers could take time away from work and still have access to their income without having to constantly explain it to their employer. The business lives "somewhere between a benefit and insurance." It's a fund-to-fund model allowing mothers or employers to pay into a pool of capital that can be used for sick days due to "women-related health issues." "We top up your income to 100 per cent for that absence," Castle said.
