I was recently in a meeting with the Wellness Council for our school. This is a group of volunteers that don't run in my social circle, but with whom I enjoy chatting and they offer me a different perspective on many topics of discussion. All of the members of this committee are working mothers (and grandmothers), who have numerous commitments, but who feel passionately about the health and wellbeing of children. Wellbeing - such a robust word.
As we were finishing up the meeting, one of the members mentioned that her new boss at work, during an annual review and goal setting meeting, asked her what her priorities for the upcoming year would be. She responded with a few goals for her areas of responsibility, but her boss told her that no, her responsibility for the year would be to achieve a work-life balance. My friend explained to us that she had always had managers who didn't care how much you had to work, or what was going on at home, but they were results driven individuals. Her new manager gave her a list that went something like this:
1. Learn to say No
2. Attend ALL of the school functions
A little while later, my friend's manager brought her aside and told her that she had heard she was doing a great job saying no at work. And it was a compliment! What a great mentor to have!
Sometimes, we get so focused on achieving results that we forget to look at the big picture, and to make life-work balance a priority. Take a moment to picture how you want your life to look when you go back to work. Do you want full-time, part-time, flexibility to work from home, a family oriented company, something close to your neighborhood? When you go out on your job search, keep this in the forefront of your mind, so that you will only look at positions in which you can achieve the balance and find your wellbeing.
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