Work-Family Balance: Do You Have It?

Often times, when I speak on the topic of career growth and development, professionals ask me to talk about work-family balance. I don’t believe work-family balance is something you can teach someone. Similar to success as described in my last post, work-family balance can have a different meaning to everyone. I define work-family balance as being able to contribute to both your career and your family in a positive way. The key word in my definition being contribute. Many professionals have to work long hours and don’t get to spend as much time as they would like to with their family. Some professionals adjust their schedules so they still get their work in, but also get to spend time with their families on their terms. The bottom line is if you wish to achieve this balance, you have to make an effort to do so. It’s easy to say, I have to work all of these hours to support my family. My opinion is, what’s the point of supporting them if you can’t spend time with them? I am not saying it’s easy, in fact most times it’s not, but if you decide to bring more balance to your life you absolutely can. Among other changes, you can strive to be more productive at work to cut down the number of hours you are there. Yes that may mean giving up Facebook at work or fantasy baseball talk with your co-workers. I guess it just depends how bad you want that balance. What is your definition of work-family balance and how do you strive to achieve it (if you haven’t already)? Photo Credit: Shutterstock